June 21, 2023 • 31 mins
Ever wondered how to unlock the secrets of financial success? Join me for an enlightening conversation with George Grombacher, a financial advisor with over 20 years of experience, as he shares his journey and the keys to achieving financial freedom. Discover how to create a vision for your future, set goals, and take small steps to get out of debt and find breathing room.
George also discusses the importance of financial coaching in overcoming limiting beliefs and how surrounding yourself with the right kind of people can make a significant impact on your financial success. Learn from his personal experiences with finances, the limiting beliefs he overcame, and how identifying and shifting those beliefs can transform your financial situation.
Lastly, we delve into the concept of personal growth and achievements. George believes that if we all focused on becoming the best versions of ourselves, many of the world's problems would self-correct. Don't miss this episode filled with insights and key takeaways to help you unlock your financial success!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Thomas (00:02):
Hello, this is Pushing Boundaries, a podcast about
pioneering research,breakthrough discoveries and
unconventional ideas.
I'm your host, dr Thomas RVerny.
My guest today is GeorgeGrombacher, who has been a
financial advisor for over 20years.
He's the president of financialconsulting professionals,
(00:26):
founder and chief communityofficer of Money Alignment
Academy, host of the Lifebloodpodcast and professional speaker
.
He has been an Investopedia'sList of Top 100 Financial
Advisers in the United Statesfor many years.
George is the author of How toGet Good at Money the Keys to
(00:50):
Financial Peace of Mind andProsperity.
Welcome, George.
Thank you, Thomas.
Thomas, in your book, you saythat we all want financial peace
of mind and prosperity, yetvery few of us know how to
achieve it.
You promised that this book'sgoal and this is a quote, I hope
(01:12):
is to help you find your keyand attain your desired level of
financial success.
Have I got that right?
Yes, sir, okay, well, tell meabout that.
How do we go about finding akey to our financial success?
George (01:31):
So I've been doing the financial thing for a long time
and I try and I try to helppeople to get better with money
so they can focus on whatever ismost interesting to them,
because most people aren'tnecessarily interested in
thinking about money all thetime.
Yet we're moving the oppositedirection.
(01:52):
So I'm working hard.
yet more and more people areliving paycheck to paycheck or
struggling to get out of debt,and so I wanted to.
I'm constantly trying to figureout why that is, and with most
problems, there's now a one sizefits all kind of a thing.
And so I thought, okay, maybe Ihad something in my past.
(02:13):
I have limiting beliefs becausethe way that I was raised
that's keeping me from beinggood at money.
Maybe somebody else had ahorrible accident and they've
got all these medical bills, andthe list goes on and on.
And so I thought, okay, how canI create something?
create a book, write a bookthat will give people lots of
potential avenues or solutions,and, in this case, different
(02:35):
keys that will open whateverlock is keeping them stuck, so
whatever is holding them back,something is attaching that
thing.
And so that's the idea of thebook, and try to be clever about
it.
Here's a lot of different keys.
Let's see which one works foryou.
Thomas (02:55):
So the old saying is the rich get richer and the poor
get poorer.
What can you say to a personwho, let's say, is a factory
worker and has a wife and twochildren and doesn't have any
extra money, let's say, toinvest?
So how can that person getricher?
George (03:21):
It is a.
It feels paradoxical a lot ofthe time and it feels like
there's not a solution, and Iempathize with that.
And there may not be.
It may not be possible, for,and certainly is not It seems
possible for all people to getout of a situation like that.
(03:41):
That being said, i would saythat the starting point is
figuring out what better is, andthe obvious answer is I want to
be able to pay my bills, i wantto stop freaking out and being
stressed about money all thetime, and I appreciate that The
(04:04):
initial steps, the first steps,are figuring out.
Okay, this might not bepossible for me, but if it were,
what would that look like?
How much money will it take toget myself out of debt?
How much money would it take toget a little bit of breathing
room, so that I'm not constantlystressed out?
So okay, now is it possible?
is there any way for me to earnadditional money, to find that
(04:27):
little bit of money?
And if the answer is no, wellthen okay, is it possible to
live on less or to figure outhow to make any kind of changes
so that we can get that littlebit of breathing room?
And then it's hopefully lockingin that small gain and then
taking one little step up.
And one little step up And it'snot obvious to The most.
(04:54):
I think the most basic and mostimportant things are thinking
about setting goals, having thatdesired vision for what we want
our future to look like.
And it's so basic and it's soobvious, but nobody does it.
And this was 100% true for mefor a really, really long time.
It took me until I was 35 yearsold to actually write down
(05:14):
personal goals.
I always had professional goalsand stuff like that, but for my
entire life, what I wanted thatto look like.
And so for those people who arestruggling and that was me for
a long time, maybe not as dire,certainly, as as lots of human
beings on the earth, but Istruggled for a really long time
.
Thomas (05:31):
So can you tell us how did you become a financial
advisor?
What was your journey like?
George (05:39):
Yep, it's just pure happenstance.
I grew up in Northern Minnesotasingle mom school teacher and
we never had a lot of money.
But what's important about thatis I had no idea.
I didn't have any mentors, ididn't have too many examples of
folks that I could look to andjust understand what an attorney
did or what a CPA did or what afinancial person did.
(05:59):
I had no idea.
I figured I wanted to be alawyer because I perceived that
to be a respectable career whereyou could make money.
And so went to college.
I got a scholarship in sportsfor college and I studied
political science because I wastold that that's what you do to
take the LSAT and then here inthe United States get into law
(06:21):
school.
And so I did all that stuff andkind of realized that if I go
to law school I'll be anattorney.
And I had learned a little bitmore and I realized maybe I
didn't want to be an attorneybecause it wouldn't make me
happy.
And thank goodness that Irealized that And moved to
Arizona here in the UnitedStates, because my dad had been
there for 40 years.
So growing up I would visit,figured why not?
And I met somebody.
(06:41):
He said come talk to me aboutXYZ Financial Company, i said,
sure, why not?
Nothing else going on?
And 23 years later, here I amThomas.
Thomas (06:51):
So how did you start, like 23 years ago?
Talk to me about financialcompanies.
you said Then what happened?
So selling?
George (07:00):
life insurance And it was really really wonderfully
challenging.
But as a person who is comingfrom an athletic background, i
am used to even though I justtalked about how I didn't really
set personal goals I certainlyunderstand what it takes to zero
in on something and worktowards it and accomplish it.
(07:22):
So I could figure out this ishow I sell life insurance.
And I would go out and sell it,so did that for seven years,
just put my nose down, put myhead down, and did that, went
into management, so it wasrecruiting and developing people
who wanted to come into theworld of financial services, and
(07:44):
then I moved on from that andstarted doing the work that I'm
doing today.
Thomas (07:51):
So, in terms of the work that you are doing today, what
type of person are you mostsuccessful with?
What kind of a person do youlook for where you can make a
difference?
George (08:05):
So I figured out that I enjoy doing education, i enjoy
writing, i enjoy speaking, but Idon't necessarily enjoy working
one-on-one with individualshelping them with their
financial situation, and I'mfascinated by why it is that
people struggle with money.
And so I gravitated towardsworking with 401K plans.
(08:28):
So those are employers'sponsored retirement plans.
So you go to work, you get ajob, you could participate in
the 401K, and that gives me theopportunity to message and work
with hundreds and thousands ofpeople without really doing it
one-on-one.
And so that's what got me onthe path of creating courses and
doing speaking and writingbooks.
Thomas (08:50):
When you speak of courses like do you teach
somewhere?
George (08:55):
They are just online on the internet on my site.
Thomas (09:02):
So it's not a university course.
George (09:06):
It is not a university course.
Thomas (09:15):
But my question was like I'm a psychiatrist, i have by
now a fairly good idea about thekinds of patients that I'm
successful with, as opposed tothe kinds of patients that I'm
not successful with, and Ibetter send them to somebody
else because they're just notthe kind of people that I can
(09:37):
work with, like alcoholics, forexample, i'm not good with.
So I'm wondering about you,like what are the type of people
who have had difficulties withfinances but, due to your
influence and what you tell them, they start picking up?
(09:57):
So what kinds of people are youlooking for?
George (10:02):
I work with the 80% of Americans that will never
interact with a financialadvisor.
So 20% of people do have arelationship with a financial
advisor professional that'shelping them one-on-one or their
family.
I want to impact those 80% thatwill not.
So that is the work I'minterested in doing.
I think it's fine work.
(10:24):
if you are a wealth manager orsome kind of a financial advisor
that works with high net worthpeople and you're working to
save them 50 basis points orwhatever it might be, that's
great.
That doesn't excite me.
Thomas (10:37):
Right.
So the 80%, this is veryinteresting, this really
interests me.
So the 80% that would never goand see a financial advisor,
what makes them come to you?
George (10:53):
Well, that's the opportunity is that I'm going to
them because I have worked increative relationship with the
organization that they work for.
The reason I like working withorganizations is that they
theoretically already have abuilt-in community.
So I call myself the chiefcommunity officer of Money
Alignment Academy, and whenwe're trying to influence
(11:14):
behavior, there's a handful ofthings that really need to be
present.
It's something calledself-determination theory, and
people need to feel like theycan master something, so they
need to have the ability tolearn and get good at it.
They need relatedness, which isa sense of community around
them, and then they needautonomy.
So I want to be able to feellike I can do my work how I see
(11:37):
fit, and so when you have acompany, you again have this
community that's sort of builtin, and then I can plug in the
work that I am doing my courses,my workshops, my stuff into
what the organization is alreadydoing, as opposed to try and
get one person at a time.
So that's the reason So I go towhen people are interacting
(12:01):
with me.
It's because 90% of the time Ihave a relationship with the
company that they're working for.
Thomas (12:09):
So the company becomes your client first, and then it's
the people working for thecompany.
How do you get companiesinterested in your work?
George (12:21):
Well, fortunately, over time I built my business through
referrals and introductions,but still the old fashioned way,
Thomas.
I'll identify an organizationthat has a thousand employees
and I'll reach out to them.
I'll send them a copy of thebook and I'll offer to do a
little bit of work for free, orwhatever the case may be.
Thomas (12:39):
Yeah, okay, that makes sense.
So, in terms of your owndevelopment, can you think of
any mistakes you have made inlife this far?
George (12:53):
Oh sure, Can you share one of those?
That's a super long list.
Thomas (13:00):
One of the mistakes that you have made that, in
retrospect, you should haveavoided.
George (13:07):
Certainly, certainly throughout my 20s, i didn't pay
attention to my finances at all,so I didn't track my cash flow,
i never budgeted, i waited forthe last minute to pay my bills
and pay my taxes and just wasn'tpaying attention, even though I
was working in personal finance, so in a credit card debt.
But I think a lot of that wasjust because I had limiting
beliefs around money that I wasunaware of.
(13:29):
And I also look back and Idon't know that these were
mistakes.
I was a very social person.
I wanted to get out there andparty and meet girls and that
was a priority for me in my 20s.
What I changed?
that part of me says I would,but then the other part of me
(13:51):
says, well, it helped me toarrive where I am today, so
maybe I wouldn't change those.
Thomas (13:55):
And you had a good time And it was fun.
Yeah, right, right, and that'swhere it's something.
Are you married at the moment?
George (14:07):
I am.
I've married for 10 years.
We have two beautiful boys sixand three and a three week old
little girl.
Thomas (14:16):
Well, congratulations.
And is your wife interested inyour work that she supported
100%?
I mean emotionally, supports it, she does, she does.
George (14:32):
Well, is there anything 100% Thomas?
No, it's certainly the,certainly the vast majority.
She believes in me at least asmuch as I believe in me.
Thomas (14:46):
You mentioned a moment ago limited beliefs about money,
something like that.
You said So.
In your work now, I suppose bynow, with hundreds of people,
have you found certain beliefsthat prevent people from being
(15:06):
successful financially.
George (15:10):
Yes, i think that there's a lot of people.
I've encountered a lot ofpeople that just don't think
that they're ever going to begood at money.
They feel like they lack thecapacity or just for whatever
reason, like, oh, I'm just notgood at money, i'm just not good
at money.
Whenever I hear that I justcringe.
Thomas (15:30):
Yes, Yes, yes.
So really, one of the firstthings you need to do, i would
imagine, is to change that corebelief system.
George (15:43):
And as I'm talking to it , an actual psychiatrist, I feel
kind of silly.
I feel kind of silly talkingabout that.
But, yes, i think that once youidentify that my personal
experience has been, i wascurious as to where it could
have come from, and so I sort ofpulled a string and traced it
(16:05):
back back to when I was justsmall, when my folks split up
when I was five, and so it wasmy brother, who was three years
older than I am, and I and mymom, and there was just never
enough money to go around.
I mentioned she was aschoolteacher, we had a great, a
great life sheet and awesomejob, but there was just never
enough money to go around, andonce a month she would pay bills
(16:27):
and that meant she wouldliterally spread out our bills
and our big wooden dining roomtable And it was just super
stressful.
My brother and I knew to stayaway because it was, you know, a
lot of anxiety and not enoughmoney.
I really looked to that and say,well, that's why I'm avoiding,
or I avoided financial stuff,because of just the scarcity of
(16:48):
it and the discomfort aroundmoney.
Thomas (16:52):
Yes, yes.
So do you do some psychologicalsort of counseling, so to speak
, with some of your clients interms of these limiting belief
systems that they have?
George (17:07):
I asked them to go through a very simple list of
prompts.
that it's like if I askedsomebody what their goals were
like, oh, and that could beanything.
But if I give people promptsthen it's easier for us to
recall or to think about certainthings.
And so I'll give them a list ofprobably 20 different short
(17:28):
statements that invites them tofill in the blank at the end.
Like money makes people.
my parents thought money wasthings like that, And I asked
them just to write the firstthing that comes to mind, not to
kind of overthink it, And whenthey're triggered by something,
that's potential evidence thatthere is some kind of a limiting
belief around it.
Thomas (17:49):
Right, that's very impressive.
Yeah, i like that.
That's very good, and I guessyou just learned that by
experience, right, like nobodytaught you this.
George (18:04):
You know you pick things up along the way.
You were a guest on my podcastand I've had on so many
wonderful people that havetaught me so many wonderful
things about it.
And I read and I'm trying tojust as I try to get better at
things I'm trying to pass alongwhatever I learned.
So it's kind of a elamination,amalgamation of all that stuff.
Thomas (18:27):
Right, right Right And do you consider yourself lucky?
George (18:33):
I consider myself fortunate.
In what way, in every way, i'mfortunate for the circumstances
of my creation.
You know I was born where I wasborn, to people that loved me,
and I am physically strong andhave wonderful God-given
(18:53):
attributes.
I was given the ability to workhard and the drive to do so and
the ability to focus and tothink of average to above
average intelligence.
So I'm fortunate in all thosethings.
So luck I think that luck isthe residue of design, so I try
to put myself in a position tobe successful and I do that
(19:15):
every day.
Thomas (19:17):
So you are what in your mid-30s now?
George (19:21):
I'm in my mid-40s, i'm 40 before.
Really, i look very boyish,thomas.
Thomas (19:28):
Yes, you do.
So what lies ahead?
What sort of plans do you havefor the next five years?
George (19:38):
Well, it's my desire to be some version of the next day
of Ramsey.
I think if you're familiar withDave Ramsey, he's become very,
very famous for helping peopleto get out of debt, and I have
so much respect because he'seffective at it And I'd rather
be useful than brilliant.
So my work is not designed towow people.
(19:58):
It's designed to move people toaction, and so, through my
writing and speaking and coursecreation and all this stuff and
podcasting, i'm just hoping tocontinue to expand my impact and
to continue to get better andlearn and just keep doing a
better job.
Thomas (20:15):
Is there another book in your future?
100%.
George (20:20):
I've got three that I'm working on.
The next one will be outprobably the next month or so.
And then I've got a journalthat I'm working on that'll come
out in September.
And then I've got a very, verybig book on personal leadership
that will come out at the end ofthe year.
So I've got a lot going on.
I try to write every day, andwhen I say try, i write Monday
through Friday for at least anhour every morning.
Thomas (20:42):
So when do you get up 420.
George (20:48):
Say it again 420 in the morning?
Thomas (20:52):
Yes, and when do?
you go to sleep, try to be inbed by eight o'clock or 820.
George (20:57):
Try to be in bed for eight hours.
Thomas (21:02):
So you don't have a lot of evening entertainments?
I guess I don't.
George (21:11):
Anyhow, at the six and the three year old, there's
plenty of.
And now baby?
Thomas (21:14):
Yeah, there's plenty of it, there's enough excitement in
my life, so yeah, So when thebaby cries in the middle of the
night, who gets up?
George (21:25):
Well, both of us do right now.
So my wife has the mostimportant part of everything
when it comes to the kids.
But I'm up with her just from aphysical necessity standpoint.
Due to the circumstances ofbirth, she's not supposed to
pick anybody up for a little bit.
(21:45):
So I'm up picking up andhanding and transferring and
cleaning diapers and all thatstuff.
Thomas (21:52):
You live a very busy life, I would imagine.
George (21:56):
Oh, for sure, For sure.
Thomas (21:58):
So what do you do to….
Very rich, very rich and busylife Yes, rich.
Rich is good In your profession, rich is good.
Rich and busy life Yes.
What do you do to relax?
How do you relax?
George (22:13):
I have a meditation practice.
I work out, i run, i liftweights, i… So those are the
primary things.
Thomas (22:28):
If you could have dinner with any three people, dead or
alive, who would it be?
George (22:33):
That's a great question And one I should give more
thought to.
I would have to.
I would include Jesus Christ,and I love Jordan Peterson, so I
think I'd like to have him atdinner with me And Jesus.
Uh-huh, uh-huh, let's see whois the third person.
Thomas (22:55):
I wonder how those two would get along, but that's
another question.
George (22:59):
Yeah, for sure.
Yeah, i think that that's right.
That'd probably make it evenmore interesting.
And who would be the third?
Thomas (23:05):
person.
George (23:09):
Well, let's throw Bruce Springsteen, because he's my
favorite, so… Okay, okay, okay.
Thomas (23:16):
And is there anything that you would want to ask any
of those three?
George (23:21):
I would ask just a million things.
What would I ask?
I'm not going to have a goodanswer for you about that, right
on the spot, thomas.
Thomas (23:37):
That's okay, any answer?
George (23:40):
But if we've got dinner, you know, I've got, you know,
hopefully enough time to be ableto be able to ask and have a
pretty robust conversation.
Thomas (23:51):
Right, okay, okay.
So nothing comes to your mindright now what you would ask any
of those three.
George (23:58):
No, uh-uh.
Thomas (23:59):
Okay, that's fine.
So just exploring yourpersonality a little bit more.
What is the nicest complimentyou ever received?
George (24:14):
Well, as a new writer, I've somebody who has always
enjoyed writing, but I wrote thefirst book last year at the end
of last year and now the How toGet Good at Money book came out
pretty recently But I'vereceived good feedback and
compliments on that And I'vebeen doing the podcast for six
(24:35):
years and you get feedback onthat.
But the book is just a littlebit different And you're nervous
.
I was nervous putting it outinto the world and everything
that sort of goes along with.
although it's the access or theability to be an author is a
(24:57):
lot lower.
the bar is a lot lower than itcertainly used to be, but
nevertheless it was.
I don't know if nervous it'scalled nervous sort of nervous
releasing out into the world.
So getting good feedback andcomplimenting praise about the
book and how it's been helpfulhas been wonderful.
Thomas (25:15):
Yes, yes.
So, speaking of wonderful, canyou think of a peak experience
in your life when you were likereally, really, really happy,
like really on top of the world?
Can you think of one suchexperience?
George (25:37):
I could think of a lot.
I could think of times from mytennis career where I won big
tournaments or I came out andhad a top ranking when I got
news about getting myscholarship Just achievements
that I've somebody who has adeep appreciation for human
(26:03):
excellence and for watchingpeople do what they really are
excellent at.
It almost brings me to tears.
Whether it's being at seeing aplay or seeing a live musical
performance or seeing anathletic achievement or seeing
somebody give a great talk, Ijust love it, And so when I'm
able to do that personally, Ienjoy that.
(26:26):
But just seeing other people doit as well is very, very moving
.
It makes me very, veryemotional.
Having my kids, I didn't used tocry And now I cry all the time.
It's crazy.
Like literally when we had areligious ceremony for my son
(26:47):
when he was born my oldest I wasgiving a speech or just a
little talk or whatever, And Ijust broke down.
I was crying.
I just couldn't even understandit, And so I think having a
family and being able to justhave a loving family is also
something I'm very proud of.
Thomas (27:06):
Yeah, No, i can.
I can see that I can certainlyidentify with that.
So what?
what does what does being humanmean to you then?
George (27:23):
This is something I spend a lot of time thinking
about, as of late, i hear a lotabout.
have you ever heard that sayingI'm a human being, not a human
doing?
Well, i think I am a humandoing.
right now, i am such a drivenhuman being that I'm wired to do
(27:47):
things.
I can certainly sit back, but Ilove my work.
What does it mean to be human?
I believe that my primedirective, number one objective
in my life is to get better andto realize my full potential.
I also recognize that that'snot what everybody else thinks
(28:09):
or believes, but it's true of me.
My experience as a human beingor human doing is waking up
every day and working to becomethe best possible version of me.
Thomas (28:27):
Well, that sounds good.
That sounds good.
Do you miss the competitivenessof the tennis games?
George (28:40):
No, no, i don't.
If I did, then I would juststart well, i don't know if
that's true or not, because Idon't have necessarily the time
to be playing in competitivesports right now, but there are
plenty of aspects of my lifethat I'm competing at, numerous.
So I identify as an athlete, iidentify as a competitor.
(29:01):
I'm just doing it in differentarenas or different mediums
today than on a tennis court.
Thomas (29:08):
Right, right, right.
Well, thank you.
Was there anything else,perhaps, that you would like to
say about yourself or your book?
George (29:23):
My work is.
I'm focused on helping peopleto get better at money so they
can live how they want, and thattakes lots of different forms.
So that is where my heart isand that is why I wake up every
day.
I recognize during the pandemicthat I needed to be stronger.
I needed to be physicallystronger, mentally stronger,
(29:45):
emotionally stronger all thesethings And I also realized that
I need to be an example of allof those things to myself and my
kids and my wife and mycommunity.
And if I can expand that outthrough the different platforms
I have, then I'm going to dothat.
(30:06):
So that is what I'm trying todo.
I close my podcast by sayingyou do your part by doing your
best.
I think that if we all focusedon minding our own business a
little bit more and focused onstrengthening ourselves and
becoming the best possibleversions of us, that many of the
problems that we're seeing,that we're not happy with in the
world, would self-correct.
(30:27):
That starts with us.
Thomas (30:31):
Amen to that.
Well, thank you, George.
That was really most enjoyable,most instructive.
I wish you continued success.
I think we both are interestedin really the same thing you
know making leaving this worldbehind a little bit better than
(30:51):
when we found it right.
And if we can do that, then ourlife has not been totally
meaningless.
My next guest on this program Ijust want to tell you very
briefly will be Wayne Altman.
He's the founder of MelodyClouds.
(31:14):
Wayne suffers from tinnitus ortinnitus, i'm not quite sure.
I think tinnitus, and waslooking for a relief when he
noticed that the only way hecould stop experiencing extreme
ringing in both ears was when helistened to binaural beats or
specific tones of music, andthat's when he realized he could
(31:34):
create something for people notlimited to this one condition,
but to share the healing andbeneficial effects of this
technology with everyone whowants it.
I hope you will join me andGeorge.
Thanks again.
Thank you, Thomas, take care,bye, bye.
Hello, this is Pushing Boundaries, a podcast about
pioneering research,breakthrough discoveries and
unconventional ideas.
I'm your host, dr Thomas RVerny.
My guest today is GeorgeGrombacher, who has been a
financial advisor for over 20years.
He's the president of financialconsulting professionals,
(00:26):
founder and chief communityofficer of Money Alignment
Academy, host of the Lifebloodpodcast and professional speaker
.
He has been an Investopedia'sList of Top 100 Financial
Advisers in the United Statesfor many years.
George is the author of How toGet Good at Money the Keys to
(00:50):
Financial Peace of Mind andProsperity.
Welcome, George.
Thank you, Thomas.
Thomas, in your book, you saythat we all want financial peace
of mind and prosperity, yetvery few of us know how to
achieve it.
You promised that this book'sgoal and this is a quote, I hope
(01:12):
is to help you find your keyand attain your desired level of
financial success.
Have I got that right?
Yes, sir, okay, well, tell meabout that.
How do we go about finding akey to our financial success?
George (01:31):
So I've been doing the financial thing for a long time
and I try and I try to helppeople to get better with money
so they can focus on whatever ismost interesting to them,
because most people aren'tnecessarily interested in
thinking about money all thetime.
Yet we're moving the oppositedirection.
(01:52):
So I'm working hard.
yet more and more people areliving paycheck to paycheck or
struggling to get out of debt,and so I wanted to.
I'm constantly trying to figureout why that is, and with most
problems, there's now a one sizefits all kind of a thing.
And so I thought, okay, maybe Ihad something in my past.
(02:13):
I have limiting beliefs becausethe way that I was raised
that's keeping me from beinggood at money.
Maybe somebody else had ahorrible accident and they've
got all these medical bills, andthe list goes on and on.
And so I thought, okay, how canI create something?
create a book, write a bookthat will give people lots of
potential avenues or solutions,and, in this case, different
(02:35):
keys that will open whateverlock is keeping them stuck, so
whatever is holding them back,something is attaching that
thing.
And so that's the idea of thebook, and try to be clever about
it.
Here's a lot of different keys.
Let's see which one works foryou.
Thomas (02:55):
So the old saying is the rich get richer and the poor
get poorer.
What can you say to a personwho, let's say, is a factory
worker and has a wife and twochildren and doesn't have any
extra money, let's say, toinvest?
So how can that person getricher?
George (03:21):
It is a.
It feels paradoxical a lot ofthe time and it feels like
there's not a solution, and Iempathize with that.
And there may not be.
It may not be possible, for,and certainly is not It seems
possible for all people to getout of a situation like that.
(03:41):
That being said, i would saythat the starting point is
figuring out what better is, andthe obvious answer is I want to
be able to pay my bills, i wantto stop freaking out and being
stressed about money all thetime, and I appreciate that The
(04:04):
initial steps, the first steps,are figuring out.
Okay, this might not bepossible for me, but if it were,
what would that look like?
How much money will it take toget myself out of debt?
How much money would it take toget a little bit of breathing
room, so that I'm not constantlystressed out?
So okay, now is it possible?
is there any way for me to earnadditional money, to find that
(04:27):
little bit of money?
And if the answer is no, wellthen okay, is it possible to
live on less or to figure outhow to make any kind of changes
so that we can get that littlebit of breathing room?
And then it's hopefully lockingin that small gain and then
taking one little step up.
And one little step up And it'snot obvious to The most.
(04:54):
I think the most basic and mostimportant things are thinking
about setting goals, having thatdesired vision for what we want
our future to look like.
And it's so basic and it's soobvious, but nobody does it.
And this was 100% true for mefor a really, really long time.
It took me until I was 35 yearsold to actually write down
(05:14):
personal goals.
I always had professional goalsand stuff like that, but for my
entire life, what I wanted thatto look like.
And so for those people who arestruggling and that was me for
a long time, maybe not as dire,certainly, as as lots of human
beings on the earth, but Istruggled for a really long time
.
Thomas (05:31):
So can you tell us how did you become a financial
advisor?
What was your journey like?
George (05:39):
Yep, it's just pure happenstance.
I grew up in Northern Minnesotasingle mom school teacher and
we never had a lot of money.
But what's important about thatis I had no idea.
I didn't have any mentors, ididn't have too many examples of
folks that I could look to andjust understand what an attorney
did or what a CPA did or what afinancial person did.
(05:59):
I had no idea.
I figured I wanted to be alawyer because I perceived that
to be a respectable career whereyou could make money.
And so went to college.
I got a scholarship in sportsfor college and I studied
political science because I wastold that that's what you do to
take the LSAT and then here inthe United States get into law
(06:21):
school.
And so I did all that stuff andkind of realized that if I go
to law school I'll be anattorney.
And I had learned a little bitmore and I realized maybe I
didn't want to be an attorneybecause it wouldn't make me
happy.
And thank goodness that Irealized that And moved to
Arizona here in the UnitedStates, because my dad had been
there for 40 years.
So growing up I would visit,figured why not?
And I met somebody.
(06:41):
He said come talk to me aboutXYZ Financial Company, i said,
sure, why not?
Nothing else going on?
And 23 years later, here I amThomas.
Thomas (06:51):
So how did you start, like 23 years ago?
Talk to me about financialcompanies.
you said Then what happened?
So selling?
George (07:00):
life insurance And it was really really wonderfully
challenging.
But as a person who is comingfrom an athletic background, i
am used to even though I justtalked about how I didn't really
set personal goals I certainlyunderstand what it takes to zero
in on something and worktowards it and accomplish it.
(07:22):
So I could figure out this ishow I sell life insurance.
And I would go out and sell it,so did that for seven years,
just put my nose down, put myhead down, and did that, went
into management, so it wasrecruiting and developing people
who wanted to come into theworld of financial services, and
(07:44):
then I moved on from that andstarted doing the work that I'm
doing today.
Thomas (07:51):
So, in terms of the work that you are doing today, what
type of person are you mostsuccessful with?
What kind of a person do youlook for where you can make a
difference?
George (08:05):
So I figured out that I enjoy doing education, i enjoy
writing, i enjoy speaking, but Idon't necessarily enjoy working
one-on-one with individualshelping them with their
financial situation, and I'mfascinated by why it is that
people struggle with money.
And so I gravitated towardsworking with 401K plans.
(08:28):
So those are employers'sponsored retirement plans.
So you go to work, you get ajob, you could participate in
the 401K, and that gives me theopportunity to message and work
with hundreds and thousands ofpeople without really doing it
one-on-one.
And so that's what got me onthe path of creating courses and
doing speaking and writingbooks.
Thomas (08:50):
When you speak of courses like do you teach
somewhere?
George (08:55):
They are just online on the internet on my site.
Thomas (09:02):
So it's not a university course.
George (09:06):
It is not a university course.
Thomas (09:15):
But my question was like I'm a psychiatrist, i have by
now a fairly good idea about thekinds of patients that I'm
successful with, as opposed tothe kinds of patients that I'm
not successful with, and Ibetter send them to somebody
else because they're just notthe kind of people that I can
(09:37):
work with, like alcoholics, forexample, i'm not good with.
So I'm wondering about you,like what are the type of people
who have had difficulties withfinances but, due to your
influence and what you tell them, they start picking up?
(09:57):
So what kinds of people are youlooking for?
George (10:02):
I work with the 80% of Americans that will never
interact with a financialadvisor.
So 20% of people do have arelationship with a financial
advisor professional that'shelping them one-on-one or their
family.
I want to impact those 80% thatwill not.
So that is the work I'minterested in doing.
I think it's fine work.
(10:24):
if you are a wealth manager orsome kind of a financial advisor
that works with high net worthpeople and you're working to
save them 50 basis points orwhatever it might be, that's
great.
That doesn't excite me.
Thomas (10:37):
Right.
So the 80%, this is veryinteresting, this really
interests me.
So the 80% that would never goand see a financial advisor,
what makes them come to you?
George (10:53):
Well, that's the opportunity is that I'm going to
them because I have worked increative relationship with the
organization that they work for.
The reason I like working withorganizations is that they
theoretically already have abuilt-in community.
So I call myself the chiefcommunity officer of Money
Alignment Academy, and whenwe're trying to influence
(11:14):
behavior, there's a handful ofthings that really need to be
present.
It's something calledself-determination theory, and
people need to feel like theycan master something, so they
need to have the ability tolearn and get good at it.
They need relatedness, which isa sense of community around
them, and then they needautonomy.
So I want to be able to feellike I can do my work how I see
(11:37):
fit, and so when you have acompany, you again have this
community that's sort of builtin, and then I can plug in the
work that I am doing my courses,my workshops, my stuff into
what the organization is alreadydoing, as opposed to try and
get one person at a time.
So that's the reason So I go towhen people are interacting
(12:01):
with me.
It's because 90% of the time Ihave a relationship with the
company that they're working for.
Thomas (12:09):
So the company becomes your client first, and then it's
the people working for thecompany.
How do you get companiesinterested in your work?
George (12:21):
Well, fortunately, over time I built my business through
referrals and introductions,but still the old fashioned way,
Thomas.
I'll identify an organizationthat has a thousand employees
and I'll reach out to them.
I'll send them a copy of thebook and I'll offer to do a
little bit of work for free, orwhatever the case may be.
Thomas (12:39):
Yeah, okay, that makes sense.
So, in terms of your owndevelopment, can you think of
any mistakes you have made inlife this far?
George (12:53):
Oh sure, Can you share one of those?
That's a super long list.
Thomas (13:00):
One of the mistakes that you have made that, in
retrospect, you should haveavoided.
George (13:07):
Certainly, certainly throughout my 20s, i didn't pay
attention to my finances at all,so I didn't track my cash flow,
i never budgeted, i waited forthe last minute to pay my bills
and pay my taxes and just wasn'tpaying attention, even though I
was working in personal finance, so in a credit card debt.
But I think a lot of that wasjust because I had limiting
beliefs around money that I wasunaware of.
(13:29):
And I also look back and Idon't know that these were
mistakes.
I was a very social person.
I wanted to get out there andparty and meet girls and that
was a priority for me in my 20s.
What I changed?
that part of me says I would,but then the other part of me
(13:51):
says, well, it helped me toarrive where I am today, so
maybe I wouldn't change those.
Thomas (13:55):
And you had a good time And it was fun.
Yeah, right, right, and that'swhere it's something.
Are you married at the moment?
George (14:07):
I am.
I've married for 10 years.
We have two beautiful boys sixand three and a three week old
little girl.
Thomas (14:16):
Well, congratulations.
And is your wife interested inyour work that she supported
100%?
I mean emotionally, supports it, she does, she does.
George (14:32):
Well, is there anything 100% Thomas?
No, it's certainly the,certainly the vast majority.
She believes in me at least asmuch as I believe in me.
Thomas (14:46):
You mentioned a moment ago limited beliefs about money,
something like that.
You said So.
In your work now, I suppose bynow, with hundreds of people,
have you found certain beliefsthat prevent people from being
(15:06):
successful financially.
George (15:10):
Yes, i think that there's a lot of people.
I've encountered a lot ofpeople that just don't think
that they're ever going to begood at money.
They feel like they lack thecapacity or just for whatever
reason, like, oh, I'm just notgood at money, i'm just not good
at money.
Whenever I hear that I justcringe.
Thomas (15:30):
Yes, Yes, yes.
So really, one of the firstthings you need to do, i would
imagine, is to change that corebelief system.
George (15:43):
And as I'm talking to it , an actual psychiatrist, I feel
kind of silly.
I feel kind of silly talkingabout that.
But, yes, i think that once youidentify that my personal
experience has been, i wascurious as to where it could
have come from, and so I sort ofpulled a string and traced it
(16:05):
back back to when I was justsmall, when my folks split up
when I was five, and so it wasmy brother, who was three years
older than I am, and I and mymom, and there was just never
enough money to go around.
I mentioned she was aschoolteacher, we had a great, a
great life sheet and awesomejob, but there was just never
enough money to go around, andonce a month she would pay bills
(16:27):
and that meant she wouldliterally spread out our bills
and our big wooden dining roomtable And it was just super
stressful.
My brother and I knew to stayaway because it was, you know, a
lot of anxiety and not enoughmoney.
I really looked to that and say,well, that's why I'm avoiding,
or I avoided financial stuff,because of just the scarcity of
(16:48):
it and the discomfort aroundmoney.
Thomas (16:52):
Yes, yes.
So do you do some psychologicalsort of counseling, so to speak
, with some of your clients interms of these limiting belief
systems that they have?
George (17:07):
I asked them to go through a very simple list of
prompts.
that it's like if I askedsomebody what their goals were
like, oh, and that could beanything.
But if I give people promptsthen it's easier for us to
recall or to think about certainthings.
And so I'll give them a list ofprobably 20 different short
(17:28):
statements that invites them tofill in the blank at the end.
Like money makes people.
my parents thought money wasthings like that, And I asked
them just to write the firstthing that comes to mind, not to
kind of overthink it, And whenthey're triggered by something,
that's potential evidence thatthere is some kind of a limiting
belief around it.
Thomas (17:49):
Right, that's very impressive.
Yeah, i like that.
That's very good, and I guessyou just learned that by
experience, right, like nobodytaught you this.
George (18:04):
You know you pick things up along the way.
You were a guest on my podcastand I've had on so many
wonderful people that havetaught me so many wonderful
things about it.
And I read and I'm trying tojust as I try to get better at
things I'm trying to pass alongwhatever I learned.
So it's kind of a elamination,amalgamation of all that stuff.
Thomas (18:27):
Right, right Right And do you consider yourself lucky?
George (18:33):
I consider myself fortunate.
In what way, in every way, i'mfortunate for the circumstances
of my creation.
You know I was born where I wasborn, to people that loved me,
and I am physically strong andhave wonderful God-given
(18:53):
attributes.
I was given the ability to workhard and the drive to do so and
the ability to focus and tothink of average to above
average intelligence.
So I'm fortunate in all thosethings.
So luck I think that luck isthe residue of design, so I try
to put myself in a position tobe successful and I do that
(19:15):
every day.
Thomas (19:17):
So you are what in your mid-30s now?
George (19:21):
I'm in my mid-40s, i'm 40 before.
Really, i look very boyish,thomas.
Thomas (19:28):
Yes, you do.
So what lies ahead?
What sort of plans do you havefor the next five years?
George (19:38):
Well, it's my desire to be some version of the next day
of Ramsey.
I think if you're familiar withDave Ramsey, he's become very,
very famous for helping peopleto get out of debt, and I have
so much respect because he'seffective at it And I'd rather
be useful than brilliant.
So my work is not designed towow people.
(19:58):
It's designed to move people toaction, and so, through my
writing and speaking and coursecreation and all this stuff and
podcasting, i'm just hoping tocontinue to expand my impact and
to continue to get better andlearn and just keep doing a
better job.
Thomas (20:15):
Is there another book in your future?
100%.
George (20:20):
I've got three that I'm working on.
The next one will be outprobably the next month or so.
And then I've got a journalthat I'm working on that'll come
out in September.
And then I've got a very, verybig book on personal leadership
that will come out at the end ofthe year.
So I've got a lot going on.
I try to write every day, andwhen I say try, i write Monday
through Friday for at least anhour every morning.
Thomas (20:42):
So when do you get up 420.
George (20:48):
Say it again 420 in the morning?
Thomas (20:52):
Yes, and when do?
you go to sleep, try to be inbed by eight o'clock or 820.
George (20:57):
Try to be in bed for eight hours.
Thomas (21:02):
So you don't have a lot of evening entertainments?
I guess I don't.
George (21:11):
Anyhow, at the six and the three year old, there's
plenty of.
And now baby?
Thomas (21:14):
Yeah, there's plenty of it, there's enough excitement in
my life, so yeah, So when thebaby cries in the middle of the
night, who gets up?
George (21:25):
Well, both of us do right now.
So my wife has the mostimportant part of everything
when it comes to the kids.
But I'm up with her just from aphysical necessity standpoint.
Due to the circumstances ofbirth, she's not supposed to
pick anybody up for a little bit.
(21:45):
So I'm up picking up andhanding and transferring and
cleaning diapers and all thatstuff.
Thomas (21:52):
You live a very busy life, I would imagine.
George (21:56):
Oh, for sure, For sure.
Thomas (21:58):
So what do you do to….
Very rich, very rich and busylife Yes, rich.
Rich is good In your profession, rich is good.
Rich and busy life Yes.
What do you do to relax?
How do you relax?
George (22:13):
I have a meditation practice.
I work out, i run, i liftweights, i… So those are the
primary things.
Thomas (22:28):
If you could have dinner with any three people, dead or
alive, who would it be?
George (22:33):
That's a great question And one I should give more
thought to.
I would have to.
I would include Jesus Christ,and I love Jordan Peterson, so I
think I'd like to have him atdinner with me And Jesus.
Uh-huh, uh-huh, let's see whois the third person.
Thomas (22:55):
I wonder how those two would get along, but that's
another question.
George (22:59):
Yeah, for sure.
Yeah, i think that that's right.
That'd probably make it evenmore interesting.
And who would be the third?
Thomas (23:05):
person.
George (23:09):
Well, let's throw Bruce Springsteen, because he's my
favorite, so… Okay, okay, okay.
Thomas (23:16):
And is there anything that you would want to ask any
of those three?
George (23:21):
I would ask just a million things.
What would I ask?
I'm not going to have a goodanswer for you about that, right
on the spot, thomas.
Thomas (23:37):
That's okay, any answer?
George (23:40):
But if we've got dinner, you know, I've got, you know,
hopefully enough time to be ableto be able to ask and have a
pretty robust conversation.
Thomas (23:51):
Right, okay, okay.
So nothing comes to your mindright now what you would ask any
of those three.
George (23:58):
No, uh-uh.
Thomas (23:59):
Okay, that's fine.
So just exploring yourpersonality a little bit more.
What is the nicest complimentyou ever received?
George (24:14):
Well, as a new writer, I've somebody who has always
enjoyed writing, but I wrote thefirst book last year at the end
of last year and now the How toGet Good at Money book came out
pretty recently But I'vereceived good feedback and
compliments on that And I'vebeen doing the podcast for six
(24:35):
years and you get feedback onthat.
But the book is just a littlebit different And you're nervous
.
I was nervous putting it outinto the world and everything
that sort of goes along with.
although it's the access or theability to be an author is a
(24:57):
lot lower.
the bar is a lot lower than itcertainly used to be, but
nevertheless it was.
I don't know if nervous it'scalled nervous sort of nervous
releasing out into the world.
So getting good feedback andcomplimenting praise about the
book and how it's been helpfulhas been wonderful.
Thomas (25:15):
Yes, yes.
So, speaking of wonderful, canyou think of a peak experience
in your life when you were likereally, really, really happy,
like really on top of the world?
Can you think of one suchexperience?
George (25:37):
I could think of a lot.
I could think of times from mytennis career where I won big
tournaments or I came out andhad a top ranking when I got
news about getting myscholarship Just achievements
that I've somebody who has adeep appreciation for human
(26:03):
excellence and for watchingpeople do what they really are
excellent at.
It almost brings me to tears.
Whether it's being at seeing aplay or seeing a live musical
performance or seeing anathletic achievement or seeing
somebody give a great talk, Ijust love it, And so when I'm
able to do that personally, Ienjoy that.
(26:26):
But just seeing other people doit as well is very, very moving
.
It makes me very, veryemotional.
Having my kids, I didn't used tocry And now I cry all the time.
It's crazy.
Like literally when we had areligious ceremony for my son
(26:47):
when he was born my oldest I wasgiving a speech or just a
little talk or whatever, And Ijust broke down.
I was crying.
I just couldn't even understandit, And so I think having a
family and being able to justhave a loving family is also
something I'm very proud of.
Thomas (27:06):
Yeah, No, i can.
I can see that I can certainlyidentify with that.
So what?
what does what does being humanmean to you then?
George (27:23):
This is something I spend a lot of time thinking
about, as of late, i hear a lotabout.
have you ever heard that sayingI'm a human being, not a human
doing?
Well, i think I am a humandoing.
right now, i am such a drivenhuman being that I'm wired to do
(27:47):
things.
I can certainly sit back, but Ilove my work.
What does it mean to be human?
I believe that my primedirective, number one objective
in my life is to get better andto realize my full potential.
I also recognize that that'snot what everybody else thinks
(28:09):
or believes, but it's true of me.
My experience as a human beingor human doing is waking up
every day and working to becomethe best possible version of me.
Thomas (28:27):
Well, that sounds good.
That sounds good.
Do you miss the competitivenessof the tennis games?
George (28:40):
No, no, i don't.
If I did, then I would juststart well, i don't know if
that's true or not, because Idon't have necessarily the time
to be playing in competitivesports right now, but there are
plenty of aspects of my lifethat I'm competing at, numerous.
So I identify as an athlete, iidentify as a competitor.
(29:01):
I'm just doing it in differentarenas or different mediums
today than on a tennis court.
Thomas (29:08):
Right, right, right.
Well, thank you.
Was there anything else,perhaps, that you would like to
say about yourself or your book?
George (29:23):
My work is.
I'm focused on helping peopleto get better at money so they
can live how they want, and thattakes lots of different forms.
So that is where my heart isand that is why I wake up every
day.
I recognize during the pandemicthat I needed to be stronger.
I needed to be physicallystronger, mentally stronger,
(29:45):
emotionally stronger all thesethings And I also realized that
I need to be an example of allof those things to myself and my
kids and my wife and mycommunity.
And if I can expand that outthrough the different platforms
I have, then I'm going to dothat.
(30:06):
So that is what I'm trying todo.
I close my podcast by sayingyou do your part by doing your
best.
I think that if we all focusedon minding our own business a
little bit more and focused onstrengthening ourselves and
becoming the best possibleversions of us, that many of the
problems that we're seeing,that we're not happy with in the
world, would self-correct.
(30:27):
That starts with us.
Thomas (30:31):
Amen to that.
Well, thank you, George.
That was really most enjoyable,most instructive.
I wish you continued success.
I think we both are interestedin really the same thing you
know making leaving this worldbehind a little bit better than
(30:51):
when we found it right.
And if we can do that, then ourlife has not been totally
meaningless.
My next guest on this program Ijust want to tell you very
briefly will be Wayne Altman.
He's the founder of MelodyClouds.
(31:14):
Wayne suffers from tinnitus ortinnitus, i'm not quite sure.
I think tinnitus, and waslooking for a relief when he
noticed that the only way hecould stop experiencing extreme
ringing in both ears was when helistened to binaural beats or
specific tones of music, andthat's when he realized he could
(31:34):
create something for people notlimited to this one condition,
but to share the healing andbeneficial effects of this
technology with everyone whowants it.
I hope you will join me andGeorge.
Thanks again.
Thank you, Thomas, take care,bye, bye.
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