March 25, 2025 • 31 mins
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Are you feeling stuck in a cycle of financial stress? Join Brad Nelson, founder of Debt Free Dad, as he interviews wealth strategist Todd Polke on the latest episode of the Debt Free Dad Podcast. Todd shares insights on how to shift your mindset, develop financial discipline, and break free from living paycheck to paycheck. Learn about Todd's journey from a burned-out personal trainer to a successful investor and wealth teacher. Discover proven systems and small changes that can help you save, invest, and create lasting wealth. Plus, Brad and Todd discuss mindset traps, financial decision-making frameworks, and the importance of establishing clear goals. Tune in for inspirational stories and practical advice to take control of your financial future.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Brad Nelson (00:00):
Hey, so are you tired of feeling stuck in the
middle?
You're working hard but neverquite reaching the financial
freedom that you crave.
Today, we are diving into howyou can break free from that
cycle with the help of a wealthstrategist, todd Polke.
Now, with years of experience,todd knows what it takes to
(00:20):
shift your mindset, accelerateyour financial growth and build
lasting wealth.
Now Todd is here to share someproven systems and some mindset
shifts that can help you stopliving paycheck to paycheck and
start creating a legacy thatoutlives you.
Stay tuned.
Announcer (00:37):
You're listening to the Debt-Free Dad Podcast with
Brad Nelson.
Brad and his co-hostsexperience the anxiety of living
paycheck to paycheck beforelearning the fundamentals of
financial success.
They are now on a mission toempower regular people to pay
off their debt for good andenjoy happier, less stressful
lives.
Keep listening forinspirational interviews, tips,
(00:59):
tricks and practical advice togain financial freedom.
Brad Nelson (01:02):
Hey guys, welcome to gain financial freedom.
Hey guys, welcome to today'sshow.
I am Brad Nelson, founder ofDebt-Free Dad.
I paid off about $45,000 ofdebt.
I've been debt-free now formore than 12 years and I've also
been fortunate to helpthousands of other people save
and pay off tens of millions ofdollars with the work that we do
here at Debt-Free Dad.
Now, after listening to thisepisode, if you're ready to take
(01:26):
things to the next level,you're ready to break free from
living paycheck to paycheck.
You want to reduce financialstress, you want to build your
savings and finally pay off yourdebt for good.
But, you know, maybe you're notreally quite sure where to get
started.
We've created some incrediblefree resources here at Debt Free
Dad to help you get there, andI'll be sharing some details
about how you get started withthose later on in today's
episode.
So hey, Todd, welcome to theDebt-Free Dad podcast.
(01:47):
So glad that you're joining ushere today, man.
Todd Polke (01:50):
Super appreciative dude.
Nice early one for me over here, but I'm happy to be here with
you.
Brad Nelson (01:54):
Yeah, you're all the way in Australia.
It's crazy the time zonedifference, like you're already
on the next day from where we'reat right now, which is crazy.
Todd Polke (02:01):
Yeah, correct, maybe the only thing in Australia
that we might be ahead of youguys with it.
But hey, like, if we've got onething, that's a good thing,
right, yeah?
Brad Nelson (02:08):
awesome, so can you share a little bit?
You're now an expert in helpingpeople build wealth and really
helping them reach theirfinancial dreams, but can you
tell us a little bit aboutyourself, like, how did you get
into that work and even for you,have you always been good with
money?
Or is this something that was agift to you and you started
teaching people?
Or what's your history with it?
Todd Polke (02:26):
Yeah no, I got into this world from a pain.
There's no other two ways toput it right.
I was a burned out personaltrainer in my very late teens,
got out of school, didn't dovery well out of it, graduated
the wrong end of average, wentinto personal training, and
health and well-being and sporthas always been my favorite
place to be, and I did the wholething of well, let's just work
(02:50):
as hard as we possibly can totry and get ahead in life, and I
thought that was my only rulethat I should be following, and
so I was getting up at four inthe morning, I was going until
about midnight the following day, just thinking that working
hard was just going to help meget ahead with everything, and I
wound up breaking myself byabout the age of 20.
Broke my body, wound up inhospital, broke my health, broke
my relationships.
I had no personal life, andthen the one thing that I
(03:13):
thought was that was supposed tobe working really well, which
is my finance.
I had to look at my bankaccount.
I realized I was still brokethere and I thought this shit's
broken.
There's got to be a better waythan this system that I'm
following right now and thatjust set me on a pathway of
studying and trying to learnfrom successful people, and I
learned this beautiful thing isthat profits are better than
(03:35):
wages.
The late Jim Rowan coined thatphrase.
It got me into the world ofinvesting and I wound up buying
my first property deal at aboutthe age of 20 years old.
I scrimped together and savedtogether and got a cheap little
two-bedroom place here over inAustralia, made more in that one
property deal than my entireyear's income.
Personal training, working 17hours a day, 50 weeks of the
(03:58):
year for the year on end andbreaking my back every single
day.
I just had this moment where,oh, wow, okay, here's where my
money is actually working harderfor me than I'm working for my
money.
What a concept.
And that was over 20 years agonow, and from that moment I just
fell in love with the world ofinvesting, where I just began
teaching.
(04:18):
I'm a teacher of heart and Godin the world of teaching people
how to build portfolios tocreate freedom in their life.
So, mate, that's my story in avery big nutshell.
Brad Nelson (04:27):
Yeah, and that's awesome, and I think there's a
lot of people out there that areprobably stuck or feeling stuck
.
You know, like you went throughyour life at a very young age,
I too, went through thisexperience.
Unfortunately, I wasn't 20.
I was more like 29, 30.
I wish it would have been 10years earlier.
Todd Polke (04:44):
Yeah, get pain.
Nice and early mate.
I just thought that was theright way to go.
Right, Right, right, I wish itwould have.
Brad Nelson (04:49):
I mean, 10 years is a long time.
I could have made some moreheadway.
But if I look at my own journeyeven you said it, you know you
look at everything andeverything just feels kind of
broken and I feel like there's alot of people who feel stuck.
What do do you feel in workingwith people and helping people?
(05:12):
What are some common mindsettraps that keep people from
seeing the potential of, likeyou said, real estate investing
or just investing in general, orjust getting out of debt or
just improving your finances?
What holds most people back,you think?
Do you know what?
Todd Polke (05:18):
I think you've touched on possibly the key
thing right there.
I believe that wealth hasalmost as much to do with
psychology and mindset as itdoes with actually some
practical tips and somepractical tactics that you can
take and deploy and we canunderstand why.
Right, you know our entirelives from the moment we're born
, with the education system andsociety and our parents who are
(05:39):
just doing the best they canwith what they know, and we're
just railroaded into this lifeof where we're just supposed to
work to pay the bills and becomefunctioning cogs in economic
will of society and with recenttimes, with inflation and I know
it's the same in the us, it hasbeen the cost of living in
australia, you know everyone'sjust the squeeze is on in a big,
big way now yeah and so we'reprogrammed our entire lives to
(06:01):
go and I've literally justfinished.
My book is about to be published, called escape the middle,
right, and the whole point is isthat our entire lives we're
programmed to this middle typeof living and, um, you know,
when we get into that level ofpsychology and living in that
space, sometimes it can feelreally difficult to kind of
break it right, because this iswhat we've been doing for
(06:23):
decades of our life, potentiallyright, right, you know, one of
the biggest things for me isthat when I work with investors
and work with people in terms ofshifting this is number one
you've got to get it clear onwhere you want to be going in
the future.
Right, because you've got tocreate a picture you know
further than where you are rightnow, more than where you are
right now.
So you have a North Star thatyou can put up in the sky and
(06:44):
that can help guide yourdecisions and guide your
direction in your entire life.
And then one of the biggestthings about shifting psychology
is not about you're just goingto take a magic pill and
everything's going to changeovernight.
It's really all about well,what are one or two small habits
that I can really begin workingon right now that are
normalizing wealth creation inmy life as opposed to
(07:05):
normalizing just work to pay thebills in my life, and that's
one of the big psychology shifts.
Without going super deep on it,one of the big psychology
shifts that I've found hashelped most people that I've
ever worked with.
Brad Nelson (07:16):
Yeah, for sure.
I feel like that's where I, inmy experience working with a lot
of people and helping them endpaycheck to paycheck living, is.
A lot of us are stuck in thatLike this is all I've known,
this is all I've known growingup, this is all my friends and
family do, this is all mycoworkers do.
So how did you or what do yourecommend to help people
challenge that and break throughthat?
Because it is a hard thing toseparate yourself from, even
(07:38):
while getting out of debt.
That was something I struggledwith, was kind of falling back
to my old ways while everybodyelse is doing this, like, why
should I be any different?
It took some time and somepractice and, honestly, some
failures in trying to get out ofdebt to learn, like I really
have got to go against what mostpeople are doing.
Todd Polke (07:55):
Yeah, it's so true, and you've got to be willing to
let people down.
And when I say that, it scaresa lot of people, because human
beings' connection is somethingwhich is so critical and so
important to us.
But we have to be prepared tolet people down, and what I mean
by that it's not about lettingthem down physically, but it's
it's letting them down based onthe expectations they have of
you, of how you're supposed tobehave and who you're supposed
(08:18):
to be.
You know anyone that'slistening in on this type of
podcast, like listening to youright now, like they're
obviously at some level, they'recommitted to a certain level of
personal growth.
They're committed to a certainlevel.
I want to become more than whatI am right now, and sometimes it
may feel like, hey, I just needto get out of a bit of debt, or
I need to do this because it'sreally painful right now.
(08:38):
But as we go through thatjourney of getting out of debt,
we actually become a differentperson in the meantime because,
all of a sudden, we actually tapinto these resources, this
level of awareness that we neverhad before, one of the things
that I have no way tosubstantiate this, but I heard
this really early on and Ithought this was just such a
beautiful frame of thinkingabout life was that every single
(08:59):
day, we walk past sevenopportunities that could turn us
into a millionaire.
We walked past sevenopportunities that could turn us
into a millionaire.
Now I have no way tosubstantiate that.
But what if you were looking atlife from that lens?
What if you were looking fromlife that there is an
opportunity that's sitting outthere?
But because of our level ofprogramming, we've just got some
blinkers on in our life rightnow that we're not recognizing.
(09:21):
What if we could actually starttaking those blinkers off to
see really what's out there inthe different types of
opportunities?
But you're right, it can bereally difficult because
everyone and everything aroundus is keeping us in this mode.
You know, one of the things Ialways talk about is shifting
your ecosystem right.
We will unconsciously,subconsciously, set up our
(09:43):
ecosystem around us to supportwho we currently are.
I'll say that again We'llunconsciously set up our
ecosystem around us to supportwho we currently are.
But you're not going to createa brand new level of result if
you keep with the same level ofthinking and you'll never
out-earn yourself.
And so one of the biggestthings we've got to focus on
doing is that we set this target, and so one of the biggest
(10:05):
things we've got to focus ondoing is that we set this target
.
Then we've got to decide who dowe need to become the quality
person in order to create thislevel of result.
And then how can I design myecosystem around me to support
who I'm becoming into the futureto create this different level
result, and that could be simplethings like a vision board.
It could be having a debtfunnel that you're constantly
ticking off as you're kind ofachieving your certain levels,
(10:28):
even if it's $5 a week, whateverit is, or maybe it's a.
I used to set an alarm on myphone.
It used to just come up and sayare you being busy or are you
being productive?
And so it'd interrupt mypattern every 90 minutes in my
life just to make sure that I'mstill playing my life at a
different level that I've chosento be.
Brad Nelson (10:46):
Yeah, yeah, and you're so right.
I mean it's that old saying ofyou know you're the average of
what the seven people yousurround yourself with right, I
love that you brought that up.
That ecosystem, subconsciouslyyou're creating that and it does
A lot of times.
When it comes to financialissues, financial challenges, we
don't understand thatsubconscious, our mindset, our
(11:09):
money beliefs.
They really can hold us backand, like you said, you almost
get this tunnel vision where youcan't really see outside.
And you'd mentioned these sevenopportunities that you could
become a millionaire.
But I mean you get this tunnelvision so much it's hard to kind
of see outside of what thepotential is actually out there.
Todd Polke (11:21):
Yeah, yeah, it's so true.
And sometimes we have to createthat break in what our version
of reality was, ourselves andhow we're going to actively put
ourselves in a differentenvironment that's going to
expose us to different things inlife.
You know, when I was 21, like Iused to wander around some of
the wealthiest neighborhoods inAustralia, in a certain place in
(11:43):
the Gold Coast, and I would godoor knocking and my door
knocking would be would just behey, do you?
Can I have five minutes of yourtime?
I just wanted to ask somequestions around how you got to
where you are and like I wasjust purposely putting myself in
a different environment so Icould actually shift my entire
level of conditioning, becauseif I kept playing in the same
level of conditioning, I justknew I was going to keep getting
(12:05):
the same result.
And I can tell you now it feltreally scary to go and do that
the first few times.
It was weird, but what I reallyfound is that you know what?
There were so many successfulpeople who were just willing to
have a conversation with me andwe can sometimes get in our head
that we're going to getrejected or things like that,
but you know what Everysuccessful person has always had
(12:26):
a hand up along the way intheir life in some way, shape or
form, and how they're willingto help is absolutely phenomenal
.
So you know, when you canintentionally put yourself in an
environment to break thatconditioning, you can really
kind of fast forward yoursuccess really really rapidly
doing that.
Brad Nelson (12:41):
Yeah, I'm just interested in asking those
individuals did you findanything that was like some
radical thing that they did tobe able to get there, or was it
some basic?
Things and consistency, likewhat were the things that got
them there?
Todd Polke (12:53):
Yeah, dude, like that question is key because a
lot of people are always lookingfor the silver bullet, aren't
they?
Yeah right, how can I get mysilver bullet?
How can I get my?
You know the one trick ponythat's going to do everything
for me and solve all my problems.
You know, people spend decadesof their life getting themselves
into a certain position andthen just want it to change
overnight.
That's just get rich.
Quick thinking.
It's short term thinking andshort-term thinking sacrifices
(13:16):
long-term results.
I always relate it back to myhealth and fitness background.
People get themselves to acertain position in their health
and physicality and wellnessand level of energy they have,
and then they often look forshortcuts.
And they look for shortcuts bygoing on radical diets or and
they get on this yo-yo styledieting thing.
And the problem with diet isthat you know, apart from the
(13:37):
first three letters, a die andpeople relate that to it, right.
But the problem with a diet isthat there's a start and a
finish point, right, and youknow people finish a diet and
then they'll go and celebrate byeating some crap or you know,
doing something they shouldn'tbe doing.
Where the lifestyle just showingup, doing the basics
consistently, is where thesuccess is won.
(13:57):
It's not the big, crazy,outrageous leaps, it's just well
.
How can I do small, seeminglyinsignificant things on a
consistent basis over a longperiod of time and they stack up
, and stack up and stack up andeventually they avalanche to
this thing called wealth andsuccess, right and freedom, or
debt free, or more time with thekids, or legacy you want to
leave, and you know, the mostbeautiful thing about knowing
(14:19):
any of that is just simplybecause it's about the small
things.
It means that anybody can do it.
I truly have that belief andyou'll know that as well working
with all the people you do.
You just got to put one foot infront of the other and just
start.
How do you?
Brad Nelson (14:31):
fight against, though.
Where we are in a society iseverything is get it.
Now you mentioned the diet andfitness industry.
You look at get out of debtproducts heck, even the apps
like Amazon and all the stuffthat you can buy on your phones.
Like everything is, I can getit today or tomorrow.
I don't even have to go to thegrocery store anymore, I don't
have to go get my own food.
Everything is likeinstantaneous.
(14:52):
And I think sometimes, when westart talking about health and
fitness, getting out of debt,sometimes, when we start talking
about health and fitness,getting out of debt, improving
your overall life, buildingwealth, that doesn't happen
overnight.
So how would you, in yourexperience in working with
people, how do you get them overthat hump of thinking like this
(15:13):
is going to take time, andthere's nothing wrong with that,
and I think sometimes we're soconditioned to be like if.
Todd Polke (15:16):
I don't fix my life in 30 days, I'm a failure, right
, right, this is what we alwaystalk about that wealth is a
marathon.
It's not a sprint, and we knowthat.
But you're so right, we're soused to getting everything now
and deliveries within hours andlike just everything's at our
fingertips that it's made ourattention spans incredibly small
, but also our patience in termsof taking these small steps
(15:38):
over time.
One of the things I always talkto my students about is that
you're never going to createfinancial freedom without some
financial discipline.
Discipline, for a lot of people, can feel like a pathway to
freedom, right.
Discipline equals freedom.
Right, it's not disciplineequals prison.
Discipline equals freedom.
But it's a muscle that we haveto start exercising as well,
right?
What my experience has shown menow is that it's all about
(16:02):
recording the small wins, right,and it's the momentum.
Momentum is such a powerfulforce in life and that when we
can actually start seeing someprogressive wins, even if
they're the smallest, tiniestthings, you know, we talk about
saving.
Like we know, the common dogmais that you should save 10% of
your income or 20% of yourincome.
It's a common dogma, we'retaught, but sometimes people
(16:24):
aren't in a position to savethat and they go well.
Todd, you don't understand.
Things are super tight.
I've got debt, I've got this.
I just can't save 10% and I gogreat, no issues.
Why don't we start with 1%?
And if you can't start with 1%,then I would just say you know
a bit of tough love, to be quitefrank.
Okay, let's take a little bitof a closer look at what you're
(16:44):
committed to in life.
Are you committed to stayingwhere you are?
Are you committed to creatingsomething different for yourself
and your family and start with1%?
And then, month number two, goto 2%, month number three go to
3%.
Now, month number four, go to4% and start creating the habit
of actually saving and investingin yourself.
And there's some magical thingsthat happen.
(17:05):
Like you would have seen it inall that you do.
There's an energy to money,right as soon as you actually
start making the choice and thedecision that you're going to
invest in yourself and that youare worth more and that it is
possible for you and you canactually save.
Even if it's five dollars aweek or whatever it is, there's
an energy to that money that,all of a sudden, that your money
(17:25):
has a purpose, it has a placeto be working for you in your
life.
And then it starts opening up,because money loves to be valued
, it loves order, love,structure, loves to be valued.
And it starts opening up yourawareness to what else is
possible.
And, um, you get into the habitof actually normalizing.
I keep telling this normalizedwealth creation, right.
Normalized financial freedomyeah, we spend enough time
(17:49):
normalizing work to pay thebills.
That's a shit strategy, pureand simple, right.
Um, but there's betterstrategies out there.
And if we can start normalizingthat and recording the wins
because then we get those littlemini endorphin hits on the way,
step-by-step and knowing thatwe're actually achieving and
succeeding- yeah, I mean this isthe formula for building
confidence.
Brad Nelson (18:08):
And when you're just getting started you don't
have a lot of confidence, butthe only way to get there is,
like you said, start with 1%.
If you can't do 10%, start withsomething small and that result
builds confidence.
You keep doing it, it keepsbuilding confidence and, like
you said, it grows.
This tremendous amount ofmomentum and, yeah, love that
Quick question for you.
I was poking around on yoursocial media channels a little
bit and on one of the videos youwere talking through about how,
(18:31):
when you're looking at aninvestment, you take your
clients through like a funnelprocess and making a good
financial decision on whetherthe investment is a good option
or if it's a bad option.
I'm assuming this funnelprocess works for a lot of
different types of decisions youwant to make Correct.
Well, like, can you walk usthrough a little bit of what
that looks like so people canlearn, like, how do I know if
I'm making a good financialdecision for myself?
Todd Polke (18:54):
Yeah, and you know what's interesting about that is
that it's all about becoming abetter quality decision maker.
I'm convinced, absolutelyconvinced, that success in
anything is all about makingbetter quality decisions, and so
if we can start learning how tobecome a better financial
decision maker, then it'sinevitable where our life is
going to wind up, and if we cankeep leveling up that
(19:15):
decision-making framework andprocess that we use, it can
really radically change ourworld, right?
And so what I'm going to talkabout here is I talk, this is a
decision-making framework, right, and it's just as true for
wealth and financial wellbeingas it is for making good
decisions in business orrelationships or things like
that, and it's really just avery core framework that we can
(19:38):
actually filter a decisionthrough.
You know, the first thing to meis all about alignment, right,
and whenever I have a decisionin my life to make, whether
that's investment decision orwhether that's you know, I'm
going to do this with my kids,or whether that's a pathway for
business or whatever it is thevery first thing to me is all
about alignment.
Is this decision I'm about tomake in alignment with my value
(20:02):
system or is it not?
If it's not in alignment withmy value system.
It goes against my values.
I'm an out.
It doesn't matter how muchmoney I'd make, it doesn't
matter what it would bring, I'mjust out.
I'm a big believer in valuesbased investing and values based
decision making, becauseotherwise that's my sleep and
night factor, right, right.
And the other big question isis this question taking me
(20:24):
closer towards my outcomes orfurther away towards my outcomes
?
And so if it doesn't pass those, my decision is done, I'm out,
I'm sorted, right.
That's why I won't reallyinvest in things that destroy
the planet like as much as Ipossibly can, because that's a
value.
Won't really invest in thingsthat destroy the planet like as
much as I possibly can, becausethat's a value system of mine.
In conservation, right, and soI just want to invest in things
that contribute to that cause.
(20:45):
That I don't believe in, right,I'm a big believer in that.
So the first thing is all aboutalignment.
The second thing is potential.
What's my potential return oninvestment on this right?
And that return on investmentcould be hey, am I going to pay
down some debt or I'm going tomake my first investment?
Right?
There's a return on investmenton each of those right.
Well, the return on investmentif I pay down debt, is going to
(21:07):
equal this much, the return oninvestment versus making this
investment is going to equalthis much and is the potential
actually worth the decision?
And once again, if it's not,then you already know you're
done, you're out right.
Because sometimes we make thesedecisions without thinking
about the outcomes and werealize, well, you know, I
probably could have made abetter decision there, or even
(21:27):
by doing nothing would have leftme in a better spot.
So I think about potential, soalignment potential.
The next thing I always thinkabout is risk, right, so am I
comfortable with the potentialrisk based on the return I can
potentially make?
So always think about thoserisks in the first order and
second order decisions andconsequences that can wind up
making.
(21:47):
And if the risk is too highversus the reward, then I
already know that again, not agreat decision to be making.
And then, finally, isopportunity cost.
Right when I sit there and I go, okay, well, if I make this
decision over here, thenpotentially it's gonna uh,
there's an I or I could havedone this opportunity over here
then there's an opportunity costto not actually being able to
(22:09):
take advantage of that andsometimes that can be the most
expensive opportunity uh costthat we can have, like, for
example, making the decision toinvest versus not.
The opportunity cost for lateron is huge.
You know the bill always comesdue.
Making the decision to investor not invest, the bill comes to
.
You either pay it up front oryou pay it down the track
somewhere.
So you know when I think aboutdecision making.
(22:31):
How do we become better qualityfinancial decision makers?
Is it a lot more values?
Is it going to get me myoutcome?
Is the potential worth makingthe decision at all?
What's the risk involved in it?
Is that a reasonable risk I'mwilling to take?
And if I make the decision, itmeans I can't do this other
thing.
And what's the opportunity costassociated to that?
And it's a super simpleframework that you can run it
(22:52):
through there within a couple ofminutes and decision made,
because people sometimes spend alot of time just going back and
forth and back and forth aboutdecisions and it's taking just
way too long for them and makingno decision at all.
Brad Nelson (23:03):
Yeah, and I love this, and you can apply that
framework to so many differentareas in your financial life,
whether it be buying a car ormaking a purchase.
I think it is so simple ifyou're starting to use it Now.
You mentioned vision.
You mentioned things aboutgoals.
Obviously, this framework kindof pairs really well with
something like that, andobviously a lot of people who
live paycheck to paycheckincluding myself at one time I
(23:23):
was just kind of winging it,flying by the seat of my pants,
didn't really have any sort ofclear direction as to where I'm
going, Any advice, like anythingto help someone with, because
that's a big question what'syour vision or what's your
purpose or what is it that youwant out of life?
Anything that you could suggestto help people try to figure
that out.
Todd Polke (23:40):
Yeah, I went through this journey quite hard, to be
honest, and I probably made itmuch harder on myself than I
really needed to ever be.
Probably about, oh, I'm 41 now,so probably about when I was
about 10 years ago, I was havinga bit of a crisis, right, and
my crisis was all about what amI here to do in the world?
What am I here to do in theplanet?
(24:00):
What's my reason for being?
What's my purpose, what's mymission?
What's the big cosmic thingthat I'm here to do?
And I was asking thesequestions, and big questions to
ask, right, and I sent myselfcrazy for years trying to figure
this out, thinking that Ineeded to have it all perfectly
figured out before I could takesome steps forward.
I got to this point and I had abit of an epiphany at that time
(24:24):
.
Is that you know what it's okaynot to know exactly what it is.
When I'm ready and when theworld is ready, more is going to
reveal itself.
But what's the closest thingthat I know that it's supposed
to be right now?
And why don't I just starttaking a step towards that
direction?
And here's what I realized isthat, as I began to take steps
towards that direction.
(24:44):
I became a different personbecause I started having
different experiences.
I had different learnings.
I grew as a person and as Igrew and I learned some more
things, my awareness began toopen up.
And as my awareness began toopen up, I began to recognize
different things that I wasn'tseeing before.
I was seeing through adifferent lens.
And so then I'd ask the samequestion again Okay, maybe I
(25:08):
don't know exactly what it isnow, but what's the closest?
I know that it is.
And then I zigzag back theother way, and so I started
moving towards that direction,and this is what success success
is like.
It's very seldom.
Is it this linear journey wherewe just go oh, I know exactly
what I'm here to do, I know howto get there, I know what's
going on like and that's, we'rejust going to do this and
there's not going to be anyproblems, right?
It's always going to be thiszigzagging process and be okay
(25:30):
with taking some wrongdirections, and I set myself
crazy trying to figure this outfor a little period of time.
That's talking about some bigthings, right, but what if we
just bring it down to somethings that we want in life,
right?
What if we just talk about.
I want my kids to be able tounderstand money.
I want to give my kids afinancial education, because
(25:51):
that's something that's reallyimportant.
What are your values tellingyou?
You want more time with yourfamily.
You want to be able to giveback at another level, whether
that's to a cause you believe inor to the planet or some people
you care about.
Maybe you're just sick to deathof your job and to you it's just
about.
I just want some more time, Iwant some more choice.
I want to feel more free.
(26:12):
I want to feel like I have alittle bit more control and you
can just come down to someabsolute basics around.
What do you want to create foryour life?
Right, and if we can just startactually getting ourselves
towards, moving towards thatdirection, right, because most
people live at the financialwaterline, where they're
treading water financially andthe water keeps lapping above
the eyes and we're splutteringand we can't breathe sometimes
(26:34):
and sometimes it's hard to liftour head above the waterline to
see something bigger thanourselves than where we are
right now.
And as soon as we can actuallystart putting some firm feet on
a nice, solid financialfoundation.
I can tell you right now, andyou know this, it just lifts
your head above the financialwaterline.
You can see so much furtherthan what you could see before.
(26:55):
So I would just say be okaywith not knowing everything, but
what's something that you canbegin working on and just start
on that and just know that asyou go down that journey, more
is going to open up.
You're going to become more,you're going to grow more,
you're going to see more, and asyou do that, the clarity that
you gain for what, that ultimatething for you is just going to
(27:16):
open up at a deeper level aswell.
Brad Nelson (27:18):
Yeah, so good, Todd .
This has been awesome.
Where can people learn moreabout you?
Now, you mentioned you have abook and obviously you've got a
website.
Where can listeners learn moreabout you?
Todd Polke (27:28):
Yeah, absolutely.
My book is being launched inAustralia in all the major
bookstores over here.
Then we're going to belaunching in the US very soon
after, kind of three to fourmonths after, but it's called
Escape the Middle.
It's on Amazon.
You can get that on pre-ordersright now in US, also in
Australia.
Now it is really an escape planout of this middle type of
(27:48):
living, middle income, middleearning, middle happiness,
middle time, middle freedom,middle health.
How can we create an escapeplan for the future on that?
And so that's a place thatpeople can go.
But you know what?
One of the biggest places I runa free Facebook community
called the Wealth Dojo, and it'scalled the Wealth Dojo.
I've got a martial artsbackground so I couldn't help
myself.
But it's called the Wealth Dojobecause dojo actually means
(28:09):
place of learning, place ofpractice.
That's what it means.
And so we run a free Facebookcommunity.
It's called the Wealth Dojo,and it's just a place where
other people who want to learnhow to invest, how to take
control of their finances, wejust come and hang out.
I offer a whole lot of freeresources and tools and things
like that for people to be ableto take part of.
So love for people to be in thegroup Absolutely free, and it's
just there to add value.
Brad Nelson (28:30):
Awesome, todd.
Thanks so much for being here,man, sharing some wisdom.
It's been great to have you onand a lot of what you talk about
.
It's just great to have adifferent viewpoint and so good
to have you.
Thanks so much.
Todd Polke (28:43):
I really appreciate it.
Thanks, man, thanks for allthat you do.
Brad Nelson (28:45):
All right, guys, if you're ready to break free from
living paycheck to paycheck,you want to reduce financial
stress, you want to buildsavings and finally pay off your
debt for good.
But again, maybe you're notsure where to get started.
Don't worry, we've got youcovered here at Debt Free Dad,
simplify my Money is sent to youevery single Sunday to your
email.
Simplify your Money is yourstep-by-step roadmap to better
(29:06):
financial control, and you'realso going to learn easy to
follow strategies to help youmanage your money effectively
Stress-free money decisions thatare going to help you simplify
your financial life with proventips that actually work for
regular, normal, everyday people, and you're also going to gain
the tools and the confidence totackle your financial goals head
on.
If you want to sign up forSimplify my Money, click on the
(29:40):
link.
At the bad things that may be,let's talk about debt.
Announcer (29:45):
Let's talk about debt .
Tune into Debt Free, dad, tuneinto Debt Free.
Brad Nelson (29:51):
Dad.
All right, guys.
That sound means it's time forthe celebrations of the show,
and today we are kicking offwith Holly.
Holly says I'm getting someunexpected money from a CRA, so
I am going to add $500 straightto my emergency fund, which is
incredible, holly.
And she adds I am also addingto my sinking funds for a summer
(30:15):
trip that I have planned.
Holly, great planning, greatbudgeting.
Win, awesome job, jamie.
Jamie says I have my $1,000emergency fund and I have not
had to go through thedrive-through to get coffee in
the last month because of betterplanning.
Jamie, awesome wins,congratulations to you and
Vanessa.
Over $1,000 is in my emergencyfund and I paid an extra $1,000
(30:39):
to my next debt.
Had to push the goal back alittle bit on another card I was
paying off because of a $530emergency vet visit, but I will
be getting that next debt paidoff here mid -month next month,
which is awesome.
Vanessa, congratulations to you.
And, as always, guys,congratulations to all of you
guys who are taking a stand foryour financial life and you're
(31:01):
wanting better.
Hey, we get that.
Getting out of debt it's noteasy but with our help and
hopefully with your consistencyand discipline, we promise you
guys, this will be some of thebest work that you guys do in
your entire life.
Hey, thanks for joining us ontoday's show and we will see you
guys on the next episode.
Announcer (31:22):
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Visit DebtFreeDadcom.
(31:42):
Catch you next week.
Hey, so are you tired of feeling stuck in the
middle?
You're working hard but neverquite reaching the financial
freedom that you crave.
Today, we are diving into howyou can break free from that
cycle with the help of a wealthstrategist, todd Polke.
Now, with years of experience,todd knows what it takes to
(00:20):
shift your mindset, accelerateyour financial growth and build
lasting wealth.
Now Todd is here to share someproven systems and some mindset
shifts that can help you stopliving paycheck to paycheck and
start creating a legacy thatoutlives you.
Stay tuned.
Announcer (00:37):
You're listening to the Debt-Free Dad Podcast with
Brad Nelson.
Brad and his co-hostsexperience the anxiety of living
paycheck to paycheck beforelearning the fundamentals of
financial success.
They are now on a mission toempower regular people to pay
off their debt for good andenjoy happier, less stressful
lives.
Keep listening forinspirational interviews, tips,
(00:59):
tricks and practical advice togain financial freedom.
Brad Nelson (01:02):
Hey guys, welcome to gain financial freedom.
Hey guys, welcome to today'sshow.
I am Brad Nelson, founder ofDebt-Free Dad.
I paid off about $45,000 ofdebt.
I've been debt-free now formore than 12 years and I've also
been fortunate to helpthousands of other people save
and pay off tens of millions ofdollars with the work that we do
here at Debt-Free Dad.
Now, after listening to thisepisode, if you're ready to take
(01:26):
things to the next level,you're ready to break free from
living paycheck to paycheck.
You want to reduce financialstress, you want to build your
savings and finally pay off yourdebt for good.
But, you know, maybe you're notreally quite sure where to get
started.
We've created some incrediblefree resources here at Debt Free
Dad to help you get there, andI'll be sharing some details
about how you get started withthose later on in today's
episode.
So hey, Todd, welcome to theDebt-Free Dad podcast.
(01:47):
So glad that you're joining ushere today, man.
Todd Polke (01:50):
Super appreciative dude.
Nice early one for me over here, but I'm happy to be here with
you.
Brad Nelson (01:54):
Yeah, you're all the way in Australia.
It's crazy the time zonedifference, like you're already
on the next day from where we'reat right now, which is crazy.
Todd Polke (02:01):
Yeah, correct, maybe the only thing in Australia
that we might be ahead of youguys with it.
But hey, like, if we've got onething, that's a good thing,
right, yeah?
Brad Nelson (02:08):
awesome, so can you share a little bit?
You're now an expert in helpingpeople build wealth and really
helping them reach theirfinancial dreams, but can you
tell us a little bit aboutyourself, like, how did you get
into that work and even for you,have you always been good with
money?
Or is this something that was agift to you and you started
teaching people?
Or what's your history with it?
Todd Polke (02:26):
Yeah no, I got into this world from a pain.
There's no other two ways toput it right.
I was a burned out personaltrainer in my very late teens,
got out of school, didn't dovery well out of it, graduated
the wrong end of average, wentinto personal training, and
health and well-being and sporthas always been my favorite
place to be, and I did the wholething of well, let's just work
(02:50):
as hard as we possibly can totry and get ahead in life, and I
thought that was my only rulethat I should be following, and
so I was getting up at four inthe morning, I was going until
about midnight the following day, just thinking that working
hard was just going to help meget ahead with everything, and I
wound up breaking myself byabout the age of 20.
Broke my body, wound up inhospital, broke my health, broke
my relationships.
I had no personal life, andthen the one thing that I
(03:13):
thought was that was supposed tobe working really well, which
is my finance.
I had to look at my bankaccount.
I realized I was still brokethere and I thought this shit's
broken.
There's got to be a better waythan this system that I'm
following right now and thatjust set me on a pathway of
studying and trying to learnfrom successful people, and I
learned this beautiful thing isthat profits are better than
(03:35):
wages.
The late Jim Rowan coined thatphrase.
It got me into the world ofinvesting and I wound up buying
my first property deal at aboutthe age of 20 years old.
I scrimped together and savedtogether and got a cheap little
two-bedroom place here over inAustralia, made more in that one
property deal than my entireyear's income.
Personal training, working 17hours a day, 50 weeks of the
(03:58):
year for the year on end andbreaking my back every single
day.
I just had this moment where,oh, wow, okay, here's where my
money is actually working harderfor me than I'm working for my
money.
What a concept.
And that was over 20 years agonow, and from that moment I just
fell in love with the world ofinvesting, where I just began
teaching.
(04:18):
I'm a teacher of heart and Godin the world of teaching people
how to build portfolios tocreate freedom in their life.
So, mate, that's my story in avery big nutshell.
Brad Nelson (04:27):
Yeah, and that's awesome, and I think there's a
lot of people out there that areprobably stuck or feeling stuck
.
You know, like you went throughyour life at a very young age,
I too, went through thisexperience.
Unfortunately, I wasn't 20.
I was more like 29, 30.
I wish it would have been 10years earlier.
Todd Polke (04:44):
Yeah, get pain.
Nice and early mate.
I just thought that was theright way to go.
Right, Right, right, I wish itwould have.
Brad Nelson (04:49):
I mean, 10 years is a long time.
I could have made some moreheadway.
But if I look at my own journeyeven you said it, you know you
look at everything andeverything just feels kind of
broken and I feel like there's alot of people who feel stuck.
What do do you feel in workingwith people and helping people?
(05:12):
What are some common mindsettraps that keep people from
seeing the potential of, likeyou said, real estate investing
or just investing in general, orjust getting out of debt or
just improving your finances?
What holds most people back,you think?
Do you know what?
Todd Polke (05:18):
I think you've touched on possibly the key
thing right there.
I believe that wealth hasalmost as much to do with
psychology and mindset as itdoes with actually some
practical tips and somepractical tactics that you can
take and deploy and we canunderstand why.
Right, you know our entirelives from the moment we're born
, with the education system andsociety and our parents who are
(05:39):
just doing the best they canwith what they know, and we're
just railroaded into this lifeof where we're just supposed to
work to pay the bills and becomefunctioning cogs in economic
will of society and with recenttimes, with inflation and I know
it's the same in the us, it hasbeen the cost of living in
australia, you know everyone'sjust the squeeze is on in a big,
big way now yeah and so we'reprogrammed our entire lives to
(06:01):
go and I've literally justfinished.
My book is about to be published, called escape the middle,
right, and the whole point is isthat our entire lives we're
programmed to this middle typeof living and, um, you know,
when we get into that level ofpsychology and living in that
space, sometimes it can feelreally difficult to kind of
break it right, because this iswhat we've been doing for
(06:23):
decades of our life, potentiallyright, right, you know, one of
the biggest things for me isthat when I work with investors
and work with people in terms ofshifting this is number one
you've got to get it clear onwhere you want to be going in
the future.
Right, because you've got tocreate a picture you know
further than where you are rightnow, more than where you are
right now.
So you have a North Star thatyou can put up in the sky and
(06:44):
that can help guide yourdecisions and guide your
direction in your entire life.
And then one of the biggestthings about shifting psychology
is not about you're just goingto take a magic pill and
everything's going to changeovernight.
It's really all about well,what are one or two small habits
that I can really begin workingon right now that are
normalizing wealth creation inmy life as opposed to
(07:05):
normalizing just work to pay thebills in my life, and that's
one of the big psychology shifts.
Without going super deep on it,one of the big psychology
shifts that I've found hashelped most people that I've
ever worked with.
Brad Nelson (07:16):
Yeah, for sure.
I feel like that's where I, inmy experience working with a lot
of people and helping them endpaycheck to paycheck living, is.
A lot of us are stuck in thatLike this is all I've known,
this is all I've known growingup, this is all my friends and
family do, this is all mycoworkers do.
So how did you or what do yourecommend to help people
challenge that and break throughthat?
Because it is a hard thing toseparate yourself from, even
(07:38):
while getting out of debt.
That was something I struggledwith, was kind of falling back
to my old ways while everybodyelse is doing this, like, why
should I be any different?
It took some time and somepractice and, honestly, some
failures in trying to get out ofdebt to learn, like I really
have got to go against what mostpeople are doing.
Todd Polke (07:55):
Yeah, it's so true, and you've got to be willing to
let people down.
And when I say that, it scaresa lot of people, because human
beings' connection is somethingwhich is so critical and so
important to us.
But we have to be prepared tolet people down, and what I mean
by that it's not about lettingthem down physically, but it's
it's letting them down based onthe expectations they have of
you, of how you're supposed tobehave and who you're supposed
(08:18):
to be.
You know anyone that'slistening in on this type of
podcast, like listening to youright now, like they're
obviously at some level, they'recommitted to a certain level of
personal growth.
They're committed to a certainlevel.
I want to become more than whatI am right now, and sometimes it
may feel like, hey, I just needto get out of a bit of debt, or
I need to do this because it'sreally painful right now.
(08:38):
But as we go through thatjourney of getting out of debt,
we actually become a differentperson in the meantime because,
all of a sudden, we actually tapinto these resources, this
level of awareness that we neverhad before, one of the things
that I have no way tosubstantiate this, but I heard
this really early on and Ithought this was just such a
beautiful frame of thinkingabout life was that every single
(08:59):
day, we walk past sevenopportunities that could turn us
into a millionaire.
We walked past sevenopportunities that could turn us
into a millionaire.
Now I have no way tosubstantiate that.
But what if you were looking atlife from that lens?
What if you were looking fromlife that there is an
opportunity that's sitting outthere?
But because of our level ofprogramming, we've just got some
blinkers on in our life rightnow that we're not recognizing.
(09:21):
What if we could actually starttaking those blinkers off to
see really what's out there inthe different types of
opportunities?
But you're right, it can bereally difficult because
everyone and everything aroundus is keeping us in this mode.
You know, one of the things Ialways talk about is shifting
your ecosystem right.
We will unconsciously,subconsciously, set up our
(09:43):
ecosystem around us to supportwho we currently are.
I'll say that again We'llunconsciously set up our
ecosystem around us to supportwho we currently are.
But you're not going to createa brand new level of result if
you keep with the same level ofthinking and you'll never
out-earn yourself.
And so one of the biggestthings we've got to focus on
doing is that we set this target, and so one of the biggest
(10:05):
things we've got to focus ondoing is that we set this target
.
Then we've got to decide who dowe need to become the quality
person in order to create thislevel of result.
And then how can I design myecosystem around me to support
who I'm becoming into the futureto create this different level
result, and that could be simplethings like a vision board.
It could be having a debtfunnel that you're constantly
ticking off as you're kind ofachieving your certain levels,
(10:28):
even if it's $5 a week, whateverit is, or maybe it's a.
I used to set an alarm on myphone.
It used to just come up and sayare you being busy or are you
being productive?
And so it'd interrupt mypattern every 90 minutes in my
life just to make sure that I'mstill playing my life at a
different level that I've chosento be.
Brad Nelson (10:46):
Yeah, yeah, and you're so right.
I mean it's that old saying ofyou know you're the average of
what the seven people yousurround yourself with right, I
love that you brought that up.
That ecosystem, subconsciouslyyou're creating that and it does
A lot of times.
When it comes to financialissues, financial challenges, we
don't understand thatsubconscious, our mindset, our
(11:09):
money beliefs.
They really can hold us backand, like you said, you almost
get this tunnel vision where youcan't really see outside.
And you'd mentioned these sevenopportunities that you could
become a millionaire.
But I mean you get this tunnelvision so much it's hard to kind
of see outside of what thepotential is actually out there.
Todd Polke (11:21):
Yeah, yeah, it's so true.
And sometimes we have to createthat break in what our version
of reality was, ourselves andhow we're going to actively put
ourselves in a differentenvironment that's going to
expose us to different things inlife.
You know, when I was 21, like Iused to wander around some of
the wealthiest neighborhoods inAustralia, in a certain place in
(11:43):
the Gold Coast, and I would godoor knocking and my door
knocking would be would just behey, do you?
Can I have five minutes of yourtime?
I just wanted to ask somequestions around how you got to
where you are and like I wasjust purposely putting myself in
a different environment so Icould actually shift my entire
level of conditioning, becauseif I kept playing in the same
level of conditioning, I justknew I was going to keep getting
(12:05):
the same result.
And I can tell you now it feltreally scary to go and do that
the first few times.
It was weird, but what I reallyfound is that you know what?
There were so many successfulpeople who were just willing to
have a conversation with me andwe can sometimes get in our head
that we're going to getrejected or things like that,
but you know what Everysuccessful person has always had
(12:26):
a hand up along the way intheir life in some way, shape or
form, and how they're willingto help is absolutely phenomenal
.
So you know, when you canintentionally put yourself in an
environment to break thatconditioning, you can really
kind of fast forward yoursuccess really really rapidly
doing that.
Brad Nelson (12:41):
Yeah, I'm just interested in asking those
individuals did you findanything that was like some
radical thing that they did tobe able to get there, or was it
some basic?
Things and consistency, likewhat were the things that got
them there?
Todd Polke (12:53):
Yeah, dude, like that question is key because a
lot of people are always lookingfor the silver bullet, aren't
they?
Yeah right, how can I get mysilver bullet?
How can I get my?
You know the one trick ponythat's going to do everything
for me and solve all my problems.
You know, people spend decadesof their life getting themselves
into a certain position andthen just want it to change
overnight.
That's just get rich.
Quick thinking.
It's short term thinking andshort-term thinking sacrifices
(13:16):
long-term results.
I always relate it back to myhealth and fitness background.
People get themselves to acertain position in their health
and physicality and wellnessand level of energy they have,
and then they often look forshortcuts.
And they look for shortcuts bygoing on radical diets or and
they get on this yo-yo styledieting thing.
And the problem with diet isthat you know, apart from the
(13:37):
first three letters, a die andpeople relate that to it, right.
But the problem with a diet isthat there's a start and a
finish point, right, and youknow people finish a diet and
then they'll go and celebrate byeating some crap or you know,
doing something they shouldn'tbe doing.
Where the lifestyle just showingup, doing the basics
consistently, is where thesuccess is won.
(13:57):
It's not the big, crazy,outrageous leaps, it's just well
.
How can I do small, seeminglyinsignificant things on a
consistent basis over a longperiod of time and they stack up
, and stack up and stack up andeventually they avalanche to
this thing called wealth andsuccess, right and freedom, or
debt free, or more time with thekids, or legacy you want to
leave, and you know, the mostbeautiful thing about knowing
(14:19):
any of that is just simplybecause it's about the small
things.
It means that anybody can do it.
I truly have that belief andyou'll know that as well working
with all the people you do.
You just got to put one foot infront of the other and just
start.
How do you?
Brad Nelson (14:31):
fight against, though.
Where we are in a society iseverything is get it.
Now you mentioned the diet andfitness industry.
You look at get out of debtproducts heck, even the apps
like Amazon and all the stuffthat you can buy on your phones.
Like everything is, I can getit today or tomorrow.
I don't even have to go to thegrocery store anymore, I don't
have to go get my own food.
Everything is likeinstantaneous.
(14:52):
And I think sometimes, when westart talking about health and
fitness, getting out of debt,sometimes, when we start talking
about health and fitness,getting out of debt, improving
your overall life, buildingwealth, that doesn't happen
overnight.
So how would you, in yourexperience in working with
people, how do you get them overthat hump of thinking like this
(15:13):
is going to take time, andthere's nothing wrong with that,
and I think sometimes we're soconditioned to be like if.
Todd Polke (15:16):
I don't fix my life in 30 days, I'm a failure, right
, right, this is what we alwaystalk about that wealth is a
marathon.
It's not a sprint, and we knowthat.
But you're so right, we're soused to getting everything now
and deliveries within hours andlike just everything's at our
fingertips that it's made ourattention spans incredibly small
, but also our patience in termsof taking these small steps
(15:38):
over time.
One of the things I always talkto my students about is that
you're never going to createfinancial freedom without some
financial discipline.
Discipline, for a lot of people, can feel like a pathway to
freedom, right.
Discipline equals freedom.
Right, it's not disciplineequals prison.
Discipline equals freedom.
But it's a muscle that we haveto start exercising as well,
right?
What my experience has shown menow is that it's all about
(16:02):
recording the small wins, right,and it's the momentum.
Momentum is such a powerfulforce in life and that when we
can actually start seeing someprogressive wins, even if
they're the smallest, tiniestthings, you know, we talk about
saving.
Like we know, the common dogmais that you should save 10% of
your income or 20% of yourincome.
It's a common dogma, we'retaught, but sometimes people
(16:24):
aren't in a position to savethat and they go well.
Todd, you don't understand.
Things are super tight.
I've got debt, I've got this.
I just can't save 10% and I gogreat, no issues.
Why don't we start with 1%?
And if you can't start with 1%,then I would just say you know
a bit of tough love, to be quitefrank.
Okay, let's take a little bitof a closer look at what you're
(16:44):
committed to in life.
Are you committed to stayingwhere you are?
Are you committed to creatingsomething different for yourself
and your family and start with1%?
And then, month number two, goto 2%, month number three go to
3%.
Now, month number four, go to4% and start creating the habit
of actually saving and investingin yourself.
And there's some magical thingsthat happen.
(17:05):
Like you would have seen it inall that you do.
There's an energy to money,right as soon as you actually
start making the choice and thedecision that you're going to
invest in yourself and that youare worth more and that it is
possible for you and you canactually save.
Even if it's five dollars aweek or whatever it is, there's
an energy to that money that,all of a sudden, that your money
(17:25):
has a purpose, it has a placeto be working for you in your
life.
And then it starts opening up,because money loves to be valued
, it loves order, love,structure, loves to be valued.
And it starts opening up yourawareness to what else is
possible.
And, um, you get into the habitof actually normalizing.
I keep telling this normalizedwealth creation, right.
Normalized financial freedomyeah, we spend enough time
(17:49):
normalizing work to pay thebills.
That's a shit strategy, pureand simple, right.
Um, but there's betterstrategies out there.
And if we can start normalizingthat and recording the wins
because then we get those littlemini endorphin hits on the way,
step-by-step and knowing thatwe're actually achieving and
succeeding- yeah, I mean this isthe formula for building
confidence.
Brad Nelson (18:08):
And when you're just getting started you don't
have a lot of confidence, butthe only way to get there is,
like you said, start with 1%.
If you can't do 10%, start withsomething small and that result
builds confidence.
You keep doing it, it keepsbuilding confidence and, like
you said, it grows.
This tremendous amount ofmomentum and, yeah, love that
Quick question for you.
I was poking around on yoursocial media channels a little
bit and on one of the videos youwere talking through about how,
(18:31):
when you're looking at aninvestment, you take your
clients through like a funnelprocess and making a good
financial decision on whetherthe investment is a good option
or if it's a bad option.
I'm assuming this funnelprocess works for a lot of
different types of decisions youwant to make Correct.
Well, like, can you walk usthrough a little bit of what
that looks like so people canlearn, like, how do I know if
I'm making a good financialdecision for myself?
Todd Polke (18:54):
Yeah, and you know what's interesting about that is
that it's all about becoming abetter quality decision maker.
I'm convinced, absolutelyconvinced, that success in
anything is all about makingbetter quality decisions, and so
if we can start learning how tobecome a better financial
decision maker, then it'sinevitable where our life is
going to wind up, and if we cankeep leveling up that
(19:15):
decision-making framework andprocess that we use, it can
really radically change ourworld, right?
And so what I'm going to talkabout here is I talk, this is a
decision-making framework, right, and it's just as true for
wealth and financial wellbeingas it is for making good
decisions in business orrelationships or things like
that, and it's really just avery core framework that we can
(19:38):
actually filter a decisionthrough.
You know, the first thing to meis all about alignment, right,
and whenever I have a decisionin my life to make, whether
that's investment decision orwhether that's you know, I'm
going to do this with my kids,or whether that's a pathway for
business or whatever it is thevery first thing to me is all
about alignment.
Is this decision I'm about tomake in alignment with my value
(20:02):
system or is it not?
If it's not in alignment withmy value system.
It goes against my values.
I'm an out.
It doesn't matter how muchmoney I'd make, it doesn't
matter what it would bring, I'mjust out.
I'm a big believer in valuesbased investing and values based
decision making, becauseotherwise that's my sleep and
night factor, right, right.
And the other big question isis this question taking me
(20:24):
closer towards my outcomes orfurther away towards my outcomes
?
And so if it doesn't pass those, my decision is done, I'm out,
I'm sorted, right.
That's why I won't reallyinvest in things that destroy
the planet like as much as Ipossibly can, because that's a
value.
Won't really invest in thingsthat destroy the planet like as
much as I possibly can, becausethat's a value system of mine.
In conservation, right, and soI just want to invest in things
that contribute to that cause.
(20:45):
That I don't believe in, right,I'm a big believer in that.
So the first thing is all aboutalignment.
The second thing is potential.
What's my potential return oninvestment on this right?
And that return on investmentcould be hey, am I going to pay
down some debt or I'm going tomake my first investment?
Right?
There's a return on investmenton each of those right.
Well, the return on investmentif I pay down debt, is going to
(21:07):
equal this much, the return oninvestment versus making this
investment is going to equalthis much and is the potential
actually worth the decision?
And once again, if it's not,then you already know you're
done, you're out right.
Because sometimes we make thesedecisions without thinking
about the outcomes and werealize, well, you know, I
probably could have made abetter decision there, or even
(21:27):
by doing nothing would have leftme in a better spot.
So I think about potential, soalignment potential.
The next thing I always thinkabout is risk, right, so am I
comfortable with the potentialrisk based on the return I can
potentially make?
So always think about thoserisks in the first order and
second order decisions andconsequences that can wind up
making.
(21:47):
And if the risk is too highversus the reward, then I
already know that again, not agreat decision to be making.
And then, finally, isopportunity cost.
Right when I sit there and I go, okay, well, if I make this
decision over here, thenpotentially it's gonna uh,
there's an I or I could havedone this opportunity over here
then there's an opportunity costto not actually being able to
(22:09):
take advantage of that andsometimes that can be the most
expensive opportunity uh costthat we can have, like, for
example, making the decision toinvest versus not.
The opportunity cost for lateron is huge.
You know the bill always comesdue.
Making the decision to investor not invest, the bill comes to
.
You either pay it up front oryou pay it down the track
somewhere.
So you know when I think aboutdecision making.
(22:31):
How do we become better qualityfinancial decision makers?
Is it a lot more values?
Is it going to get me myoutcome?
Is the potential worth makingthe decision at all?
What's the risk involved in it?
Is that a reasonable risk I'mwilling to take?
And if I make the decision, itmeans I can't do this other
thing.
And what's the opportunity costassociated to that?
And it's a super simpleframework that you can run it
(22:52):
through there within a couple ofminutes and decision made,
because people sometimes spend alot of time just going back and
forth and back and forth aboutdecisions and it's taking just
way too long for them and makingno decision at all.
Brad Nelson (23:03):
Yeah, and I love this, and you can apply that
framework to so many differentareas in your financial life,
whether it be buying a car ormaking a purchase.
I think it is so simple ifyou're starting to use it Now.
You mentioned vision.
You mentioned things aboutgoals.
Obviously, this framework kindof pairs really well with
something like that, andobviously a lot of people who
live paycheck to paycheckincluding myself at one time I
(23:23):
was just kind of winging it,flying by the seat of my pants,
didn't really have any sort ofclear direction as to where I'm
going, Any advice, like anythingto help someone with, because
that's a big question what'syour vision or what's your
purpose or what is it that youwant out of life?
Anything that you could suggestto help people try to figure
that out.
Todd Polke (23:40):
Yeah, I went through this journey quite hard, to be
honest, and I probably made itmuch harder on myself than I
really needed to ever be.
Probably about, oh, I'm 41 now,so probably about when I was
about 10 years ago, I was havinga bit of a crisis, right, and
my crisis was all about what amI here to do in the world?
What am I here to do in theplanet?
(24:00):
What's my reason for being?
What's my purpose, what's mymission?
What's the big cosmic thingthat I'm here to do?
And I was asking thesequestions, and big questions to
ask, right, and I sent myselfcrazy for years trying to figure
this out, thinking that Ineeded to have it all perfectly
figured out before I could takesome steps forward.
I got to this point and I had abit of an epiphany at that time
(24:24):
.
Is that you know what it's okaynot to know exactly what it is.
When I'm ready and when theworld is ready, more is going to
reveal itself.
But what's the closest thingthat I know that it's supposed
to be right now?
And why don't I just starttaking a step towards that
direction?
And here's what I realized isthat, as I began to take steps
towards that direction.
(24:44):
I became a different personbecause I started having
different experiences.
I had different learnings.
I grew as a person and as Igrew and I learned some more
things, my awareness began toopen up.
And as my awareness began toopen up, I began to recognize
different things that I wasn'tseeing before.
I was seeing through adifferent lens.
And so then I'd ask the samequestion again Okay, maybe I
(25:08):
don't know exactly what it isnow, but what's the closest?
I know that it is.
And then I zigzag back theother way, and so I started
moving towards that direction,and this is what success success
is like.
It's very seldom.
Is it this linear journey wherewe just go oh, I know exactly
what I'm here to do, I know howto get there, I know what's
going on like and that's, we'rejust going to do this and
there's not going to be anyproblems, right?
It's always going to be thiszigzagging process and be okay
(25:30):
with taking some wrongdirections, and I set myself
crazy trying to figure this outfor a little period of time.
That's talking about some bigthings, right, but what if we
just bring it down to somethings that we want in life,
right?
What if we just talk about.
I want my kids to be able tounderstand money.
I want to give my kids afinancial education, because
(25:51):
that's something that's reallyimportant.
What are your values tellingyou?
You want more time with yourfamily.
You want to be able to giveback at another level, whether
that's to a cause you believe inor to the planet or some people
you care about.
Maybe you're just sick to deathof your job and to you it's just
about.
I just want some more time, Iwant some more choice.
I want to feel more free.
(26:12):
I want to feel like I have alittle bit more control and you
can just come down to someabsolute basics around.
What do you want to create foryour life?
Right, and if we can just startactually getting ourselves
towards, moving towards thatdirection, right, because most
people live at the financialwaterline, where they're
treading water financially andthe water keeps lapping above
the eyes and we're splutteringand we can't breathe sometimes
(26:34):
and sometimes it's hard to liftour head above the waterline to
see something bigger thanourselves than where we are
right now.
And as soon as we can actuallystart putting some firm feet on
a nice, solid financialfoundation.
I can tell you right now, andyou know this, it just lifts
your head above the financialwaterline.
You can see so much furtherthan what you could see before.
(26:55):
So I would just say be okaywith not knowing everything, but
what's something that you canbegin working on and just start
on that and just know that asyou go down that journey, more
is going to open up.
You're going to become more,you're going to grow more,
you're going to see more, and asyou do that, the clarity that
you gain for what, that ultimatething for you is just going to
(27:16):
open up at a deeper level aswell.
Brad Nelson (27:18):
Yeah, so good, Todd .
This has been awesome.
Where can people learn moreabout you?
Now, you mentioned you have abook and obviously you've got a
website.
Where can listeners learn moreabout you?
Todd Polke (27:28):
Yeah, absolutely.
My book is being launched inAustralia in all the major
bookstores over here.
Then we're going to belaunching in the US very soon
after, kind of three to fourmonths after, but it's called
Escape the Middle.
It's on Amazon.
You can get that on pre-ordersright now in US, also in
Australia.
Now it is really an escape planout of this middle type of
(27:48):
living, middle income, middleearning, middle happiness,
middle time, middle freedom,middle health.
How can we create an escapeplan for the future on that?
And so that's a place thatpeople can go.
But you know what?
One of the biggest places I runa free Facebook community
called the Wealth Dojo, and it'scalled the Wealth Dojo.
I've got a martial artsbackground so I couldn't help
myself.
But it's called the Wealth Dojobecause dojo actually means
(28:09):
place of learning, place ofpractice.
That's what it means.
And so we run a free Facebookcommunity.
It's called the Wealth Dojo,and it's just a place where
other people who want to learnhow to invest, how to take
control of their finances, wejust come and hang out.
I offer a whole lot of freeresources and tools and things
like that for people to be ableto take part of.
So love for people to be in thegroup Absolutely free, and it's
just there to add value.
Brad Nelson (28:30):
Awesome, todd.
Thanks so much for being here,man, sharing some wisdom.
It's been great to have you onand a lot of what you talk about
.
It's just great to have adifferent viewpoint and so good
to have you.
Thanks so much.
Todd Polke (28:43):
I really appreciate it.
Thanks, man, thanks for allthat you do.
Brad Nelson (28:45):
All right, guys, if you're ready to break free from
living paycheck to paycheck,you want to reduce financial
stress, you want to buildsavings and finally pay off your
debt for good.
But again, maybe you're notsure where to get started.
Don't worry, we've got youcovered here at Debt Free Dad,
simplify my Money is sent to youevery single Sunday to your
email.
Simplify your Money is yourstep-by-step roadmap to better
(29:06):
financial control, and you'realso going to learn easy to
follow strategies to help youmanage your money effectively
Stress-free money decisions thatare going to help you simplify
your financial life with proventips that actually work for
regular, normal, everyday people, and you're also going to gain
the tools and the confidence totackle your financial goals head
on.
If you want to sign up forSimplify my Money, click on the
(29:40):
link.
At the bad things that may be,let's talk about debt.
Announcer (29:45):
Let's talk about debt .
Tune into Debt Free, dad, tuneinto Debt Free.
Brad Nelson (29:51):
Dad.
All right, guys.
That sound means it's time forthe celebrations of the show,
and today we are kicking offwith Holly.
Holly says I'm getting someunexpected money from a CRA, so
I am going to add $500 straightto my emergency fund, which is
incredible, holly.
And she adds I am also addingto my sinking funds for a summer
(30:15):
trip that I have planned.
Holly, great planning, greatbudgeting.
Win, awesome job, jamie.
Jamie says I have my $1,000emergency fund and I have not
had to go through thedrive-through to get coffee in
the last month because of betterplanning.
Jamie, awesome wins,congratulations to you and
Vanessa.
Over $1,000 is in my emergencyfund and I paid an extra $1,000
(30:39):
to my next debt.
Had to push the goal back alittle bit on another card I was
paying off because of a $530emergency vet visit, but I will
be getting that next debt paidoff here mid -month next month,
which is awesome.
Vanessa, congratulations to you.
And, as always, guys,congratulations to all of you
guys who are taking a stand foryour financial life and you're
(31:01):
wanting better.
Hey, we get that.
Getting out of debt it's noteasy but with our help and
hopefully with your consistencyand discipline, we promise you
guys, this will be some of thebest work that you guys do in
your entire life.
Hey, thanks for joining us ontoday's show and we will see you
guys on the next episode.
Announcer (31:22):
Thanks for listening to the Debt-Free Dad podcast.
Connect with us on Facebook,tiktok, youtube and Instagram.
Just search Debt-Free Dad.
If you found value in today'sepisode, please leave us a
rating and review.
We so appreciate it Forresources, show notes and links
mentioned in today's show.
Visit DebtFreeDadcom.
(31:42):
Catch you next week.
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