Intense Intentionality. Chris Bello

Bob: [00:01:00] Welcome to another episode of Money You Should Ask. I’m your host, Bob Wheeler. And in this episode, we’re going to explore, question, examine, converse, dig deep, expose, laugh and cry about the money beliefs, money blocks, and life challenges of our next guest. Turn up the volume, listen, learn and laugh.

Today’s guest is Chris Bello. As a college graduate that quit his corporate job three years in, Chris wanted to take hold of the reigns of life to write his own story. After struggling with one side hustle after another, he went all in on residential real estate, where he quickly caught momentum.

Chris is also the host of the top-rated business podcast, the Entrepreneur Motivation Podcast with over a million downloads, where he documents his journey and interviews. Incredible guests. Chris’s motto is. Less dreaming more doing Chris, welcome to the show.

Chris: [00:00:53] Thank you. Thanks so much for having me Bob. Happy to be here.

Bob: [00:00:56] Yeah. So I’m excited to talk to you because you’re in real estate, you, you quit your corporate job, you know, you, so I’m sure your parents were super excited about that because you probably paid for college or maybe you had student loans and then you were like, yeah, this isn’t, you didn’t like the cubicles. What happened?

Chris: [00:01:15] Yeah, it wasn’t enough space to play around in, I guess. Right. I remember seeing a very sad sign on a cubicle that it was supposed to be funny, but it was actually a very depressing it’s like, how am I supposed to think outside the box if I work in a cubicle and I’m like, huh, wait a second.

This sucks. Like I’m out of here. So I think seeing that sign really got me thinking of like, what can life look like outside the cubicle and how do I actually do something that I’m interested in every single day, instead of waking up and dreading the meetings that I have to go to.

Bob: [00:01:43] Yeah. And when you, and so when you started your side hustles, were you still doing your corporate job?

Chris: [00:01:50] I actually did not. So I quit the corporate job. I it’s a totally different thing. I don’t even know if we talked about this before, but I had an invention idea with a friend. We went the very expensive and time consuming route of trying to create a product. And there is injection molds involved, and basically it gets expensive, fast, and I think 40 grand in several hours.

I don’t know how many hours we spent on it. Probably not as much as I’m saying, but we kind of jumped the gun without doing a lot of due diligence and basically burned through 40 grand of my own cash after quitting my job, by the way. So it wasn’t really making money was really spending it very quickly.

And then I started doing side hustles, you know, flipping things at garage sales. I’m trying to make little courses to sell online and make a quick buck. And of course surprise, surprise. It didn’t really work.

Bob: [00:02:35] Right.

Chris: [00:02:35] Squirrel syndrome, right? Shiny object syndrome. I had way too many things I was focused on.

And of course, none of them panned out until I got very crystal clear and decided to become an expert in something, which of course is residential real estate.

Bob: [00:02:47] And how did you keep going? So it sounds like. One, you didn’t really have a plan other than I don’t want to be in a cubicle. I don’t want to be boxed in, but I don’t have any plan financially.

I’m just going to try all these side hustles. I’m going to throw stuff against the wall. I hope something sticks. Like what gave you the motivation to keep going?

Chris: [00:03:06] Great question. I know that’s something that sounds crazy, but I think it all started for reading books like The Four Hour Workweek. I give Tim Ferris a lot of props because that started getting me thinking in a different way.

And I think one of the ideas like rereading it now, years later only to find to my surprise, I’m actually living out a lot of the things that he talks about in that book, without even having realized that like I have virtual assistants, I’ve working in real estate in Houston, even though I’ve just moved to Colorado,

people don’t even know that I’m gone. I have a deal closing. You don’t have like 50 offers on a property or something from something that I just listed yesterday that I’m not even in town for. So we can talk about all those kinds of things as well. But that kind of got me thinking, and there’s an idea in the book that says.

I thought through the worst examples in the worst examples didn’t seem that bad. Like the worst case scenario, I lose all my money. I have to live back with my parents. My mom’s a great cook. Like it just made sense. Right. I was like, my parents don’t mind, you know, they’re, they’re not actually like American born and raised my dad’s from India,

Mom’s from Mexico. Those have very strong cultures of family and live at home until you’re 50, if you want, you know, like, so I knew that I had a great backup plan if things didn’t work out, which I think gave me that comfortable feeling of like, you know, my parents won’t think I’m a failure. If I lose my money and have to move back in temporarily.

Bob: [00:04:23] Well, yeah, no, I think that’s so important. My parents locked the, changed the locks at 18.

Chris: [00:04:29] See, I know a lot of like the Americans, like 18 you’re out, you’re on your own. Get a job. My mom still is like, you know, honey, you don’t have to, you can stay here a couple more months if you need to in between places.

And I’m like, love you, mom and dad. But like, I need my space. I’m prepared to move back out. You know, that whole thing. I stayed with them for six months while I sold my house in Houston. And I actually just moved to Denver like three weeks ago.

Bob: [00:04:48] Okay, awesome. And how are you liking the change? I mean, do you, and what drew you there? What was the…

Chris: [00:04:54] I’m loving it here? And the thing is, I always played with that idea of like, Oh gosh, I want to be a digital nomad. I want to create an online business that doesn’t tie me to a certain location. And the only time I really had been outside of Texas was six or seven months that I spent in Dubai in the Middle East for an oil for that oil and gas company.

But again, the cubicle thing, like I, I was waiting for four or five o’clock because I was like, I don’t want to be here at work at all. I want to be on the beach playing volleyball in Dubai.

Bob: [00:05:23] Right.

Chris: [00:05:24] And so, I mean, yeah, it just. I guess, I don’t know. I don’t even know what I’m trying to say. It’s just, I want it to be the digital nomad in Denver seemed like a great spot to move, to, to get the outdoor lifestyle, get a bike, you know, bike friendly.

You can’t really bike in Houston. There’s no bike lanes. There’s no sidewalks in half the places and I’d love it. It’s so far it’s only been not even a full month and I’ve probably gone hiking four or five times. I’ve already found where I get a haircut. I’ve joined a gym. I feel very plugged into the community.

And I’m even getting lunch here after this with a few friends that I met online through Instagram. It’s it’s an interesting world that we live in. Right. You can make friends online and then just catch up in person over lunch.

Bob: [00:06:05] Absolutely. Well, definitely with the pandemic, we’ve learned how to go on online and let it be okay.

Chris: [00:06:11] Absolutely. Yes.

Bob: [00:06:13] And so now I’m really curious. So your, your your parents were Indian and Mexican.

Chris: [00:06:19] Yup. Dad’s from India. Mom’s from Mexico.

Bob: [00:06:21] So, looking back culturally, can you see any financial differences between the two cultures or is it just their own personal take on finances that you could share with us?

Chris: [00:06:34] Absolutely. So, I mean, I grew up with this and I know there’s different stereotypes and I don’t mean to put everyone in a bucket, but you hear the jokes about a lot of Indian people sometimes are a little stingier with their money. They care more about prices and good deals, which is definitely true. I mean, I could, I’m talking about my dad here and he just, he tells me, he always tells me the example.

You know, my grandpa used to wash his hands with the water, running it like a drip to save water. And I’m just like, Oh my God, this, this is the programming that came down from my grandparents about washing my hands and taking five minutes so that I can save like 2 cents of water versus just putting the water on full blast and actually washing my hands in 20 seconds as opposed to 20 minutes or whatever, whatever I would do.

And even on my mom’s side, she grew up in a family of 12. Her father passed away of cancer. When she was like nine, she had to take care of her two or three younger siblings, and they grew up in a one or two bedroom house in Mexico. And my grandma, I don’t even know if she didn’t really understand how kids came from.

She thought it was just God like that level of education, which of course you tie that with the finances. And it’s like a lot of my family members on that side of the family, they don’t do well with money. They like the kids my age, or I’m 30, by the way. My cousins, my age, live with their parents still.

And instead of investing in real estate, sometimes they just buy a new car or an ATV or something like that’s not going to bring them any money. It’s just a depreciating thing sitting in their parents’ garage, like I mentioned. And so a lot of those beliefs did pour down to me and just. Saving money and being stingy and thinking like scarcity almost of, well, we can’t afford that.

That’s too expensive. Oh my gosh, that place is $50. Like we’re not going to go eat there. Let’s go to pay way and use a 50% off coupon. And so a lot of those things I’m changing now where, I’m paying $125 for a massage. I’m paying people $10 an hour in the Philippines. When I really could probably find someone to do it for five, because I’m thinking more abundantly, which took a lot of programming, reeducating myself, and just changing out the computer program that I was born with.

Bob: [00:08:38] And how did you do that? Like, what was the impetus? Like you you’re in this culture or cultures from your parents and we’re all carrying baggage or whatever of mostly baggage from our parents and our grandparents and our great-grandparents and from our cultures. How do you, how did you break the mold?

Like, because like you said, your cousins are still like, Hey, let me buy that car and just, but you said, no, I want something different. What was, what was that part?

Chris: [00:09:04] So I’d have to give props to my parents. I mean, obviously they, they moved very far into the U S for more opportunities. And while they had some of that, pre-programming from their own cultures and families and those beliefs, my mom told me, like, she knew.

She didn’t just want to marry the guy who owned the mechanic, shop down the street or owned a taco stand. And I, I, I, it sounds a little racist and stereotypical, but literally this is what she told me from Mexico.

Bob: [00:09:27] Right.

Chris: [00:09:28] And she’s like, I wanted more, I wanted opportunities. I did not want my kids to grow up in that environment where they had limited opportunities.

And that was kind of like why she ended up moving from Mexico to the U S to learn English. Same thing. My dad came here to go to college and he grew up speaking English, but still wanting to pursue more opportunities. But. I really credit the internet and just YouTube and all these different sources and books that I’ve read because

back in the day and you know, whatever your family told you, that’s really all you had to go off of. Now, we have a very strong like BS detector. I can Google anything. I learned very quickly that, you know, my family, I love them, but they’re not always right. And I take everything with a grain of salt. Right.

And so I kind of joke with my parents that even like, they’re their biggest thing. The weapon that they gave me was knowledge in asking questions. Cause now I question everything, including the religion that I grew up with. For example, and they’re like, Oh, how could you not believe that? I’m like, well, you guys gave me such a good education that I’m like, I need to see proof of everything or do some due diligence.

Before jumping in. And so that kind of played a big role in my money beliefs. I started to take advice from people who have what I want. I’m like, you know, my parents aren’t that great with money. Like why is my dad kind of retired and then having to go back to work again, because he didn’t do a great job with money.

I can’t really take money advice from him. For example, like again, love him to death. I I’m here to help them and support them. However, I can get advice from the people who live in the houses that I want to live in and live the life that I want to live.

Bob: [00:10:59] Yeah, that totally makes sense. And I’m curious though, because you’re in a unique position as many first firstborn Americans who have immigrant parents.

My belief is that a lot of immigrants that come here, come here willing to work really hard to have that American dream. And so I think that you know, they don’t take for granted a lot of the stuff that I think that a lot of us, like I have generations of being in the U S and so I think that. I took for granted.

And I see a lot of people take things for granted that I think you are in a unique position to have been born here and yet see your parents say I wanted something better. It may not be the Taj Mahal, but it’s a step up.

Chris: [00:11:44] Definitely. No, that’s so true. And that’s a great point. A lot of I know that they, the sayings talk very highly of immigrants, being very hard workers, willing to do the jobs

a lot of people aren’t willing to do. I even joke with my younger brother, he’ll always unload the clean dishes, but he doesn’t want to touch the slimy dishes to put them in the dishwasher. I’m like, dude, you are so spoiled. It’s just like, I dunno, five minute old plate with food. Like it’s not that bad.

Rinse it off, throw it in the dishwasher, but.  You always see, I guess, a lot of immigrants in roles, like in kitchens that are very hot or cleaning up places or doing construction and remodeling those types of things. Right. And they don’t complain for the most part. They’re very hardworking. They show up, they do a great job, but I do agree that a lot of my friends who were born here in the U S, I mean, you’re kind of a product of your environment.

I mean, we don’t, we can’t really be at blame to an extent, because if all your friends had the shiniest bike for Christmas and they got every toy they wanted and you went to private school, I mean, that’s all, you know, versus my mom who grew up on the dirt floor house with 12 siblings and her dad died when she was 10, but that’s a totally different thing.

And so I do understand that I have a lot, I should be grateful for, but I also have been to Mexico several times as a kid I’ve been to India, I’ve seen the  starving children that are literally begging on the street corner at four years old. And you don’t really see that like in Sugar Land, Texas or something, right?

Like town center Memorial or whatever these areas are that a wealthy people congregate at it park their McLaren’s in the valet. It’s a totally different thing. So I do agree with you that a lot of immigrants work extremely hard, but it’s, it’s very interesting to have that background from both of my parents because I have seen it firsthand.

And so I think with that, I understand I have a lot to be grateful for. Sure, I don’t have everything that I want, but I’m so much further ahead than so many people I’ve seen.

Bob: [00:13:36] Yeah. And I think the point of having seen it first hand traveling so important and not just traveling to Puerto Vallarta in the in the resort where you don’t see what’s behind the wall.

But actually going into Mexico, I’ve been to India. I’ve been to Mexico. I’ve seen people living in cardboard boxes or grass huts no electricity and  I do think the more we travel, at least for me, my experience has been having been to Africa and many other places. I’m a lot more grateful and appreciative because I realize how it could be.

Chris: [00:14:11] Exactly. And it could always be better, but it could also always be worse. And of course, I like to compare me versus me. How am I doing compared to myself yesterday, one year ago? Because it’s very easy with social media to look at other people and be like, well, gosh, that person got a million downloads in half the time, or they’re making 50 grand a month.

I’m only making 10 grand. And so understanding, wow. Look at my own trajectory. That’s really what matters instead of comparing yourself to too many others, but also realizing that we all have so much to be grateful for. I hear motivational videos every day. For example, when I wake up just to get the blood flowing, do some jumping jacks, get motivated.

And a lot of people in those clips mentioned things like. You, you woke up without a chalk line around your body. Like it’s a good day. You’re you’re, you’re alive, you’re breathing. All right. That, that is a lot more than others can even say. And when you drive past the cemetery and you see all the gravestones, that is always a nice reminder for me to be like, what can I do today to make a difference?

Because I don’t know that could be me a month from now or 50 years from now. And nothing’s guaranteed, of course.

Bob: [00:15:16] Yeah, absolutely. I think perspective is a really important thing. And I agree if I’m up and breathing, it’s a good start of my day.

Chris: [00:15:25] It’s a great start. Yeah.

Bob: [00:15:27] It’s like things can only get better.

So I always, you know, I’ve had people say, well, you know, my life’s a mess and I’m never going to get out of, out of this. And I’ll always say, as long as you’re breathing and you can move forward, you always have the opportunity to recreate something better or something different.

Chris: [00:15:44] A hundred percent. And of course we’re not a tree. You don’t have to stay where you are. You can pick up your feet and move somewhere else. Like I literally just moved states for example, just to try something new and change my environment.

Bob: [00:15:55] Yeah, absolutely. Now you just left a tax-free state of Texas and you’re moving into a state that’s going to tax you, maybe. I don’t know. That will be an interesting, your accountant will have a lot of fun with that.

Chris: [00:16:08] Yeah. I told my accountant, I was like, Hey, how does that go to work? Because I’m still closing deals in Houston, Texas while I’m here. So do I pay any taxes here? He, he told me if I figured that out, I’m a genius, but I guess we’re going to figure that out together.

But again, I come from that place of abundance and like, you know, whatever, I may pay a couple thousand more a year, but the cost, I guess the quality of life is worth it to me at this point. And I’m also making more money than I’ve ever made in my life. So I’m like, okay, live below my li, my my means, check, rented a cheap place here while I find my way in real estate and maybe buy my own off-market property, check.

All those things are in the pipeline. And so I’m still trending in the right direction in terms of making more than I save and, and all those types of things and buying, I bought a used bike by cash instead of paying a thousand dollars more like I was about to, because I, you know, the Dave Ramsey book in the back of my mind was like, okay, Chris, hold that, hold up.

This book, this bike’s pretty much brand new. And is a thousand dollars less now with a thousand dollars, I went to that sports recovery clinic that I bought a membership that because I’m like, you know, I’m a treat myself, I saved a thousand, not so I can just stash it away and hope that, you know, it compounds over time or whatever, but to like put it into something else that I consider an investment in myself, my body, my health doing the hot tub, cold tub, type thing.

So lots of different beliefs about money. I know I’m still kind of developing mine, but I feel like I’m in a pretty good spot

Bob: [00:17:29] Now that’s awesome. And do you budget?

Chris: [00:17:31] I need to get better at that. I actually listened to the podcast of a, You Need A Budget and I know that’s a tool to, to man, to manage your budget, but I kind of follow that profit first system.

If you’ve heard of that book from a Mike McCaliwtizs every, since my, my income’s a little inconsistent with commission checks, some days I may have four closings or five closings a month, sometimes I may have two and then three, the next month, it’s kind of cyclical depending on how things are going, but every commission check that I get, I do put percentages aside, you know, say for the taxes, donate a percentage, have a percentage where I’m like, Oh, 10% for fun or 5% for fun.

And that helps me feel a lot better about dropping 500 bucks on something that maybe I would have been too cheap to do before. So that’s kind of my budgeting in a way, but in terms of a monthly budget, I kind of, I’m not a very high maintenance guy. But I do make more than I spend. And so that’s like my, my barometer, I track my expenses.

I track my income, my net worth. And as long as I’m not blowing five grand a month on bottle service, which, I mean, I don’t do it. Of course. COVID won’t even really let you do. I think I’m, I’m doing okay so far. Yeah, that’s good. I got a budget with a girlfriend though. Cause we’re we moved in together and you know, we’re going to get married and all that stuff.

So we got to talk about finances for sure.

Bob: [00:18:47] Absolutely. Did you run a credit check on her?

Chris: [00:18:50] You know, I don’t know. I hope she doesn’t have any outstanding student loan debt that she just ran away from or something. She’s been doing pretty well for herself though, and, you know, good job, good benefits and all that.

So maybe I should do that a little background check. At this point, it’s too late as I’ve been with her for 4 years. So I’m kind of invested.

Bob: [00:19:08] Sounds good. You mentioned that you give money that you budget money for a charity. Why is that important?

Chris: [00:19:16] Yeah. So it’s, it’s pretty crazy. I mean, I want to be able to help and I want to be able to donate time and money and all those types of things.

And if you don’t put percentages and rules in place, chances are itwon’t happen, I guess, similar to a budget. If you don’t really budget for stuff, you kind of spend more money than you expected. Same thing with the buffet. You always eat more than you really think you’re going to because you just have no limits on yourself.

And so it’s important to set different limits. And it’s important to just understand that, like know yourself. I always talk about understanding who you are, what are your tendencies and how can you put limits and things in place to control that. And so it really depends on everyone. I have very good self control.

For example, when I was doing the cold tub this morning was 52 degrees Fahrenheit, and I’d never really did a cold plunge where you sit there for five minutes, then you go to the hot tub. Then you get back in for five minutes. And just all these motivational people like David Goggins, for example, I’m like, what would Goggins do?

He wouldn’t complain about this. He wouldn’t let his teeth chatter. And I was just like, I’m not going to cheat myself. I’m not going to get out a minute early. And that’s how I am with my finances, my morning routine. And so some people may need a little more rules in place if they don’t have that kind of discipline, but.

It is important to have some sort of budget or some sort of limit on yourself in any area of your life?

Bob: [00:20:31] Yeah, absolutely. I have to have my hands and legs tied to be put in an ice bath and you have to hold me down because I will fight to the death.

Chris: [00:20:40] Yeah. And the guy’s like, wow, your hands are submerged too. I usually keep mine above the water.

And I’m like, yeah, like what would Goggins do? He wouldn’t complain about this. He’d stay here for another five minutes. Just for fun.

Bob: [00:20:48] It’s so warm. Oh my God. Yes. My friends do my friends do the ice, ice baths, and I haven’t quite I’ve done a couple of them, but I don’t it’s. Yes, it is.

Chris: [00:20:59] I like to do hard things and then that helps you feel more comfortable with. Well, I did that thing that so many people are scared to do, or I’ve been skydiving 30 times and some people say they’ll never even try it. And so when you conquer fears and challenges in your own life, it makes you more comfortable with, you know, I can talk to that client.

I can pick up the phone and call them. This is no big deal. I’ve jumped out of a plane or I’ve submerged myself in an ice bath when 90% of the people probably wouldn’t have done it.

Bob: [00:21:24] Yeah, absolutely. And how did you cultivate the mindset? Like, was that something you just had in you because you talk about you talked about when you were buying the bike, you said, wait, let me stop a second.

And, or jumping in the ice bath and saying, wait, what would, you know, what would somebody else do so, right. How do you create that hiccup? And I’m real big on creating these hiccups so that we can get intentional, but how did it work for you?

Chris: [00:21:51] Well, it all started with kind of the reading. Like I mentioned, developing a morning routine after I read the miracle morning that that got me started on having a solid morning routine where I wake up at a certain time and I read, I meditate, I journal.

And then I kind of started to habit stack over time. Right. I didn’t use to drink a whole lot of water. And then I bought a gallon jug and I refill it every night and have it next to my desk. So that way I have systems where I refill my water bottle throughout the day from the gallon so that I’m not like, which how much water have I drank today?

I’m like, Oh, I drank half the gallon. I’ve got half to go. And it’s 6:00 PM. It’s time to start chugging it if I’m not on track. Right. And so those things slowly over time become habits. And of course, as you develop good habits, It becomes ingrained in you, but that on the other side, bad habits can do the same thing, right?

If you’re spending too much, if you buy way more things than you need, if you’re getting 50 pairs of shoes and you only wear like two, right? Those are also bad habits that you need to look at re resetting, but whenever possible creating systems for my, for myself, I have a spreadsheet that tracks everything.

So that is my morning routine. It guides me through, what am I doing today? Am I working out? Did I meditate? How many times today to that level, how many pages did I read today? That level of detail? And I recommend if you don’t measure it, you don’t manage it. I think Peter Drucker’s attributed for saying that.

And that goes again for finances, working out any goals that you want to set for yourself in your life. And so that’s held me accountable, but also speaking of accountability, I do have an accountability friend. And so we meet every two weeks and we literally share three things we’re going to get done by the next time.

And so a lot of times that day comes and I’m like, I haven’t done these two. Let me just do them real quick because I know he’s going to be like, Oh, you didn’t do those. And that helps as well because we can’t always be everything all the time. Sometimes it helps to have someone to hold us accountable as well.

Bob: [00:23:44] And what do you say to the people that will say, well, that’s so rigid. You’re making me, I’m going to now I have to do a spreadsheet on my life and I’ve got to learn Excel and there’s so much going on in the world. And my friends are all just having fun. And it’s so rigid. What can you say to those people?

Because there is something about creating habits and creating routines for me that doesn’t have to feel rigid, but for a lot of people, that’s going to be maybe an excuse.

Chris: [00:24:10] That’s a great question. I think Jocko Willink is attributed for saying discipline equals freedom or something along those lines.

And I’ve heard a few people say this, especially when it comes to calendars and time blocking, because the more discipline and rules you have in that, the more freedom you actually have, because like I told you, before we hit record, I just put a listing up for sale yesterday. It’s a hot listing, priced

very well, literally have over 50 phone calls and I haven’t answered any of them. I’ve been getting like, massages and going into a hot tub and cold tub. Cause I know I have systems in place. My voicemail says to text or email me, they do that. They get the information, they don’t do that. I don’t return their call.

I already have 10 offers over asking price. So it’s a very great place to be in terms of leverage. So my client’s happy. I’m not doing them a disservice. They understand that. If I sat here and answered every phone call, I wouldn’t get anything done. And so rolling from that to jumping on here and just feeling so clear, I don’t feel guilty at all about the 50 missed calls today because they’re all questions that are answered online through my systems.

But again, going back to the discipline equals freedom. If anyone is very schedule or meeting based, I’d definitely recommend using a tool such as Calendly because you set your rules and your hours. And for me, no one can book me on Fridays or Sundays, for example. And now I just give out that link. Okay.

Let’s meet here. Book a time book a time in those times, fall into the parameters that I set for myself.

Bob: [00:25:37] Yeah,

Chris: [00:25:37] Which, that’s not as rigid, right? It’s like, Hey, we can meet anytime for coffee. As long as it’s 10:00 AM on a weekday. Like that is the slot that I have, right.

Bob: [00:25:48] Yeah. No, that’s so awesome. And I think it’s important for people. Yeah, to really hear that a discipline equals freedom. Not rigid. You can never change. There’s no flexibility. You do this every day until you die. Right. It’s you, you have choice in this.

Chris: [00:26:05] Right? Or even this the morning. I mean, I’m just, I’m sharing the car with my girlfriend. Cause I left mine in Houston. I got to figure out how to get it here logistically.

And so I dropped her off and I switched my routine a little bit. Instead of reading for 30 minutes, I kind of dropped that because I had to leave to take her to, to work here. Then I did my workout. I went to the massage place and then now I’m going to read after this. So that is an example of being flexible as well, where I’m not hard on myself.

Like, Oh my gosh, I didn’t read for 30 minutes today. I’m like, Cool. According to my spreadsheet, I’m on track to read over 8,000 pages this year, which is my goal. So I’m still on track, even though I missed today.

Bob: [00:26:41] That’s so awesome. And you’re setting goals. So that’s also a really important thing. You set goals so that you actually have something to move toward.

It doesn’t mean you have to obsess about it 24- seven, but it’s on the radar. It’s, it’s out there in the universe.

Chris: [00:26:57] Exactly. And the best thing that I did, which of course it takes a little bit of Excel skill, a couple of formulas, maybe an hour or two, if you’re Excel, savvy even faster. But I created goals that they track based on today’s date.

How many days are remaining in the year. And I could probably share this. If anyone sends me a DM on Instagram, I have an example somewhere where you can access this file and modify it for yourself. But. Basically it tells me at the current rate, based on how many times I’ve meditated, fasted worked out, read all this, all the goals that I’m tracking in the transactions I’ve closed in real estate.

Here’s what you’re projected to close by the end of the year. Here’s your goal? It’s red. If I need to pick up the pace and it’s green, if I’m on track to hit the goal and I’m on track of out of like maybe 10 or 12 of them, I think there’s only two or three that I’m a little bit behind on that I’m picking up the pace on.

So having a forward looking view. I don’t get to December 31st and be like, Oh man, I didn’t hit my goal. I know. Now if I’m going to hit or not at the pace that I’m going.

Bob: [00:27:55] Yeah. That’s so awesome. Intentionality, consciousness, it’s so important. If you want to get where you’re going.

Chris: [00:28:02] Exactly. If you don’t have, if you don’t have a roadmap, any road will take you there or whatever.

Bob: [00:28:06] Right.

Chris: [00:28:07] So you have to know where are you going? What are the coordinates? It’s okay. Maybe there’s a detour, but you still know where you’re going. You can figure things out as you make mistakes and fail and lose a little bit of money, your time every now and then, which I’ve done plenty of. But if you’re, if you know where you’re going, like I said, it’s going to be a lot easier to get there.

Bob: [00:28:25] And I think it’s important. Like you said you know, you might want to take the slow route. That might be a choice you might want to go see, you might want to fly. You might want to ride a horse, like you, don’t not everybody has to get there the same way as long as you know, where you want to go. And at what pace you want to get there.

Chris: [00:28:41] Precisely. And I’ve been extremely clear lately. I feel like I’ve never been more clear and a lot of that comes down to journaling and thinking about, well, what do I truly want? I’ve hit a lot of my financial goals. Of course, I’m not just going to say, okay, I’m done with life. I checked all the boxes. I’m going to raise the standards and create larger goals for myself.

But when I tuned into what do I truly want? And a lot of that included being able to have flexibility in my schedule and get out in nature and hike and see bears in the wild and things like that. Houston didn’t check the boxes for me. And so a lot of my real estate, friends and connections, they, they were very excited for me.

And they’re like, man, Chris, you know, you’re brave. You’re going out there. You don’t know that market. You’re kind of just saying goodbye to your business here, but I knew deep down that no I’m going to continue to do that. I’m just going to force it to work within my parameters that I set for myself. And so I’m still setting rules for myself, but I have way more room to play than that cubicle that I started off in.

Bob: [00:29:35] Yeah, absolutely. And do you still have any financial fears?

Chris: [00:29:38] To an extent, I guess at this point I’ve gotten so good at like a conversation to a five or $10,000 check within three or four weeks based on real estate deals that I know, I know how to create money.

Of course, sometimes it’s how good are it? Doesn’t matter how much you make. It matters, how much you keep. So. I’m I’m a little more cautious now. Like, okay. I remember the feeling I had that little mental trauma in a way of like blowing through 40 grand and basically the tooling being stuck in a warehouse and nothing ever happening with that.

So I do remember that and how long it took for me to like, learn a skill and recover and make that money without having to go back to a day job. But now I feel so confident in my abilities to have a conversation and turn it into 10 or 20 grand within weeks. It’s happened before my beliefs are changing.

My mind’s changing. I’m like, okay, I’m a money magnet. I attract money. Clients begged to work with me. These are all affirmations that I say every morning. And of course I say them so much and the checks are actually proving it that I believe it more. And of course. I splurge a little bit on things that I care about, but I’m ruthless about saving money on things that I don’t care about.

For example, the bike, I was like, heck, it’s probably going to get stolen anyway. So why would I spend 1500 bucks? Let me just spend 500. I can part with that. Yeah,

Bob: [00:30:54] Absolutely. So looking back, losing the 40,000, was that a regret or a learning moment?

Chris: [00:31:02] It was definitely a learning moment. And I mean, I, I never, I really felt tied to money or possessions.

I’m kind of like this nomad type person I’ve spent a month in Asia with three shirts and four shorts or something that I just watched over and over again. And so. Really I’ve gotten used to the fact that like, everything I need is in the cloud. If I lost my computer, my monitor, everything burned to the ground.

The only things I’d care to save, or my girlfriend, my pets, and my phone, maybe like for the convenience of just being able to do something and call an Uber and go somewhere. And so that has given me the freedom to not feel tied to anything. And to understand that I am a money magnet, I’m creating a lot more wealth than I’m spending.

But I prefer to spend the money on the experiences. And so I guess there’s not really been any fears about money now that I’m hitting the goals. I guess the only fear at this point, if I’m being honest, is. Gosh, like how do, how do I get happiness out of where I am? Because I know it’s an endless loop, you know, 10,000 a month, 50,000.

No. Now I want a hundred. I’m not happy until I get to a million, so I don’t want to fall into that trap, but I also don’t want to get complacent because I’m getting a little lazy where, Oh, wow. I’m making some easy money with hardly working. Should I just coast or should I push for more? That’s my only fear is that I may get a little too comfortable, which of course is when you get knocked off the saddle sometimes.

Bob: [00:32:25] Absolutely.

Chris: [00:32:26] I don’t want that to happen.

Bob: [00:32:27] Let me ask you this. It’s not going to happen. It’s not going to happen. With real estate, you know sometimes people are coming in, they’re buying their first house or they’ve just gotten their credit score up. Do you end up dealing with, and is there anything that you’ve learned from dealing with people in real estate because they’re giving you their financial profile?

They’re they’re sharing their dreams and possibly their fears about buying this house. And, and there’s a lot of exposure. When somebody comes in to buy some real estate.

Chris: [00:32:57] Yeah. There’s a lot of the money beliefs that I see too. We all have different money beliefs based on our programming and our backgrounds.

And it’s interesting. Like I helped a friend’s parents buy a $650,000 house on the Lake cash. Like they cash three week clothes. Why are the money in? And then there’s like a $50 difference on some inspection report. And they’re like, kind of complaining about I’m like, Are you kidding me? This is like what?

I don’t even know the percentage of that price point, but it’s insignificant in the grand scheme of things. And I was so shocked that they were kind of making a big deal about that. I was like, I’ll pay for the difference for $50. I could. I’m so abundantly minded that, that doesn’t even register as worth my time in a way.

Right.

I joke with my parents, like if it’s less than a hundred dollars, I don’t even care. Like I sold the house a few weeks ago, the city of Houston still been billing me for 20 or $30 a month of water. For the new owner and it’s like, I’m making so much more money than my time’s worth too much to sit on the phone with them to fix it.

Then I’m kinda like, can I just pay someone $10 an hour to fix that for me? And then stop the problem. Right? So the money beliefs of people and clients that you see sometimes interesting, especially the first time home buyer, I helped my brother and his wife buy a new house and they put like 40 grand down or something.

That’s a lot of money. Most people never write a check that big, that many times in their lives. And so they’re concerned they want everything to be perfect. Like, Oh my gosh. The inspector said, this needs to happen. Like we can’t move in until that happens. And I’m like, all right, your dog has already torn up your current townhome.

It’s probably going to tear up your house now. Do, we don’t need to be perfectionist about these temporary things that can be fixed and that can be addressed. And so a lot of what I feel like I do is therapy or coaching in a way of like, it’s going to be okay, it’s just a little $500 problem that can be fixed.

And I’m, I’m okay contributing some of my commission sometimes if it’s that big of a deal, because at the end of the day, if I contribute 500 and make 5,000, that’s better than the deal falling through and me making nothing. And then, then not even getting what they want, which is the house.

Bob: [00:35:02] Absolutely. And I’m wondering if a lot of times they forget to budget for the $40,000 worth of furniture that they must have as they move into the new house.

Chris: [00:35:11] Right. Cause now a lot of people move into this big house and they’re like, Well, we need stuff to fill it up with. And I guess a lot of that, there’s just so many things. And then of course, people want to jump in to new decisions. You know, how they are when you want something, you get it, no matter what, if you have to go into debt or make payments or whatever.

And so some people maybe buy more house than they can afford, which unfortunately, a few years later they might have to sell or downsize or even foreclose on, in some cases, if they really bite off more than they can chew. But that’s something that I guess kind of goes. Into our own life lessons of it’s a lesson it’s going to hurt.

You’re not always going to make everything perfect the first time. And so I think some of those lessons are important and critical for people to actually learn and grow from.

Bob: [00:35:56] Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. We could probably do a whole episode on real estate and people. I mean, it’s a whole day probably.

Well, we’re at our fast five, so I want to ask you five just top of the mind questions just sort of again, would you rather look like a million bucks or feel like a million bucks?

Chris: [00:36:14] Definitely feel like a million bucks because we know looks can be deceiving. A lot of those 30,000 EHRs out there driving rented cars. I mean, they don’t have much to back it up with.

Bob: [00:36:23] Yeah, absolutely. Would you rather throw away love or money?

Chris: [00:36:27] I’d rather throw away money. Yeah. Cause I mean, money doesn’t buy eternal happiness. It buys cool stuff and cool experiences, but love, definitely overhang over the money.

Bob: [00:36:38] Yeah. That that’s, you know, after our conversation, I already knew the answer. I started to hear the answer to that one. What’s the most expensive hotel room you’ve ever paid for.

Chris: [00:36:50] You know, hotels are, it’s interesting because that’s one of the money things that I have issues with where I’m like, you know, I’m freaking sleeping here. I I’m here to experience the mountains in Indonesia.

Like what do I care about the bed I’m sleeping on? So I have stayed in like hostels for $10 a night in Vietnam, for example, even with bedbugs and things that I saw. And I was like, yeah, whatever. I’m only sleeping five hours and then go and scuba diving in the morning. So I’d say the most expensive probably,

maybe, 300 a night at a Marriott or something. Nothing fancy just yet, but there’s a place that Mykanos  that I saw, my girlfriend and I ate there when we went in 2018 and I looked up the rooms and I was like, we’re coming back here in the future. And I’m paying three grand for one night with a jacuzzi on my balcony. In Mykonos. So that’ll probably be the most expensive, but up to this point only like 300 bucks now.

Bob: [00:37:36] Awesome. I, that just reminded me. I was in Nepal and we went to Thailand and a friend, my sister’s friend worked for the hotel. And so she had. When we booked it, it was off season and she gets the, she gets the rate.

And so she said, Oh, we could stay at this hotel. It’s, it’s a hundred dollars a night. But what she didn’t check was, the rate it was when we were going to actually be there. And it was actually a thousand dollars a night and we actually had to stay there a couple of nights because we.

Chris: [00:38:08] I hope it was a really nice place.

Bob: [00:38:10] It was incredible. It’s like several presidents have stayed there. It’s like the King hangs out there.

Chris: [00:38:16] Again, that’s the experience though. So it’s worth it to an extent.

Bob: [00:38:20] It was. It just wasn’t in my budget.

Chris: [00:38:22] Oh yeah, no, I got surprised. I got kind of a, I, I was really upset in Indonesia. One time, like our taxi driver, I guess they sometimes get a commission from recommending restaurants and yeah.

We trusted him. He had made some good recommendations and then he kind of, at the very end of the trip, threw us under the bus and the surprise place where I got the lobster. I got all this stuff. I didn’t look at the menu. And it came out to like 200 us dollars in a place where meals are like 15 bucks for a five-star meal.

And so I was a little upset, I thought about maybe telling my credit card to decline the charge, but I was like, you know, Like fine. This is my mistake. This is the lesson I’m learning from trusting my gut checking reviews. And so I, it always happens where sometimes we’re a little shocked, but if you expect it, I think people get more upset when it’s, when they’re caught off guard than if they go into it and they make the decision to spend the money.

That’s what it sounds like from your experience as well, where you’re like, Whoa, that’s an extra zero at the end.

Bob: [00:39:16] Absolutely. And check the menu when you’re specially in a foreign country or another place check, check.

Chris: [00:39:25] It was deceptive. It was like by the, you know, it was in whatever currency they use. I forget the name, but it also was by weight and it’s more expensive if it’s a live lobster that they picked and.

You know, I had a, maybe a drink or two and I was like, yeah, let’s, let’s go with that live lobster. Like it’s a great dinner date. And then we get the bill and I’m like, okay, we ha we were had, but okay. We still had fun. It’s just money. We can make more of it.

Bob: [00:39:49] Just digest the lesson. Yes. It was great food by the way, but I mean just a little deceptive.

Yeah, absolutely. If you could only use one word to describe the rest of your life, what would it be?

Chris: [00:40:04] Grateful. I’d say gratitude is one of those things that I’ve been very focused on because like I mentioned, we can get caught up in the trap of wanting more, you know, accomplishing a goal and setting a bigger goal.

But when we have gratitude for what we’ve accomplished and for the opportunities coming our way, you’ve just come from that abundance. Like I spoke to earlier where you, you attract opportunities. People want to work with you. They want to give you money somehow, and you just have to deliver on the goods or provide the course or the service.

Bob: [00:40:31] Absolutely. What have you learned about life from kids or animals?

Chris: [00:40:38] Kids or  animals. So I do have two cats and a dog, and I love them so much. And I used to not really like cats because I was allergic as a kid. But now that we have cats, I mean, it’s interesting to see we all, even animals and kids, we are all so unique and different.

That’s one thing that I’d say I’ve learned because I know their personalities. One cat is a stereotypical cat. Doesn’t really care to see you. Won’t say hi, doesn’t want to cuddle the other cat sleeps on my chest every single night and like curls up next to me. And if I lock her in a room too long, she’ll start scratching the door.

Cause she wants to come hang out with me. The other cat, I can lock her up for five days. She doesn’t care. She’s sleeping in the corner. Right? So same thing with kids and individuals. I mean everyone’s unique. Everyone has potential and But we have to understand, we all have our nuances. We all have things that we like, things that we don’t like, and they may not align with the person next to us in many times.

Bob: [00:41:31] Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Well, I appreciate those answers. We’re at our sweet spot or M and M moment, our money and motivation. Is there anything you can give our listeners a financial practical tip or a piece of wealth wisdom, something that you’ve learned that’s just helped you along the way.

Chris: [00:41:48] Yes. So something that I’ve implemented myself, kind of like the profit first system I talked about earlier, don’t spend it if you don’t have it. A lot of people, especially in real estate commissions and stuff like that, a lot of the people joke that, you know, you think this deal’s about to close in two days and you spend the five grand that you’re expecting and something doesn’t happen right in the deal falls through.

And now you’ve got five more grand in debt. So playing that red light green light game has been very helpful. Okay. I got the check it’s in the bank. Let me split it out by percentages on having fun and investing and donating to charitable contributions and places like that. If you can, you know, don’t spend it.

If you don’t have it. Sometimes if, if you’re going to put something on a credit card, I would suggest investing in a course or a mentor, if anything, like a couple hundred bucks, because I always would spend that money. Cause I’m like, this is an investment in myself. I know I’m going to make it back. And of course it feels a lot better.

Now that I’m on this side where I can be like, huh, let me just pay for that thing cash because it’s a lot quicker, cheaper that kind of thing. So just don’t spend it if you don’t have it, if possible. And of course make more than you spend.

Bob: [00:42:53] Yeah. Or spend less than you less than you make.

Chris: [00:42:56] Less than you make. That’s better. It’s a lot focused on increasing that income because it feels really cool when you’re making, you know, six figures a year or like high six figures or even seven figures a year. Like I can imagine if you like to spend, make more money and just keep that spend less than you make mentality and you should be good.

I think, I don’t know. You’re the money guy. You tell me if that’s right.

Bob: [00:43:19] Absolutely. Absolutely. Well, no, listen, I, you know, I really it’s, it’s really cool to have this conversation because I feel like you’re really dialed in and doing the work. Thank you. And I think that’s like, from what I’m hearing from you.

It just reaffirms to me that we have to be out there being conscious, intentional. It’s important to set goals. If we want to be able to measure success, set the goals and then actually measure it. And, and that place of, of stopping and saying, wait a minute. Is this serving me, is this in alignment with what I say I want.

And, and actually looking around and recognizing the benchmark of where we are and, and, and having the gratitude and being grateful for what we do have or where we came into the world at whatever place. And just that awareness of, of, of, our culture, how we got socialized, our parents and our grandparents stories, how that’s part of us, but it doesn’t have to define us.

We get to actually say, Hey, I’m going to do some healing forward and backwards, maybe. And, and just really like living  life with with, with intense, intense, Intentionality and and so making room to play and being flexible and, and all that stuff. I love what you’re doing. And I hope that the listeners out there are taking note because I know there’s so many people that say I want to get started.

I don’t know how take the first step right out.

Chris: [00:44:42] The first step is always the hardest.

Yes, it is. But many, many steps and you’ll get there. Exactly. It’s just one small step at a time. And even like the quote has gone, how do you eat an elephant one bite at a time literally, but one foot in front of the other and do the work, like you said, do the the deep work of understanding what you want.

Start to set goals, align yourself with mentors that have been there and done that. And then, boom, you’ll look up all of a sudden and be like, wow, I’m living the life of my dreams already. I am grateful, but of course I don’t want to be complacent. So let me find that purpose or next step. And for me, that’s like growing a team, hiring a few people to actually help me instead of being the solo preneur.

And so it all goes back to being clear because if you think your goal is 10 grand a month, once you get there, you may feel a little empty like I did. And the goal is just going to increase like mine did and it’s going to continue that down that path. So I love what you said there, and you wrapped it up very nicely, intentionality, intense intentionality, and self-reflection I think is extremely important for understanding where you want to go and learning how to get there.

Bob: [00:45:43] Yeah, absolutely. Well, where can ,Chris, where can people find you online and social media? Cause I’d love people to know the best place.

Chris: [00:45:49] Thank you, Bob. The best place to connect with me. I’m on Instagram. I’m very active on there. My username is Chris Bello underscore just C H R I S B as in boy, E L L O underscore.

I’m also on that clubhouse app. Talking quite a bit joining rooms, that sort of thing. And then you can also check out my podcast. The entrepreneur motivation podcast would love to have anyone go over there and check it out. We just passed a million downloads and of course, Bob, you’re going to be on my show as well. Looking forward to another conversation here soon.

Bob: [00:46:17] Absolutely. I’m totally looking forward to it. And then, you know, you’ll have to tell us at some point there’s gotta be a book coming. I, I, I hear that. Oh, we talked about that on Sharifah’s show. We did, we all, we all have a couple of books in us, of course.

And I mean, it’s funny because when I quit my job in 2017, I overly optimistically started writing a book in Google drive. I’m using air quotes of how I made it and became a millionaire. And of course it was supposed to be a work in progress. And it’s funny because I’m like, Oh, this product that I’m inventing is going to make us like this much a month, and then I’m gonna be making 4,000 a month doing this other thing.

None of that happened at all. And I’m not a millionaire just yet, but. It the, the net worth tracker that I have. I mean, it’s definitely, you know, speeding up very quickly. It’s growing exponentially and I’m learning things, implying things. And so I’m excited to get there and then maybe I’ll write the book and share the journey of how I, how I did X, Y, and Z in 20 days or whatever overnight success.

Well, we’ll look for that book. I so appreciate everything you’re sharing.

Chris: [00:47:20] Thank you.

Bob: [00:47:21] But I want to say to our listeners, please, don’t forget to share the love, like follow and share on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram search for money. You should ask all one word, subscribe to this podcast on your favorite podcast player, or visit Apple podcasts and search for money you should ask or click on the link in the description.

If you’re watching this episode on YouTube, don’t forget to like comment and subscribe for more tips. Tools or how to learn, how to have a healthy relationship with money, visit themoneynerve.com. That’s nerve not nerd. Chris, I so enjoyed this conversation

Chris: [00:47:50] Yeah. Thank you so much, Bob. It’s been a pleasure being here on the show with you.

Bob: [00:47:54] Absolutely.