Transcription
I'm Bob Henderson. I'm The Nomad Dad, and I'm doing some of these videos. Some are my ideas, some are suggestions from the production staff at Nomad Capitalist. The executive producer has, I think, an interesting one for me: what I would tell my 25-year-old self.
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So, I sit and talk to people my age, uh, often, and we say, "Wouldn't it be great if we could be 25 or 30 again, but know what we know today?" Yeah, it's kind of upside down, much like the world these days. But it is upside down, but that's the fun, that's the challenge of life.
I'm going to let out a little secret. My age is three score and ten years, with a little, you know, nod to Abraham Lincoln and his Gettysburg Address. Four score and what was it? Seven years ago. So, it's been a while since I've been 25. Although I must confess, I still feel like I'm 30. It's just amazing that I'm the age I am, but I, I do sense that I've got some worldly experience and maybe a little bit more wisdom than I had when I was 25.
So, what would this old guy say to a 25-year-old? As I think about it, I'd go for it. Just go for it. I'm not saying entirely throw caution to the wind, but go for it. And I was an entrepreneur, and so I did that to some extent. I, I'll tell you who's done a wonderful job of that, and that's the Nomad Capitalist himself, Andrew Henderson. He has so far surpassed what I did in terms of going for it.
I'll give you a quick little story. One of his businesses, he was still barely in his 20s, and we were living in, uh, Phoenix, the Phoenix area at the time, and he had business there, and he had business in Southern California. And one of those businesses was a brokerage business, uh, in, in the radio industry. He would place programming on a variety of small stations across the country, and it involved a lot of cold calling, which I did everything I could to avoid in my business. And one day, he ended up calling a guy, call far away, who became his biggest customer and now one of his best friends. So, it pays off.
I remember somebody describing somebody that I used to work with, I think a supervisor said, "That guy's got the guts of a burglar." And it takes guts to do that, I guess. But Andrew does, and this is one of the reasons he's been so successful. And with this, this concept of The Nomad Capitalist and going where you're treated best and having a plan B and C and beyond. So, go for it. Whether it's in business, or whether it's on the personal side, guys, ask that girl out. Yeah, maybe she'll say no. Her loss. Go for it.
Another thing: welcome your failures. Just because you fail at something doesn't mean you're a failure. Give you an example. In my late 20s, I was in business and I started doing fairly well. And, um, a manager came along and said, "How would you like to go out to San Diego, California with me with a new agency that I'm going to have?" And I thought, "Wow, the weather will be great out there. It's California." And everything didn't work out. Business-wise, it's probably my biggest failure. But I learned some things. I learned some things in how to present some new ideas for clients and just learned some things on a personal basis. And, and I think that this is a great way to grow through some of the things that don't necessarily work out so well for you.
I think another thing: don't let somebody talk you out of out of your career path. Don't worry what people think about you on a personal basis. We're all really guilty of this one. One of the things that I think back on, you know, we live, most, most people viewing this live in the Western world. And I was talking to somebody the other day, they happened to be a Canadian friend, and we were talking about our lives. They're baby boomers, like I am. And I said, "You know, we have lived in a golden age for US citizens." If you were a baby boomer that was called to Vietnam, and assuming you made it back and made it back in one piece, that might have been the worst thing that has happened in our generation. But by and large, and particularly from an economic standpoint, we have lived in a golden age. And I think that even people lower down the socioeconomic ladder in the major, uh, Western countries, you're still wealthier than 95% of the world population. We need to be thankful.
The Nomad Capitalist staff also asked to talk a little bit about what I'm reading. And I don't read as many books today. I do, I, I read more periodicals or other information to help come up with content for what I do here. And content because I do some writing for, uh, another firm, and I always need content. So, I'm not reading too many books per se. But one of my neighbors here in Mexico wrote a book that I would really like to recommend. And the book is on Amazon, "Don't Lose Hope." And this is a woman who is incredibly thankful, and it's, uh, can be a tearjerker. Vin Sock is her name. That's not her name, uh, Americanized. But she survived the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia that killed most of the people there, and she survived. A wonderful story of survival, and it was wits and brains and perseverance on her part. And boy, is she thankful today. She is so thankful, thankful for her freedom. And she was through anything worse than most of us could even dream of. This was in Cambodia in the '70s, the Khmer Rouge, the, the Communist. As I say, they killed most people, but she made it. And there are plenty of people that helped her along the way, various family members, church groups, and the like. I think that we need to consider that on a daily basis. Some days are going to be bad days, but looking back, just go into it with a thankful attitude. And it's not all about the money either. Well, yeah, you need some money. And certainly, I think another thing. I think what I would say to a 25-year-old, if you're going to be really successful, you need an ego. You need it. You need to believe in yourself. But check that ego at the door when you walk into your place of business, even if it's at home. You work from home, check your ego at the door. Be humble. And as I always told Andrew, it's all about blocking and tackling. You know, the football metaphor. You have to do the things on a daily basis, you know, the prospecting, the, the calling of, uh, particular clients that, uh, that you may want to work with, all the little administrative things, all the things that you have to learn to be better at your craft. So, reading, studying, so on. Do the blocking and tackling on a daily basis, and things will work out, and the money will come. I don't think you, you need to be, uh, trying to hit home runs every time. Singles and doubles will work. A baseball metaphor. If you're really in it to serve your clients and, uh, the people that you're working with, I think that will all come. Uh, and if you have a humble attitude, I don't think the money has to be first and foremost. So, those are some of my thoughts. Go for it, whether it's personal life, whether it's professional life. Don't worry what other people think. Be respectful. Be humble. These are what I would say to my 25-year-old self if I had to do it over again. If you've got some thoughts, leave them in the comments, and perhaps I can come back in a later episode and address those. Thanks for joining us. I'm Bob Henderson. I'm The Nomad Dad.