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NOW ONJohn Cristani here, and we're going to be talking about why I'm extremely frugal. Right? You know, what's the point of making money if you're not going to spend it? You know, the simple answer is to become rich, right? But let's go a little bit deeper into that because a lot of folks that I see, that I've seen growing up with, I'm 36 years old now, but I've been making millions since my early 20s. And the reality is that a lot of folks that I looked up to and respected when I was young, that were making millions as well hustling in the cut, are broke now. And it's because of the simple fact that they embraced consumerism and they never took a frugal mindset and they never truly wanted to become rich.
Now, what is consumerism? Consumerism is basing your own self-worth and your view of yourself based on what you have around you, what possessions you have, what watch you're wearing, what clothes you have, what car you're driving, where your house is, what the address is, what the location, all of these things basing your self-worth around things outside of you is a trap, and it's a trap you have to keep chasing because there's no end in sight.
Consumerism is pervasive in our society. I've had friends that have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on lizards and geckos because they got into this weird community of collecting reptiles with like three heads or like weird morphed out reptiles, people who collected NFTs, who traded cryptocurrency, people who bought real estate in Panama, all sorts of different types of consumerism, whatever people were flexing at the time, baseball cards, etc., and they lost their butt because they were chasing an ideal and they were always spending because their self-worth only went up with what they had.
Now, I encourage you, and this is a call, be frugal and take the opposite mindset. Instead of basing your worth around what's outside of you, base your self-worth around what is in here. And if you live as simply as possible, you won't run out of money, you'll save more money, you'll have less stress and anxiety, you'll have more independence, and you will be able to have more force innovation. We're going to talk about a few concepts here about forced innovation, innovation, and creativity as it relates to frugality.
The goal of my life when I was in college, the goal I defined for myself was to live independently, to have freedom, true freedom, to be able to do what I want when I want, to be where I wanted, with whom my choice, and to not always have to be stressing or worrying about where the next dollar was going to come from or whose butt I had to kiss or stuff like this. And that's a reason why I started my own business. I started selling things when I was 6 years old, so I've always had that bug.
Now here's an interesting example from my recent life. Andrew, can you actually show my backyard and stuff? So what I created, I had some workers build a whole stable, I had them move thousands of pounds of dirt, we built walls, we cut down trees. I have a ranch out here in Malibu, and we built a whole big sort of ranch and stables and terracing and retaining walls and sheds and all sorts of stuff. I could have hired a contractor to do this for $200 some thousand. Labor is very expensive out here, you know, there are a lot of rules and regulations out here in California. $200,000. But instead, what I did was I spoke Spanish, and I picked up some illegal immigrants. I found illegal immigrants to work for me. I hope the government's not watching this video. And I paid them more cheaply, and over the course of six months, I paid $160,000 because I was willing to hire workers who were illegal immigrants in America and because I learned a few words in Spanish to basically say, you know, like, you know, the Earth moves from here to here, you know, just very simple. $160,000 and likely added $300,000 in value to my house.
The more simple you make your life, the more you open the door for yourself to grow wealth wise and personally.
Q: What is the importance of embracing frugality for long-term success?
A: Embracing frugality is important for long-term success as it allows individuals to save money, reduce stress, and have more financial independence.
Q: How does consumerism impact an individual's self-worth?
A: Consumerism influences an individual's self-worth by tying it to material possessions and external factors, leading to a constant need to acquire more to feel validated.
Q: What are the benefits of practicing frugality in relation to financial success?
A: Practicing frugality can lead to saving more money, reducing stress and anxiety, achieving financial independence, and fostering innovation and creativity.
Q: How does frugality challenge ego and contribute to overall success?
A: Frugality challenges ego by encouraging a shift towards valuing intrinsic worth over external possessions, ultimately leading to greater independence and freedom.
Q: Can you provide an example of an innovative approach to building wealth through frugality?
A: An example of innovative wealth-building through frugality is demonstrated by reducing costs in construction projects by hiring cheaper labor, such as illegal immigrants, while still adding significant value to assets.
Q: How does reevaluating priorities contribute to building wealth through frugality?
A: Reevaluating priorities and simplifying one's life can create opportunities for personal and financial growth, allowing individuals to focus on what truly matters for wealth accumulation.