Speaker 0 What a fantastic episode we have for you today. I just chatted with Rick Warner. Rick was a drug addict and was homeless, at twenty years old living in a shed was, getting drunk and high every day, basically, and just had no no future was obviously, down and out He also we also talk about some adversity, some real adversity faced in in two thousand nine with regard to financial hardships. He and his family went through. And, some humility there and re reinventing himself in some ways professionally, but, man, he is an absolute pleasure to talk to. Super inspiring, super upbeat. The guy is living his best life right now. You know, it it just he's got money freedom, time freedom. He's traveling the world. He's he has run multiple marathons. He's a real estate agent who doesn't work forty hours a week. He's a business coach mainly because he just wants to give back. And you know, I had real value to the entrepreneur out there. We talk a lot about mindset, mental health, self awareness, and personal growth, overcoming adversity, it's it's just this is this is a great one. So you definitely do not wanna miss this episode. Speaker 1 Welcome to the from adversity to abundance podcast. Are you an entrepreneur or aspiring on super newer, then this show is for you. Each week, we bring you impactful stories of real people who have overcome painful human adversity to create a life of abundance. A life of abundance. You are not alone in your struggle. Join us and you will experience the power of true stories and gain practical knowledge from founders who have turned poverty into prosperity and weakness into wealth. This podcast will encourage you through your health, relationship, and financial challenges So you can become the hero in your quest for freedom. Take ownership of the life you are destined to live. Turn your adversity into abundance. Speaker 0 Welcome everybody to another episode of the from adversity to abundance podcast. I am your host, Jamie Bateman, and I'm pumped today to have with us Rick Warner. Rick is a real estate agent and a the cofounder of Flow Academy. Rick, thanks for joining us today. How are you doing? Speaker 2 I am doing well, Jamie. Thank you so much for having me on show. I am very excited. Speaker 0 Yeah. This is gonna be awesome. You and I were chatting beforehand, and and, we just had to hit record because we were getting into too much good stuff. Speaker 2 So we think. That's right. That's right. Speaker 0 Need need the listener to to hear this stuff. So so, Rick, I touched on it briefly, but tell the listener who you are today and what you're up to today. Speaker 2 So who I am today is, twenty years in the real estate business and having enjoyed some success. That's, like, what I do, but who I am is all about trying to people I can help, and that's more in my coaching business, flow academy, where we focus right now on real estate people, but we're actually opening it up to just kind of overall coaching mainly mainly for small businesses. And, I have, four kids my ranging from thirty four years old down to sixteen. I'm in this really great relationship. We get to travel a lot. I have I actually have become kind of the guy that I used to hate. I like to tell some people, like, interesting. I have this really great semi normal but amazing life. With a lot of flexibility and, a lot of financial freedom. So it's I'm I'm a I'm very I'm very fortunate. Speaker 0 Yeah. That's that's fantastic. And I know know it wasn't always that way. But that's that's interesting. It's it's I'm curious to to dive into that later as far as, you know, is that your own was that your own projecting before when you hated that guy that you right now are Speaker 2 Totally. Exactly. When I say the guy used to hate, what I mean is the guy that I used to hate at the very least. Maybe everybody else admired the guy, but I'm the guy. I didn't even yeah. Well, we can get into it. It was there was there was a lot of stuff about who I used to be. Yeah. That was not amazing. Speaker 0 Well, I know, I know you've been through some some stuff for sure, a couple of key pieces, or examples of adversity that we touched on before we hit record. But, talk to us. Let let's dive into your backstory, Rick. Where do you wanna start? Yeah, I know, twenty years old, you, were at a real low point, so maybe we should start there. Speaker 2 Sure. Yeah. And I and I would like to say too just I mean, when I heard the name of your podcast, I'm like, that is where that's where I belong because adversity has been and not only at the center of my life, but I would say at the center of my success. In other words, every time that I was facing something really, really challenging. And there's been multiple of those. We'll talk about a couple of the main ones today. That when they happen, I'm like, this is terrible. This isn't right. This is this can't be good, you know, all that. And having, you know, overcome those adversities. Mhmm. The version of me that came out the other side was so much bigger, right, and so much more capable. And all the things that I don't look weird. This is where we started earlier. We're it's like I don't look at those things as something that, or were bad. I just don't. I mean, they were experiences that were difficult but they led me to much, much bigger things. So going back to what you were talking about. So when I was twenty years old, even though I was brought up in a great family, you know, my dad was a pastor. My mom was a school teacher. We're, you know, kind of lower middle class. We didn't have a ton of money. But lots of love in the family, all the things. Somehow, I ended up at the age of twenty years old being, the father father of a one year old boy from a school relationship, being addicted to drugs and alcohol and living in a tool shed behind the driving range where I worked. And, and really, there was a point in there if you had asked me how things were going. I just said, pretty good. You know? This is this is the world I've created my for myself because, you know, I started living this weird, this weird kind of alter reality of what was important, and what was important to me at that time was getting loaded, period. That was it. That was my sole purpose. Everything I did was How do I get loaded or recover from being loaded so I could get loaded again? And, and I thought that was totally okay. Like, I like it better. In fact, I felt bad for people who didn't know what it was like to get loaded or be loaded all the time. You know what I mean? Speaker 0 Yeah. So in some sense, you were you're living in the moment, taking day by day. Exactly. Speaker 2 Yeah. I remember people saying that. I'm like, I totally live for the moment. You know? Speaker 0 So so, you know, you know, we don't have to dive in too much on on why you got there. How you know, but but why do you were you were you covering up for for pain from, you know, the past? I trying to over analyze things here or -- No. -- you know, but why do you think it was that you you said you have a had a loving household, you know, growing up? Why do you think you kind of ended up living in a tool shed addicted to to drugs. Speaker 2 Yeah. It's a it's a great question. One, I don't know the answer to. I mean, I can tell you that Certainly, there's things as I've gone through my life where I've discovered about myself that are, you know, that are raw spots that are things that that tend to put me into some kind of survival role where I'll behave in a way that isn't maybe my highest self, I like to call it. Sure. And so all those things exist at the end of the day, I couldn't deal with life on life's terms, whatever that meant. And my solution to dealing with life on life's terms was that if I got loaded, I didn't have to feel it. So, really, I just wanted to be anesthetized. I didn't want any feelings good or bad. Right? Speaker 0 I see. Speaker 2 I wanted everything to be just blotto. And so, I remember thinking regularly I could just be loaded all the time. I really believe that. And can you imagine what kind of limiting existence that was for me? And, obviously, who am I showing up for for everybody else? I mean, I can't even imagine how useless I was, but that's really what happened. And, But, yeah, I don't and we you know, it's funny because the people that ended up so what what ended up just really quick, what ended up happening was I had this one night where for all of a sudden, I could see myself for who I really was, what was really going on, my life for, you know, not the crazy, like, this is great. You guys should you should come join me too. Yeah. What's happened, bro? And you're not gonna make it. And how did you end up this way? And you have a you have a son And you, you know, you don't even you're not showing up for him. You're barely around, you know, all the things. And is this what's what's his life gonna be like? You know? Sure. Speaker 0 And so what happened to that that point, if you don't mind me, was it just Speaker 2 Well, let me to that point was being up for three days without any sleep, having too many things in my body. Mhmm. And then -- Gotcha. Speaker 0 -- Speaker 2 my heart was kind of pounding out of my chest. I thought I'd I was super paranoid. So I was, like, looking out the loover blinds, looking for the cops coming or the the mafia. Like, I had all kinds of crazy things, you know, helicopters flying over. Like, it was it was not good. And that it was around that very same time. And I'm like, then I also knew that I had had similar experiences before and that I was gonna wake up the next day and not have any memory of how horrible that ex that experience was, and I was gonna do it again. And I was like, This is gonna be my life, you know, until I'm dead. And so the next day I was lucky enough to go get help. That was November eighteenth nineteen eighty nine. And the people that I met there at this place where I could get help, they changed my life, what they offered, who they were, or what they did, it changed my life. And, And so, you know, you so there's your ad adversity and then Yeah. Speaker 0 For sure. Yeah. Yeah. Yes. So how did so what what were the next, you know, I guess what tools did those people give you, to start to turn your life around? Speaker 2 Yeah. So, first of all, they gave me some comradery around. They had been where I was and they were no longer there. So I really they had some kind of legitimacy, and that's why I think that's why I think your program is so good. What makes your program great is people are talking about their own challenges and struggles, and that makes other people go, oh, good. Okay. I'm not the only one that's feeling this way or Here's a guy that had that feeling, and now he's not there anymore. Speaker 0 So that Speaker 2 is built into that, the that program. Speaker 0 They've got credibility. I've been there. Speaker 2 You've got credibility instantaneously. No. You know, it's not a cop. It's not my mom. It's not my girlfriend. It's not, you know, the authorities telling me it's not a psychologist not anybody telling me, you should get better. Sure. Speaker 0 It's these Speaker 2 people going, hey, I've I've been right where you are, and I'm no longer there. And it's really great. Come with us. Right? Speaker 0 Yeah. So you can see it's a proof of concept. You could see what success looks like from from someone who's actually done it. So Yeah. Speaker 2 That's right. Yeah. There was an instant action for me to who these people were. And that was really important because the things they were gonna ask me to do in terms of, you know, self development were not gonna be things that made sense or that I really wanted to do. Sure. Yeah. You know what I mean? So I needed to have that connection in the same again, same thing with anything. If somebody's gonna be asking you to do something, you really it's better if they've done it themselves, right, where, and that you're really attracted to them. So that was my experience. They asked me to do some things from a personal development standpoint through a twelve step program. Speaker 0 Mhmm. Speaker 2 So that's like taking an inventory of yourself. It's a it's like really looking at where your shortcomings are, making amends for things that you've already done, and all of that was to create a relationship with a power greater than myself and know it's not a religious program. I'm not religious, but I'm definitely a spiritual guy. Speaker 0 Sure. Speaker 2 So all of that led me to some kind of spiritual Yeah. You know, understanding, spirit in the universe, call it god, whatever you want. Yeah. I could rely on unconditionally. Speaker 0 Fair. Speaker 2 And so that that whole thing that I just described is has been the foundation for everything else for me. Speaker 0 Yeah. No. That's fantastic. And and, you know, whether it's through a twelve step program or not, we've had a similar theme from through, you know, through the show with a lot of different guests as far as not the same exact story you you have, but the same kind of principles where an in similar journey where they they have to get introspective and work on themselves. Yeah. But it doesn't stay there. It doesn't stop there. You already talked about, you know, looking upward or to to god or, you know, to spiritual, you know, something bigger than yourself, and looking toward others. And I imagine the rest of your story is largely focused on others. And so, I think there's just kind of a natural kind of progression there and and evolution, if you will, to, you know, during that transformation that, I think, kind of everyone goes through who's gone from adversity to abundance. So, you know, walk us through kind of the next, you know, say five years, you know, after that rock bottom period, the twelve weeks, then then what happens? Speaker 2 Yeah. So the so the the next five years was really, really just immersed in that whole thing. Like, I was not I had jobs. I did what ever, but really, really, it was just focused on that work. And, actually, I would say the next twelve years was actually me. Now it doesn't have to be that for everybody. That's just how it worked out for me. It became a lifestyle, became what I was immersed in. But somewhere in there, You know, I got married. I I started having kids, and then it's like, okay. Hey, you gotta make a living. And so, So somewhere in there, that that that came into play where I really needed to focus more on you know, being an adult. I've I don't want that doesn't sound right. But Yeah. I Speaker 0 mean, there's I used Speaker 2 to focus more on yeah. I couldn't just live in that world. Right? I needed you to be out in the world and be a contributing member of society and and, create, you know, find out how to make a living and all that stuff. So Speaker 0 Yeah. Well, and I think life has seasons. Right? It's not just Totally. Yeah. I mean, you know, you might volunteer at a church for for ten years. Right. Exactly. And that's fantastic. And you and people should do that. But at some point, maybe that's not what you should be doing anymore. So Speaker 2 Right. Or at least it's not your entire identity. Right? Speaker 0 Exactly. Exactly. So now your identity shifts to being more of a family man. You got kids. You've been like, oh, I need to make some money. So Right. So professionally then, what did you what did your focus look like? Speaker 2 Well, it was so I was a financial advisor for a while. Yeah. So I did that for maybe five years. Got got held up in the dot com bomb. Mhmm. And it was that that industry. If there's any financial advisors listening, series seven guys, Like, it was right when the the whole industry was going from, commission based to fee based, and it didn't really Look at the end of the day, I didn't do what it took to succeed in that business. I I give you a whole bunch of other reasons, but at the end of the day, I didn't do what needed to be hap needed to happen. And so I kind of fell into real estate, which I think, like, ninety five percent of the people that are in real estate, they basically end up there. Right? Rarely do I come across people like? I went to college and, when I was gonna grow up, Speaker 1 it's Speaker 2 gonna be a realtor. You know what I mean? No. Speaker 0 My my father my father's still a realtor. He's been a an agent for I don't know. Many decades. Speaker 2 Yeah. I Speaker 0 mean, and he was very successful with it and did did a good job. And and but it, you know, he went to some good colleges and and and, you know, did not plan to be an agent. Speaker 2 Right. Yeah, exactly. So I was lucky. I it was two thousand four when I got licensed almost twenty years ago. The real estate market was crazy. Sure. Yep. And you know, I had some immediate success. And I was like, okay. This is this is where I'm supposed to be, you know. And, it was it was just good enough for me to buy a million dollar house back when a million dollar house was actually like a big deal. Yeah. And, You know, I'm thinking I'm kinda I'm like, okay. I've arrived, you know. And then two thousand, September of two thousand eight happens. Yeah. And you know, for for those listeners who don't know, if you were in real estate, if you owned real estate, if you had any attachment to real estate, it was brutal. It was a really brutal time for everybody. But if you were if you owned real estate and you were in the real estate business, it was even worse. And so All your eggs Speaker 0 were in the real estate basket. Yeah. Speaker 2 All the eggs. That's right. Yeah. So our million dollar house was worth, like, six hundred and fifty grand which made up basically our entire down payment that we had put, and on September of two thousand nine, which is my fortieth birthday, I had planned to go to, Las Vegas with my now twenty one year old son. Right? And, it was gonna be great. And we'd been planning it for, you know, like a year. Hey, when I turn, you know, it'll be great. I'll be forty. You'll be twenty one. It'll be and here we are, and not only can I not go to Las Vegas? I can't pay my mortgage. And all of my lines of credit are burned up or have been withdrawn from the bank. My credit cards are maxed out, and because the business had started to go down, I'm behind in my taxes. Like, I've got it all barreling down. I'm, like, the only solution seems to be sell the house. The problem is that if we sell the house, we lose everything. We're like, we lock in that loss. Right? Speaker 0 Sure. Speaker 2 And then I start going, well, Okay. Where can I make? And I think my nut at the time was, like, ten grand a month. Where can I make ten grand a month? Nohere. I couldn't. I it was just wasn't I couldn't I didn't have the skills. I didn't have the resume. I had nothing that lined me up, and I certainly couldn't go to my parents because if they were like, you spend ten thousand dollars a month. They weren't just they would've disowned me as their kid. Right? Speaker 0 But, I mean, but and just to, you know, did did you make some mistakes? Sure. But for those, maybe, the younger listeners out there who who, you know, it's easy to pile on and say, well, yeah, I wouldn't get into that situation. Of course, I wouldn't They were you were not the only one in that situation either. I mean, like you said, the whole world kinda crashed, especially the real estate world, which is what you were you were in you know, in many ways. So, you know, maybe you should have done some things differently. This isn't me judging. I'm just saying, looking back, it's easy to say, well, I shouldn't have taken I shouldn't have bought that house. I shouldn't have relied on these commission checks to assume they would go, you know, stay consistent going forward, but at the same time, no Nobody saw that coming. I mean, you know, they were handing out loans to anyone who would who could fog a mirror. Speaker 2 I could tell you stories of loans that you would not believe But but I think the point though is, you know, kind of taking it, keeping it online with your podcast. Speaker 0 Yeah. Speaker 2 One way or the other, whether you're facing adversity by your own hand, or by circumstances or a combination of both, which usually is what it is. Yeah. Certainly, I had a part and I was responsible for those circumstances. And, yes, it's also true that there was an economic crisis. A big the biggest meltdown, the country had seen since the great depression. And so that mattered as well. But but none of that, but none of that really mattered because I was in a circumstance. Speaker 0 Yes. Exactly. Speaker 2 Deal with it. Right? Speaker 0 You gotta deal with real life and the and the situation you're in and regardless of what caused this, how did I get here? You know, that's fine to look at and talk about, but but that's where you are. You know, that's Speaker 2 that's where you are. And so you'll and I think that the reason I wanna highlight that is if you're listening and if you're an entrepreneur, you're having some adversity, whether it's in a relationship or in business or financially whatever it is, don't spend too much time on it's not fair. It shouldn't have happened or the reasons. Like, what's, to me, way more important is to figure out, well, what are you going to do about it? Right? Speaker 0 Absolutely. Speaker 2 What is the next right thing to do? You can do recon work later when you look back and go, wow. Yeah, man. I should have, you know, but at the end of the day, right now, it's like, what is the next right thing to do? Right? Speaker 0 Yeah. Absolutely. Because, I mean, it's not gonna serve your family for you to sit around the house wallowing for six months trying to figure out what how you got here. You know, that there's there's a time for that, but the next thing is, you know, like you said, the right next step. What what what is that? What was that for you? What did you Yeah. Speaker 2 So the next so the next right thing for me was, will the first of all, I just wanna say that you could imagine. I'm sitting there with all of that piled up. And for, you know, days or weeks, I really don't remember how long I would I would be on my couch at night. My wife next to me, we had three little kids, and then I had my older one. And It was like an elephant sitting on my chest. And I just and I didn't really I'm like, who do I even go to with this? Speaker 0 You know Speaker 2 what I mean? So I felt super alone and super overwhelmed and all that. And and the answer was there was no other business that could get me out of it. And that and that there was no person that I could go to that was gonna get me out of The entire thing was up to me. And for me, I was already in the right business. I had to be better at what I already knew how to do. Okay. And so I sought out a coaching program through the company that I worked for. It was eight hundred bucks. It was an eight week. One one whole day of or how do I say it? And then every Monday for eight weeks, for Speaker 0 eight hours. Speaker 2 Got it. Was this class? And I was like, I didn't have eight hundred bucks. And I'm like, Speaker 0 I Speaker 2 even called around to the country because it was a national pork program. Call people who had taken it. I'm like, hey, is this thing for real? Speaker 0 Because I Speaker 2 could not waste eight hundred dollars. And, you know, whatever that is, sixty four hours of time, And this one woman, I remember her name was Sarah. She goes, Rick, just do it. And you're going back to the whole thing of, you know, the experience of others. I had talked with her. I liked her. She sound like she knew what talking about. I believed her. Sure. And I took the action. Yeah. And, and that that eight week program made all the difference in the world. I really had to accept the idea that I I had not done anything amazing to become a great realtor. I had Speaker 0 I I Speaker 2 don't wanna say I've gotten lucky, but I you know, I kinda have just getting by on, you know, some charm and, you know, whatever, but not actual hard work and getting in there and and doing lead generation. Yeah. Speaker 0 I mean, and and now, like, there are a lot of real estate investors who have done really well in the last ten, fifteen years, and and some of that is genius on their part and and just very, you know, expertise, but some of that is riding the wave of of, you know, the economy. So like you said, both things are true. I mean, I'm sure you deserve some of the success and earned a lot of the success that you had had, but but a lot of that maybe was right place at the right time. And then here you are. And you but it sounds like you had never really invested in yourself to get better at your craft. You just Yeah. Speaker 2 I didn't even know. I didn't even know that was a thing. Right? I just thought we just because, you know, a lot of times, and I would imagine if you're an entrepreneur, there's there's probably a little bit of that. Like, I'm on an island out here. Speaker 0 Oh, yeah. For sure. Speaker 2 Who do I go to? How do I learn what's next and all that? And I was -- Absolutely. Speaker 0 -- Speaker 2 what in my early well, I just turned forty. So I was in my forty my early late late thirties when I got into the business. Yep. And, yeah, so having somebody say, do this. Now here's the other part. Like, I remember the very first class. One of their things was we want you to call people, and we want you to say this, and it was a script. And I'm like, well, I don't do scripts. And not only did they want us to to do that, but we were gonna do it right there. There was two hundred people in this room, and we were doing it right there with everybody around. I'm like, no. No. I need to have a private and I need to think about every call for fifteen minutes before I make you know, I had all these things, and I had to learn how to be un comfortable or I need to learn how to be comfortable outside of my comfort zone. Right? I've heard that a thousand times. I had never heard it at that point. Speaker 0 Sure. Speaker 2 And so being willing to, you know, push the envelope of what I now call my working edges. These Okay. The working edges are those places where you you know, that it it frightens you. It it it it's, you you see emotional pain on the other side of it. And because of that, you go, well, I'm not gonna go do that, whatever that is. Sure. And the more I can lean into those emotional, you know, working edges, there's some big rewards on the other side of that if I can get through that. Right? Speaker 0 And that's really good. Yeah. About mental Speaker 2 health and all that. And so Absolutely. Speaker 0 Yeah. So that's really good because it's not you're not I mean, looking back, you're not you weren't throwing cautions of wind and and then reinventing yourself in an entirely new industry. And, you know, you're still leaning on your the skills you already had and experience you had. But you're pushing the envelope of what you're comfortable with, and and you were willing to be humble and and take the advice and do what you didn't wanna do. I mean, so that's makes a lot of sense. And you're you're definitely you're definitely right about just entrepreneurs in general. You know, I am one. It's very easy to to not be connected, you know, to other people and, you know, it's very easy to just kind of do your thing and and feel like you are on an island and entrepreneurship can can be a pretty lonely place if you're not careful, if you're not intentional about plugging yourself into a mastermind or coaching program or some other, whether it's paid or not, some other some community of like minded individuals. And so, I do think that's critical for Speaker 2 Yeah. Mentorship is another way Speaker 0 to look at it too. Right? Having a mentor. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. So okay. So okay. You were doing this on on Mondays. Actually, let me ask you this. Speaker 2 Yeah. Did Speaker 0 you ever And I know you're an entirely different life situation, you know, twenty years after your your shed, you know, homeless. Situation. Speaker 2 By the way, it was almost exactly twenty years, right, from the shed to the I can't pay my mortgage. Speaker 0 Oh, because Speaker 2 it's in two months of twenty years. But, yeah. Speaker 0 Was there ever I mean, was there ever any inclination to ever kind of go back and not into a shed or anything, but I'm saying Speaker 2 But just to get drunk or Speaker 0 low to drunk or high. Exactly. In gave the whole thing at that point. Speaker 2 Yeah. So, no. Great question. Not at all. Okay. I was very fortunate in that moment. Now I will tell you that a few years later, ironically or whatever with with having gotten out of that, that there was that that that moment did happen. And it wasn't a moment, unfortunately, it lasted for two and a half years, and I'm I'm happy to talk about that too. But let me just let me just connect the dots Speaker 0 Yeah. Speaker 2 So I go to that program. I do the things they tell me to do, and I start having success directly as a result of that. Just like when I went to twelve step program, and I had direct results. So it was like, very it's like, oh, I get it. The more I ask for help, the more I follow the people that are doing the thing that I wanna do, the better my life gets and whatever area it is that I'm trying to get better. Right? Speaker 0 Or That that's awesome. Yeah. Speaker 2 There's that idea too of, like, your you've you wanna know what your who your life, what your life is like. Just check out who the fry the five people you spend the most time around. Right? That's Speaker 0 Absolutely. And and and, again, you're not you weren't the first successful real estate agent to ever, you know, to to to to, you know, to do this and have success. Right? So you weren't the first you weren't I didn't have right. Speaker 2 I wasn't the one breaking any ground. I was the follower. I was the follower. Sure. Speaker 0 But I think that can be hard for entrepreneurs and and agents or salespeople who they kinda don't wanna be told what to do. You know, maybe the type a person who You you were working for yourself essentially for for years before Speaker 2 that. Yeah. That's right. Speaker 0 That's really, you know, it is humbling and it's hard to do. So, but you That Speaker 2 is part of the working edge, by the way. Right? That that idea, I don't wanna work for I mean, all these things are entirely in our head. Why didn't I wanna make the phone calls? Because I was afraid how somebody was gonna react to me. That's entirely in my head. You know, everything everything that I'm afraid of is entirely in my head. Mhmm. Speaker 0 Love that. Yeah. Okay. So Speaker 2 yeah. So I had success. Yep. Started having success. And, and so I just started building on that, just repeating those things, being bigger, getting more getting more coaching, hiring a coach, and and constantly pushing that envelope. And so I went from, you know, not being able to pay my mortgage in two thousand nine to two thousand twelve. I was top three in our hundred and seventy person office. I had paid off all of our taxes, all of our debt. I I only by the way, I only missed one I I didn't miss a payment, but I was thirty days late on that one payment in September. Speaker 0 Gotcha. Speaker 2 So it didn't affect our credit. And in two thousand fourteen, I was number one in our hundred and seventy person office, and it's basically from a real estate standpoint, in my in that place, I've I've been able to maintain that that high level of productivity and, and And none of that would have happened had I not had the adversity that I had in September two thousand nine? Yeah. Speaker 0 Because you wouldn't have been as hungry and willing to reach out for help. Speaker 2 And to do something differently. Yeah. Exactly. Speaker 0 Yeah. So now what kind of coach did was it a real estate agent coach? Or was it a what what kind of coach did you did you Yeah. Speaker 2 So all my coaches were all real estate people. Gotcha. And that's, you know, they're two ways to go. There are business coaches that probably would have been sufficient as well. Speaker 0 Sure. Speaker 2 You know, there's so much overlap. Right? Yeah. I mean, at the end of the day, Most of us who are entrepreneurs, which I would put agents in that category Speaker 0 -- Yeah. Speaker 2 Yeah. -- are probably good at that thing. Right? Like, I really know how to negotiate the deal. A contract and help people look for houses and blah blah blah. But how do I go get clients? Right? So if I'm an accountant, if I'm a If I'm a computer guy, if I'm, like, whoever if I if I'm in the business of needing clients Speaker 0 -- Yeah. -- Speaker 2 and I know how to do the thing that I'm good at, but if I don't know how to clients, for example, then I need to go help. Speaker 0 I need to find somebody that can help me get clients. However, that is. Absolutely. Totally. You can't be good at everything. And Yeah. Couldn't agree more. So if you're comfortable with, you know, you went from not being able to pay your mortgage to to what as far as income? Are you willing to share any of that? Speaker 2 You want me to throw a number at you? Only what you're Speaker 0 comfortable with. Hey, Speaker 2 gosh. This is my first part first podcast where anybody that. So, so I would say so a bad year for me is half a million in revenue, and I've had a couple years in the three quarters of a million dollar a year. Speaker 0 That's awesome. No. I mean, you're not bragging. I asked I asked you for it. So, that's that's awesome. I mean, it you know, because it is hard for because, you know, we we hear guests and it's like, yeah, I went through a hard time, and I'm now I'm in abundance. Well, what does that mean? Right? And and, of course, and, of course, I know that your abundance story is not just about how much money you make. I know it's bigger than that, but but that's a real number. And that's, you know, those are those are big numbers. So that's kudos to you. That's awesome. Thank you. Yeah. So okay. So so kind of what has the last, maybe, five years look like? For you as Speaker 2 far as your Actually, you know what's funny? Five years is a perfect number to ask me about because what happened five years ago was I read a book called, the four agreements, And I don't know if you've read that one or not, Speaker 0 but it Speaker 2 and and it and it and to be honest, it doesn't have to have been to four agreements. It was just that I was at that right time in my life, where I was like, there's gotta be something more here on a an emotional mental, you know, like, I to your point earlier. Okay. Here I am. I'm making a lot of money. But I'm not really that happy. Something's missing. And so for the last five years, been all about personal development more than anything. And within that personal development, it started with reading this book for agreements. If you if you're listening or if you have It is a really great super easy principle driven book. That that but that got me started on that whole personal development. Place where you could make the argument that for the last, at that point, whatever, twenty eight years, I had been doing personal development through twelve step work and all that because I continue to do that. But this was to kind of go beyond that and look at more some causes and conditions. And the way I react to life and the the things that, you know, what triggers me and and, or different ways of looking at how other people behave or react or, you know, paying or learning about how your brain works, you know, the prefrontal cortex versus the the amygdala and the fight or flight and the wise mature self and all. Like, there's just so much great stuff. And I'm a seeker. Like, I'm a seeker of I want to, I wanna feel better. I wanna react better to people. I wanna be of more service to other people. The more I'm in myself, I'm in my fear, my resentments, or my selfishness, then I'm really not able to be helpful to anybody else. On the other hand, if I can relieve myself of those things, which I tend to that's where I tend to drift to without any without any spiritual connection, without any help. I just kind of live in selfishness and dishonesty and resentment and fear. Yeah. And that's a very small world to live in. Yeah. So so for the last five years, it's been all about that. Speaker 0 That's awesome. I mean, like you said, when you were in the in the shed, you were isolated. You weren't a positive impact, influence on probably, you know, too Speaker 2 many people. Speaker 0 Yeah. Nobody. And and so There Speaker 2 was nobody going, hey. I wanna go hang out with Rick. Speaker 0 But, I mean, now the Rick Warner that that you've turned into is it's just awesome. And I'm sure you have bad days. I'm sure you have hang ups. I'm sure you're not perfect. So but so practically speaking, and then we can't unpack all of it. But what are you doing today, you know, not necessarily this date. But today, this week, this month, that you weren't doing, say, three, four years ago from a personal development standpoint. Speaker 2 Yeah. Right. So I would say two things. One is I have a consistent model for a good day for me, and that includes, you know, things that have nothing to do with business. So meditation, for sure, how I'm what am I putting into my body? And listen, I'm not like a health freak. I'm not constantly put, but I do pay attention to it. I cut out a lot of the sugar that I was eating and things like that. I exercised regularly. I was never ever an exercise guy. Mhmm. So about four years ago, I started, running, which is its own funny story that I won't take too talk too much time on your podcast But I was a hundred percent reluctant runner. The girl that I had just started dating invited me for a run, and I'm like, that's dumb. But she was cute. So I went. And then it was terrible. And she goes, how did you like it? And I'm like, yeah, it was good. Yeah. I loved it. And so she goes, good. We're doing a five k. I'm like, a five k. What is that? Like, a hundred miles? And, so anyway, we did a five k, like, four days later, and that got me going. Kind of, like, I I because I'm super competitive as you probably figured out. Speaker 0 Yeah. Speaker 2 And so You know, the five k turned into a ten k, the ten k turned into a half marathon. Then we went through the whole, pandemic. So all the races got stopped, but my goal was to do a marathon. So when -- Mhmm. Speaker 0 -- Speaker 2 soon as the pandemic was over, I ran the Chicago marathon, then I ran the New York marathon, And then just five days ago or on Sunday, I ran the San Francisco marathon, and each one of those has been you know, its own journey because of, you know, I'm so competitive. I wanted a certain time and blah blah. Speaker 0 Sure. Speaker 2 But the the point is is that within the context of that, I become this runner and other, other fitness stuff working out, group fitness and so forth. And with that, has come this crazy emotional like, shield for from anxiety and fear. I just I live on a totally different level purely because of the exercise. So I've got this physical benefit from exercising. Yeah. Obviously, lost dirty weight. My body looks pretty good, but better than that is the emotional part that I've got, which I you could've told me a thousand times. I mean, I bet you there's people listening to this podcast right now going I'm not. I don't care. Speaker 0 Yeah. Yeah. Right. Speaker 2 Yeah. But Well, Speaker 0 we've had, Matt Isso on the show twice. He's a younger guy who's, lost seventy five pounds. He lost seventy five five pounds three times, but the third time, and he's kept kept it off for six or seven years now, and he's run He's done an Ironman now. Oh my gosh. Yeah. So you you got something to to compete with. Speaker 2 No. I know. It's in there. Speaker 0 It's in there. But but but he talks a lot about the emotional benefits to all this and and how he's addressed so much done so much emotional work along with the physical work. That's right. The other thing I wanna point out too is that, you know, it's not like you've set out because I think I think for a lot of listeners, it can be over going to hear, you know, oh, the I've I've gotta do emotional work, and I've gotta do the training for a marathon now. And, you know, but you said it came alongside that. You didn't expect all the the ancillary emotional benefits that came along with the physical benefits. So it kinda all falls into place if you have that that one that you start taking action toward that first goal, would you would you say that's fair? Speaker 2 I I would say that's fair. Also, I would just put it under the one day at a time category. So Speaker 0 -- Sure. -- Speaker 2 whatever. So if you go back all the way to when I first got sober. Obviously, that was one day at a time. They're the one to coin the phrase. Right? But the one day but the one day at a time thing just works for everything that you're trying to do. At least for me, I'm a guy that easily gets overwhelmed, who easily gets afraid or whatever or wants to shut down and not do anything. That's me. Like, so if you're listening to this and you go, god, this guy is super disciplined. He's that's not true. I've learned how to be disciplined. But this has happened over a long period of time. The can I share about the daily navigator thing? Speaker 0 I was telling you. Absolutely. Speaker 2 So because I'm not appointed because I have all these great ideas, and then I don't follow-up with any of them. And because I'm ADD and all the other things, I had to create. I didn't have to. I got you. I was lucky enough that while it was running one day -- Mhmm. Speaker 0 -- Speaker 2 after having years of, like, man, if I meditated every day, that would be amazing. Gosh. If I called ten people a day, that would be really cool. Man, if I did, you know, like, I I Speaker 0 should do this one day. Speaker 2 I should do that. Yeah. I was shooting all over myself. Right? Right. Speaker 0 Right. Speaker 2 And so, I created this list of those things that if I did them on a mostly regular basis, not necessarily every single day, but basically most days. Speaker 0 Mhmm. Speaker 2 And then if I checked the box off on the list that morning and said, okay. These are the things. Now I'm looking at this today. Today is what is today? Thursday? Yes. Is that right? Yes. So so today's Thursday. It's the twenty whatever it is, the twenty seventh. So Thursday the twenty seventh on my list, is this, you know, here's all the the things I'm gonna do. Am I choosing to meditate today? Yeah. I'm gonna meditate. I'm gonna drink my greens. I'm gonna exercise. I'm gonna read a spiritual book. And, but I'm not going to journal today. So I don't check that box. And then here in my personal thing, I'm gonna call ten people. I'm gonna meet three people face to face. I'm gonna write some thank you cards and I'm blah blah blah. Mhmm. I I I decide that every day in this daily navigator. I sign it like a contract every day. This is my must do list. And if I'm not planning, if I don't know that I can get that done that day, then I don't check the box. Right? If I have a day where I'm filled with meetings or I can't, whatever. Sure. But because I'm looking at that with this is going to happen. This isn't a hopeless This isn't a to do list. Right. Speaker 0 It's Speaker 2 a must do list. So I take a picture of it, and I send it out to my accountability group. The accountability group's made up of three kinds of people, a mentor, a coach, a manager, somebody that I'm that's kind of above me that I'm Sure. Speaker 0 You're, like, aspiring to be, like, yet Speaker 2 Exactly. Up here, somebody that's on par with me, what they're doing similar things. You know, we're we're doing this thing together kind of thing. And then also a mentee, somebody I'm trying to be a good example to, right, that I'm the leader for, that I'm showing them, hey, this is how I do it. So I send it out. Boom. Take a picture. It goes on this group where we're all on it, you know, in a WhatsApp group. And then as I go through the day and I start getting to extracted by my emotions or some unexpected thing or, you know, or whatever, and I get off track, I go back to my list, And I go, what is my next right thing to do here? What because this is what I decided this morning was important. And really, nothing's changed. These things still need to happen. Right. Get it done. And then I check the check all the boxes. There's some little mini gratitude, three things I'm grateful for, which I really spend time on. What am I grateful for? What are the things I take for granted? Man, I could walk. Speaker 0 Right? Or I can sell stuff. Yeah. Or you Speaker 2 know what I mean? Or did I have access to clean drinking water? Sometimes it's a person that helped me that day, whatever it is, and then a mini journal. You know, I struggled with this today or god. I had this epiphany or I had to relearn this today. And then I take another picture of it, And I send it back out of the accountability group, and I'm done. And I do that every single day that I wanna be held accountable. And now I've been doing that for about four years. And my efficiency of what I can you imagine if you meditated every single day or basically the day? What that would do for your mindset or if you exercised you know, five days a week, what would that would do for you emotionally for the Speaker 0 That's actually what I yeah. No. I just wanted to that because one of the things that, you know, one of the maybe com criticisms that might pop up or maybe criticism is not the right word, but, you know, reason I can't do that, right, or is I don't have time to do everything that Rick's talking about. So Right. Because it does sound like a lot if you're not Yeah. But I'd love to know how has it affected your your business, your income, your family life, your energy levels, which I think is critical. You know, how has this discipline or this routine, and this program this program that you've you've built and worked through, how has it affected the rest of your life? Speaker 2 Well, actually, first, let me address the question that you have because that's everybody's question. Right? Everybody's thing is that's ridiculous. Who would do that every day? That's I don't have I don't even have time for what I'm doing now. You think I can do that. Right? I mean, that's basically the conversation. Speaker 0 That's right. Speaker 2 Yeah. And so what I would say is That is exactly why you need to have this. Right? Sure. Because whatever it is that you're doing right now, there's this thing we have in our coaching business. It's called an efficiency calendar. Anybody can create one of these. I'm sure there's some online. And basically, have you ever done this? It's like Speaker 0 No. Okay. Speaker 2 So it's a basically, it's a day printed out, and it's broken down into fifteen minute fifteen minute minutes. What you do is you write down what you do every as you're going, you go home. I did this for the last fifteen minutes. Anybody who does an efficiency calendar, almost anybody realizes that they waste about four hours a day Speaker 0 -- Sure. -- Speaker 2 doing nothing, right, doing busy work, checking, you know, being distracted by stuff. Not paying attention, reading emails, going on Facebook, whatever it is. Speaker 0 Yeah. Speaker 2 And so what I would say Speaker 0 It's just like it's just like anything. It's it's like if you if you're looking at your budget, And nobody wants to budget, and that's not fun. But you need to take an inventory of of your income and your expenses if you actually wanna see where you are. Same thing with your diet. If you if you actually wanna know what you're eating, you actually have to do an inventory of what you are eating because you don't know. You don't actually know unless you're tracking. So You're taking a snapshot of your time, which is our most valuable resource of how you're spending your time every day, and you're realizing there's so much fluff here and so much wasted time Exactly. So and then and then what do Speaker 2 you do? All we're doing with this thing is we're making sure that if we're gonna be out there being busy and doing things, that we're targeting the things that we know are important to us so to make sure those, at least those things get done. Sure. Speaker 0 Because Speaker 2 there's this law, which is all work expands to the time allowed. Right? So if you if you have, you know, x amount of things to do, in You can prove the law. Every time you go on vacation, how crazy efficient are you the day or two before you go on vacation? Like, you're just getting stuff done. You're taking names. You know what I mean? Like, you're it's all done. It's the same exact thing that happens with this daily navigator every single day, but it is a one day at a time deal. Right? So we're not saying do this forever. We're saying do it today. Right? Make this decision to be this efficient today. And when you get to tomorrow, you can decide what you're gonna do with tomorrow. Speaker 0 Absolutely. I think Parkinson's law might be, something the the listener should Google. But, so it sounds like So so then it sounds like you've had plenty of you actually had plenty of free time. You didn't realize you had plenty of time to to implement Speaker 2 these things. Right. So I didn't ask you a question. How's it how's it impacting me? Yeah. Speaker 0 Yeah. Speaker 2 So let me give you an idea. So last year, this is what my This is what, what my life twenty twenty two. Right? I woke up in Cartagena. I'd already been in Columbia for a week. I was gonna be there for another week. And then, two months later, I was in Italy with my girlfriend visiting my daughter in college. And then the next month, I was in Washington, DC in New York with my son, taking him to, you know, what would have been an eighth grade class he didn't get because of COVID. And then I was in Palm Springs, San Diego, back to New York for the, for the marathon. I really don't work more than forty hours In fact, I usually work less than forty hours a week. I rarely work nights. I rarely work weekends. I have a closeness with my family that's never been there before. I have a lot of freedom around time and money that I just never had before. I feel really good. Physically, I've never been in such good shape. I I don't yeah. I mean, does that answer your question? Speaker 0 Oh, yeah. Absolutely. I mean, you know, I'm sure you have challenging days with this it sounds like you truly are living in in abundance in in many, many ways. And the the time that you found to prioritize those those the self development and things that you talked about have only impacted you in a positive, positive way. Speaker 2 And and and you've said this a couple times. I'm sure you have bad days. I wanna be super clear to the listener. I have bad days all the time. I have bad moments. I have bad hours, and certainly I have bad days. I would say that most of the time, when that happens, that it is an emotional issue for me that is an opportunity for me to learn or be different. It's rarely about them Although I might the very first thing my brain wants to do is blame everybody else or blame the circumstances, but rarely is that the case. Almost always at some something about me that is I find unacceptable, you know, one of those working edges like I was talking about that if I go in there and really do the work, like, what is this What is driving me crazy at right now? Why am I reacting like this? Being curious with myself is gonna allow for a much bigger life. The more I'm out there pointing at everybody else, the last chance I haven't gotten any real solution. Speaker 0 Love it. It's fantastic. Alright. I've got some rapid fire questions for you, Rick. Are you ready? Yep. What is one thing that people Oh, sorry. How many beers did you have last night? No. I'm kidding. What p what do people misunderstand about you? Speaker 2 Oh, wow. I don't I think my intensity, I think, throws people off. I don't know if that's misunderstanding. But I can be pretty intense, and I think some people, like, apparently, I might have resting bitch face. I'm not sure if Zoom has really helped me understand that I probably But I think that I'm so intense sometimes that people are like, I think he's mad at me. And I'm not real I'm not mad at anybody. Speaker 0 Right. Quite does he hate me. Yeah. If you could go back and give your eighteen year old self some advice, what would that be? Speaker 2 Oh my gosh. Okay. So it would be, dude. You are loved. Speaker 0 That's really good. You you don't you don't you you're already enough. Speaker 2 You're already enough. Yeah. Speaker 0 Love that. That's awesome. If you could have coffee with any historical figure, they could still be alive today. Who would you choose? Speaker 2 Oh, man. Did I get these? Should I should've I feel like I should've had a list. Speaker 0 Yeah. I do. I do. I'll be honest. We can edit edit things out. Speaker 2 We probably won't. Martin Luther Speaker 0 Okay? Great answer. If you were given ten million dollars tomorrow, what would you do with it? Speaker 2 I I would So I've thought about this actually before. I would love to take if I could have some if I had, like, a nest egg, I would love to create some kind of refurbishing, what's the word? It's not an endowment because that's like a straight investment, but some kind of business that it gives people an opportunity to learn and grow, and, you know, create some kind of product or whatever that they can then help other people So it's kind of regenerative. Mhmm. Sure. So it creates opportunity for me. My big thing is I know what it feels like to be stuck. And I wanna create environments where people can can go, oh my gosh. Maybe I don't have to be stuck. And I think there's a lot of people stuck kind of economically and maybe it's work career, whatever. And, you know, something around that would be great. Speaker 0 That's great. Really good. If you had to eat one meal for the rest of your life, what would it be? Speaker 2 Rick's favorite casserole. It's horrible. It is really bad, and you couldn't it would be bad to do this, but it's spaghetti noodles, dennison's chili hot, Mexican corn with some velveeta cheese over the top. Please don't tell anybody I said that. Speaker 0 That's funny. What's the one challenge that you're facing in your professional life right now? So Speaker 2 What's I think it's still this fear of, connecting with people, which Speaker 0 I that Speaker 2 must sound crazy to people, but it's important that I say that. I go to a networking event, and I my initial my I have to do so much emotional work before I go into a networking event to hi, say hi to people and introduce myself and have conversations with people and make it about them and blah blah. It's it's really shocking. It's really shocking. So that's where I really struggle. Speaker 0 Yeah. I can I can relate, especially after the pandemic? It was surprising to me how much anxiety I had just going to a networking event, you know, which Speaker 2 I went I went to a networking event, but the this is, like, three or four years ago. I paid to go there, like, a lot of money. Speaker 0 Mhmm. Speaker 2 And, I literally went there. I was there for two hours. I talked to zero people and I left. Can you imagine? Wow. Speaker 0 Gosh. How Speaker 2 that made me feel? Speaker 0 Yeah. What is one thing in your job or your field of expertise that most people don't agree with you about? You hold any, controversial, controversial opinions? Speaker 2 Right. I I think that if if anybody chooses to not work with me, that that's my responsibility. And I think as an industry, agents feel like they have their clients, and and if they choose not to work with them, that they think it's the client's fault You know, or they, Speaker 0 you know, Speaker 2 they get mad decline or whatever. And for me, I'm like, well, some way or another, I did not create no, like, and trust for them. And they I mean, because people are gonna do what they feel like is gonna be best for them generally speaking. And if they didn't choose me, that means that I wasn't the person that they thought would be the best. Speaker 0 There's a theme of just taking ownership through this whole episode. Speaker 2 It's it's great. Speaker 0 How about a, a book or two? You've already mentioned at least one book. Any little statement? Yeah. Speaker 2 So the four agreements is amazing. Our return to love is great. There's a follow-up book by the guy who wrote the four agreements. That's Don Miguel. Don miguel ruiz junior, is, wrote a book called, the the Master of Self Michael singer wrote untethered. That's really, really great. Living untethered is another one. It's great. Yeah. Speaker 0 What is one question that you wish I had asked that I haven't asked? Speaker 2 I don't know. I think this is a really great podcast. I I don't I'm not feeling like That's the one where Speaker 0 that's the way where I'm fishing for compliments so that that worked perfectly. Speaker 2 Good. I think you did a great job. There's nothing I feel like we didn't get to yet. Speaker 0 Awesome. Where can our listeners reach out to you online, Rick? Speaker 2 So, Instagram is the Rick Warner My web my my website address for our coaching company is w w w dot flocademy dot com. And, you can always just text me if you want. Four one five three zero two six three four eight. I love getting text messages, but make sure since I don't know who you are, Make it not sound like you're a robot because I won't reply. Speaker 0 Absolutely. Speaker 2 Reference reference Jamie show. Speaker 0 Yeah. And and in fact, share this episode with Rick and share it with ten Speaker 2 other Even better. Yeah. That'd be great. Speaker 0 And, in all seriousness, we we do appreciate. Of course, we appreciate the likes and drives and all that, but sharing the episode is also super valuable. And to the listener, please check out our our website adversity to abundance, the number two, adversity to abundance dot com. And Rick, thank you so much for spending your time with us. We know you We know your time is valuable, and we appreciate it. Speaker 2 Thank you, Jamie. I had a great time. You're a great podcaster. This was fun. I can't wait to come back even though you didn't invite me. Speaker 0 You're you're welcome back. Okay. And your listener, we appreciate you spending your most valuable resource with us, and that is your time. Thanks, everyone. Take care. Speaker 3 Investors have Europe experienced challenging communication, or the headache of tracking taxes and insurance, meet WiFi. A loan servicing company founded by investors for investors. With an expert team and best in class vendors, BIFY will partner with you to service your loan Speaker 4 from start to exit. Visit I fi l s dot com to see how you can get started today. That's b I f I l s dot com. Speaker 1 Thank you for spending your most valuable resource with us. Your time. If you like the show, Please share it with your friends and fellow podcast listeners. 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