IF YOU ARE SOMEONE WHO’S BEEN IN THE BUSINESS-BUILDING MODE FOR A LONG TIME, but you are not sure if you’re really setting yourself up for legacy, then this episode is for you!

My guest in today’s episode is a financial wizard, Mel Abraham. Mel has bought and sold numerous multi-million dollar businesses for himself as well as his clients. He’s worked alongside incredible people like Arianna Huffington, Brendon Burchard and Tony Robbins. He’s a certified CPA who became a true financial expert.

After a really scary cancer battle just a few years ago, Mel woke up to the idea of affluence and financial liberation for himself and for his family and that’s what he’s breathing into us today – this idea of how you can have your business and you can strengthen your business, but what’s happening outside the walls of your business that is also providing freedom and possibility and cash flow into your world to set you up for strength, legacy and possibility beyond the “ right now?”

Legacy starts right now. Sometimes we think of it as this future thing, this concept that we’re working really hard for right now, but we will have some day. This is why today’s conversation is really gonna wake you up, shake you up and open your mind to the possibility of how you’re leading in business, how you’re leading your family and what you’re leaving behind.

It’s not just about money. It’s about the moments.

IN THIS EPISODE, WE COVER:

[5:10] The Mel Behind the Bio 

Mel got exposed to entrepreneurship when he was only 11 years old.

After watching Harry Houdini movies with his dad, he started getting fascinated with magic. Pretty soon, he started learning magic and spending every day at the magic shop. One day, Mel hears one of the customers talk about “having a gig”, so he asks the owner what a gig was. When he learned that he could get paid to do magic, he started his very first entrepreneur endeavor, doing magic shows for kids’ birthday parties. 

This gave Mel the gift of seeing that you can take what you love and you can affect people’s lives and you can create a life out of it. That stuck with him to a point where he always knew that somehow, someway, he was going to do his own thing and write his own rules.

He became a CPA, but he knew he was meant for more. So, he decided to take his skills and his talents and use them to help people light up their dreams again. 

Then three years ago, Mel was diagnosed with bladder cancer. As he was going into surgery, he realized that his life completely shifted. After surgery, he decided to shut down all of his businesses and focus only on healing. Three surgeries, four tumors and 46 treatments later, Mel is cancer-free.

After the pandemic hit, Mel watched people struggle. He knew that he was able to beat cancer because he fought it physically, emotionally, medically, energetically, psychologically, but he didn’t fight it financially. He realized that most people aren’t taught this. They’re not taught how to use business to create financial independence.

Mel couldn’t make sense of the cancer looking back and trying to find out why he got it, but he could look forward and if the cancer was the trigger and the catalyst for him to be able to help people find security, find independence, find legacy, then for him – it was worth it. 

[13:08] Building a Money Machine Outside the Business 

According to Mel, the biggest mistake that most entrepreneurs make, especially in the thought leader space, is that they believe that having a business will give them impact, freedom and control. 

So, they go into business thinking that those things are going to happen, but the freedom and control never come. They end up on a treadmill, running until they break down and burn out. 

The business was never meant to give you freedom. 

The business was solely meant to create a solution, to have an impact on people and to generate cash flow. What most entrepreneurs don’t realize is that they need to use that cash flow to build, what Mel calls, a money machine outside the business. That’s how they can get their freedom. Otherwise, they just have a glorified job and they’re going to keep running because they get nothing at the end of the day.

[16:48] Diversify, Diversify, Diversify 

The idea of having multiple income streams is no longer a luxury. It’s a requirement.

You need to diversify your income streams to reduce risk. If your primary source of income is your business or your job, you’re putting money away so that you can start investing and creating that money machine outside of it. This means you have to manage your expenses, you have to find ways to scale your revenues and you have to look at how you’re living your life. 

One other thing that Mel believes is a challenge for a lot of people, especially in the social media world, is to remember that it’s more important that we live a rich life than it is to look wealthy in the eyes of people that don’t matter. Too often we’re trying to make sure that we can paint that false façade on the social media screens.

[20:42] Get Yourself to Camp Luminary!

If you haven’t thought of joining  Camp Luminary, I want to let you know what it’s all about. First of all, we have upleveled it. It now includes the very first mastermind for entrepreneurial parents and their kids.

I understand what it feels like to feel guilty when you are working, like you should be with the kids-  and then stressed when you are with the kids because you should be working. And on top of that, feeling like you are at max capacity, just stressed and spread thin and hurried and you know it’s not the life you want to live. You know that’s not what’s best for your kids. But how do you get out of it?

And then you look at your kids and you wonder- Are they being influenced by their environment? Are we  even connected anymore? Am I even able to influence them positively to support them to tap into who they are called to be? I see insecurities rising up but I want them to be confident and courageous. So how do I do that?

This experience at Camp is literally going to have you come into camp one way and leave as a different person, as a different family. We are designing  Camp to have the mastermind lead up to camp and then bookend you coming out of it. This is the only time we are going to include a mastermind with Camp Luminary so I hope you will take advantage!

This is an investment in your family’s future. This is an investment in your quality of life and your calling. This is  an investment in your children. You will learn what is required of you, what tools you need to  equip yourself to model leadership for your children so they can become the leaders they are called to be.

We have amazing guest speakers lined up. You won’t believe the people you are going to be sitting at picnic tables with – a lot of people’s podcasts you listen to or you have seen them speak on stage. It’s going to be a special, life-changing weekend.

Get yourself to Camp! Go to luminaryleadershipco.com/camp to sign up!

Rooms are going super fast so if this is on your heart, if you feel called to this- be there with us!

[25:00]  What Metrics Matter 

There are a lot of metrics by today’s society standards in the entrepreneurial space that everybody focuses on – followers, how much people made in their launch, how their book is ranking, etc. But what are some metrics that really matter?

Mel believes that we should always keep two things in mind:

• Anytime you make a deal, and by deal he means giving of yourself, ask yourself what currency are you trading it for? Are you making an investment in the richness of your life or are you making an investment for the ROI? 
• We each have a certain number of slices of life. Rather than us measuring our wealth in dollars, we should measure it based on how much time of our life we actually control. Too often, we’re so caught up in saving money, getting money that we will waste our time to do it. And it should be the other way around, because we can always make more money.

But, before you get to the metrics, one of the first things to do is to ask yourself what’s the life you want to create? What is your target, what is your goal? Mel does this in a process he calls the Affluence Visioning Process.

Now that you know what it is that you want, you need to know the price tag that will get you there? Now you have something to plan against, you have a goal to achieve and you do it through the business, through other endeavors, through the income streams. 

[38:24]  Living a Life That Outlives You

Mel doesn’t believe legacy is something we have to wait to die to create. He believes that legacy is created in the moment when we interconnect with someone. Whether it’s our child, whether it’s our spouse, whether it’s an employee, whether it’s a customer, whether it’s a stranger, we have the ability to shift perspective, shift attitude, and change a life. The importance of that moment is a legacy moment. 

So, when we come at it from the perspective of understanding that each moment matters, we’re going to put everything into it. Because the string of moments that we put together is the legacy that will continue to live on long after we’re gone. 

Mel talks about the legacy in the finance space: the portfolio, the investments, the estate and all that, but he also talks about the legacy of the lessons: the legacy of our philosophy, our perspective. When we can allow that to continue through the generations, that’s a life that outlives you. 

When it comes to money, the most important thing is to understand the “why”. We need to understand the “why” before we worry about the “how” and “how much”, because when we give money a greater purpose, our money will give us a greater purpose, because we have to rise to that purpose. When we live by virtue of a greater purpose, then we make choices and decisions that feed them. Those things last more than the money in the bank account.

[41:17]  Don’t Transfer Assets to a Child Before You Transfer Skill Sets 

Most millionaires in the world are first generation millionaires, meaning that it wasn’t given to them, they made it themselves. By the second generation 70% of that money is gone.

Mel strongly believes that you do not ever transfer assets to a child before you transfer skill sets to the child. You need to transfer knowledge, understanding, perspective, philosophy, values, beliefs to your children first. 

The money is just the fuel. Money is never the purpose. It’s not about the buying power of the money. It’s about the deliverance of the enriching of lives with the money that matters. When we look at building wealth and businesses from that perspective, profitability becomes the byproduct of serving a higher good.

So, start having conversations about money with your kids early on. Talk about generosity, about saving, about wealth. Give them the right perspective and the tools and skills they need to deal with it the right way.

I hope today’s episode gave you exactly what you need to strengthen your business and get that freedom and control you’re craving, so that you can start building your legacy today. If you’re ready to join us on a journey of slowing down, getting out of the weeds and focusing your ever-growing to-do list to the things that matter most, make sure you download our free workbook at https://luminaryleadershipco.com/unhurried.

Come connect with me on Instagram at @elizhartke!  And if there’s a topic, a question or a guest you want to hear on the show, just reach out and share that. We do this for you so the more you tell us, the more we can serve.

RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE:

• Connect with Mel on Instagram!
• Mel’s website
• Mel’s podcast The Affluent Entrepreneur Show
• Get your Unhurried Leadership Workbook here!
• Sign up for Camp Luminary here!
• Did this episode resonate with you? Help spread the message by grabbing your phone to rate and leave a review for the show here!
• Connect with me on Instagram!