Latest / To Your Success! Podcast / Episode 54: Why Most People Never Become Wealthy
Transcript
- Christer: Warm welcome everyone to the To Your Success podcast and welcome back to our returning listeners and viewers. My name is Chrissy Johnson and with me today is my business partner and wife. Elin: Elin Solenn, as always, happy Christer: Hi, Ellen. Elin: to be by your side. Christer: Yes, well, you're not by my side now, you're on the other side of the wall. It's recorded from our... Yeah. Elin: Okay, I'm happy to be in a different room. Okay. Christer: I can just say for those who view this that I did this for you. Yeah. Elin: Yeah, you did, yeah. I love your shirt, your lemon shirt. Christer: It's my lemon shirt. don't know if it's visible, I'm more like, I would say, business oriented in the way I dress. Elin: Not more like business oriented. You are like blue or white. That's it. Yeah, you do. And one lemon. Christer: I have some red shirts as well. A pink actually they are. Okay. But then I got this from Alien. Actually I have two and they have exactly the same pattern and just different fabric. One is in linen and this one is in cotton. But I put this on for you Alien just so you know. It's a wonderful summer shirt and it Elin: Thank you. Thank you. Christer: doesn't fit very well with my jackets. But it's a cool one, right? And I was Elin: It looks good on you. Christer: actually thinking about this. We have a quote saying that when life gives you lemon, we make lemonade. Elin: Mm-hmm. Christer: Actually, we would rather make limoncello than lemonade. But it's same thing, but different, right? Okay. So you Elin: Yeah. Okay. So. Christer: have chosen the subject for today, so share Elin: I have. Christer: with us. Elin: Yeah. So we want to talk about why most people never become wealthy. Christer: Yeah, so what is wealth? Elin: That's for you to answer. No, Christer: You tell me, what is wealth to you? Elin: I want to... I have done introduction here, so... Okay. For most people, Christer: Sure. Elin: yeah, because for most people, money is something they work for every day. Christer: Mm-hmm. Elin: But truly wealthy people often think about money in a completely different way. Today I want us to talk about the psychology of wealth, financial freedom and the habits that help people build lasting prosperity. Is that okay for you to talk about? We still podcast, bye bye, thank you. Christer: Sure, I couldn't say no, then we have to stop recording and do it again and then. Elin: Okay, so what keeps Christer: Ha Elin: most people financially stuck? Christer: I want to go back to the question I asked when I interrupted you. What is wealth? What does it mean to be wealthy? What are your thoughts on that, Elin? Elin: I don't actually, I don't know how to answer that. Christer: Okay. So because that's interesting because wealth is so much more than money. Elin: Mm-hmm. Christer: For me, wealth is I can say I'm happy, healthy and wealthy. Elin: It feels like more like wealth is like this. It puts a lot of things in one bucket. It's like Christer: Who knows? Elin: to have the good health, to have the money, to have the freedom, to have the possibility to choose all that is wealth. Christer: But what I agree and that's that's Elin: Mm-hmm. Christer: very very important because people say that he is wealthy. Wealthy Elin: Mm-hmm. Christer: means to have maybe it means to have a lot. Right. Elin: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Christer: you know it's a big difference between wealth and cash. All right. And you can say that wealth Elin: Mm-hmm. Thanks, then. Christer: is something but then it is actually your cash or cash flow or liquidity that makes you financially free. Elin: Mm-hmm. Christer: So wealth for me is so much more. Wealth Elin: Mm. Christer: is good health. Elin: Hmm. Christer: It is of course financial freedom, but how much is much money? What is enough? Elin: Yeah. Christer: We know people that a lot of money starts at like 500 million euros. Elin: Mm-hmm. Christer: All right. And for other people, is to have 10,000 euros in the bank, 100,000 of each Kroner is like way out. And then I that's wealthy. Because money is just a thing. Elin: Mm. Christer: And the point with me, and we can come back to money, but money will never make you happy. And I think it's important Elin: and Christer: if you look around in the world today, money is a great servant, but a terrible master. Elin: Hmm. Christer: And if money is the only reason why you work and then you will never be happy. Right. Money is a great servant. Elin: Mm-hmm. Christer: It is what you can do with the money. How we can create Elin: you Christer: and explore your freedom that matters more. But without Elin: Thank Christer: health money has no value. You cannot buy another day without Elin: No. Christer: freedom. It has nothing to say. There Elin: Sure. Christer: are a lot of CEOs making a million euros or two million euros. If you go to the States, they make like 220 Elin: Mm. Christer: million dollars. Doesn't Elin: Hmm. Christer: mean that you are happy. Elin: Also they're more like rich but not wealthy. Christer: Yes. So wealth for me is freedom. Wealth for me is good health. Wealth for me is freedom is the choice, right? You can choose. Elin: Thank Christer: And what most people, they say they are free, but can you actually decide what you actually want to do today? Elin: room. Christer: Can you decide to take a week off? Can you decide to do that? Can you decide to do that? Can you decide to live the life you truly want? And that is wealth, so much more than just money. Elin: Thank you. Christer: People think that, well, I know billionaires and they're not necessarily happy. They have the same challenges as everyone else. Elin: So explain easy for me and the listeners like what's the difference between earning money and building wealth? Christer: Earning money is to manage money. No, I'm sorry building wealth is to manage money and you have to ask yourself Why do you why do you stock them? Why do you stack the money? All right Do you do that because it creates it gives you a good feeling of safety? I used to have that right when I had that much money in the savings account, then I was happy if it went under I got I got really distressed right Elin: Mm-hmm. Christer: And then I had to do a rehearsal on that and said, that's a really stupid idea, Christian, because Elin: Thank you. Christer: you only focus on what you have created before, which is in the bank account. You don't Elin: Mm-hmm. Christer: focus on what you can create. So I trusted more the old me than the new me. Right. Then I just Elin: and Christer: decided that, well, I have always invested, right? Elin: Mm-hmm. Christer: So my, I would say my financial freedom was created when I had shares in the companies that I was managing and running. Elin: Thank Christer: I never made a lot of money on the, on the stock exchange. I never, right? So, but then I invested and then I invested into real estate and then sold that and I invested in other things, right? So, Elin: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Christer: but that's a part of managing money in a good way. You have to manage money in a good way. Elin: Mm-hmm. Christer: All right, money goes to where it is circulated and managed in a good way. The more money you prove that you can circulate in an orderly way, the more you get. Elin: Mm-hmm. Christer: All right, and if your bank account is always empty one week before you get your salary, then you don't manage in a good way. Manage in Elin: Mm-hmm. Christer: a good way means that you pay your bills at time or earlier, you set aside for your taxes, you do that, you do that, you do that. Elin: Mm-hmm. Christer: But you have to manage it in a good way. Elin: Hmm. Christer: And the better you manage it, the more you will have. That's money side. And how much money you make, Elin: Thank Christer: there is an equation, there is a law of how much money you make. Elin: Hmm. Christer: And that's not about that you have the right to strike. Like SAS employees do now again. Elin: You Christer: SAS, when I travel a lot, means strikes all summers. Elin: Yeah, they definitely Christer: and they live up to that. And Elin: do. Christer: then they wonder why more people fly with Norwegian. Elin: Mm. Christer: It's about trust, But okay, that was just a side thing. The money you make and how much you make is absolutely to the bottom line, defined by three things. The need for what to do. So you are in a market where there is a need for what to do. If you are in a market where no one wants to buy, you are most likely in the wrong market. Where there is no need. We had a client who wanted to be really big in solar panels and I said, I don't think that's a good idea. But they are so rational and this green shift and all that. said, yeah, but when the government in Norway pays like 80 % of the electricity bill, people don't care. So you moved out of that into another thing and then it became successful. So you are in the Elin: Mm. Christer: market where there is a big need for what you do. That is, and like us, we are in the market of personal development and helping people be successful. It's unlimited market, right? Elin: Mm-hmm. Christer: Huge market. It's hundreds of billion dollars across the world. Elin: you Christer: And while we are pioneers in Norway, right? And in Scandinavia, because no one does Elin: Yeah. Christer: the way we do it here, then in America, there are a lot of people doing it like Elin: Yeah. Christer: this. So the need for what you do, how good you are at it is number two. Your ability to do it. And number three, how easy it is to replace you. right. Elin: Mm-hmm. Christer: And that is the challenge for a lot of people now. Number three, how easy it is to replace you. Two things. If you let's take pilots as an example, Elin: AI. Christer: and to be a traffic pilot today is two and a half years education. And basically you don't have to fly a plane. just fly a simulator. I don't know about this exactly, right? It used to be really, really advanced, really take a lot of skillset to fly a plane going back to 1940s, right? And then in the 50s and the 60s, it's a totally different ballgame to fly. 737-100, which was the first one compared to the 737-800 and 737 MAX that we fly now. Elin: Really? Christer: Because so much things are automated. The old planes you have to have like three or four people flying. You had to have like one navigator, two pilots and one engineer. Elin: Mm-hmm. Christer: Look at the old movies of the Concorde. There were four people flying that, right? Now it takes two to fly the plane. Now the plane can basically take off, fly and land by itself. Elin: Mm-hmm. Christer: But then we take off and land by hand because it's still, there are variables there. But there is Elin: Hmm. Christer: one pilot flying and one pilot monitoring. Elin: Mm-hmm. Christer: The need for what you do, it is automated. So there is no such big need for what you do. It used to be that you had to be a fighter pilot before you could move on to fly a 737 and fly a bus, right? Instead. Elin: Thank Christer: But you don't have to do that now. The new fighter planes as well, the F-35 is way much, they say, it's way much easier to fly than the old F-16. So it doesn't take Elin: Thank Christer: that competence, right? So it's easier to replace you. And then the need for what you do is of course big, but since it's not that high skill, people are not... It's not necessarily to pay that much because a lot of people can become that. That's just an example. Right. The same way Elin: I'm going to sleep. I'm going sleep. Christer: marketing agencies now. And then when you talk about graphic design and marketing and all that. Right. When Elin: Mm. Christer: I started working in Nestle and that's like 25 years ago, I have colleagues, they were a little bit older than me. We didn't know how to use PowerPoint and they hired a. advertising agency to make their sales presentation. Elin: Mm-hmm. Christer: Then I thought, no, I don't want to spend money on that because I knew how to use PowerPoint and then I created that myself. But it took a lot of time. It could be Elin: Mm. Christer: like a week to create a new product presentation when I launched a new product. Because we had to take photos and we had to do that and we had to do that and all that. Now it's AI, takes one minute. Elin: Yeah, yeah. Hmm. Christer: So it's changing all the time. but basically you have to be in a market where there is a big need for what you do. You have to be really good at it. That is your skillset, how good you are at it and how easy it is to replace you. Two Elin: Mm. Christer: variables now. First of all, be aware of the AI development because that takes away a lot of jobs at the same time. gives a lot of opportunities for you to create something new, but you have to be really good at it. Your skillset, how good you are at it. When you are really good Elin: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Christer: at it. The market need kicks in and people will chase you and it will be difficult to replace you. Elin: Why do you think school doesn't teach? Why don't schools teach financial freedom like this? Christer: Shall I be political correct or shall I be honest? Elin: You can take the short version, Christer: Ha ha ha ha ha! Yeah. I think very much our culture and our educational system as a part of the culture is really good. It brings a lot of people up to a good level Elin: Hmm. Hmm. Christer: where they can make a living and so on. At the same time, it limits you, right? I studied business for almost business and administration and management for four and a half years, so I am a master's in that. I was never taught how to create wealth. Elin: Mm-hmm. Christer: Wealth was not a part of the program. We were taught how to make good investments or not how to make the investments but how to calculate if they were good enough. We were taught more about how to not run a company than to run a company. Elin: Mm. Christer: But I don't know which subjects they have now but still there are certain things that is really good that I taught which was like marketing. and the basics of economics and all that and a lot of strategy. Elin: Hmm. Christer: I think wealth is created when you happiness takes freedom, freedom takes courage. Right? Elin: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Christer: And when you think about the broader perspective of wealth, like being happy, being healthy and doing all the things you want and having freedom to choose and choose your clients, for instance, choose your colleagues, choose where you want whenever, choose where you work and all that. I think our education system is very, very much based on that you shall get the job. And that's Elin: Mm-hmm. Christer: not wrong. It served me, it served you for a long, long time. Elin: Yeah, but at the same time now a lot of students finish the university and they get out and they don't get a job. Christer: No, yeah, because the first layer is taken over by AI and this is 2026. This is the beginning. you imagine how it will be in 2027? My son is in consulting. I said to him, you have to be really good at selling. You have to be really good at selling. It doesn't matter if you're good at delivering because if no one buys from you, then you don't have a job. you have to. Say again. Elin: You don't have anything to deliver. Then you don't have anything to deliver if nobody is buying. No, Delivered to you. Christer: No, I will deliver but no one wants to buy so you don't have any anyone to. Yeah. So I mean, to Elin: Yeah. Christer: get the job is about sales. We have a client in our high tier program, you who I'm talking about. And he is at a certain level and he wants to jump up three levels. That's his goal. And he you have to be really good at selling. Elin: Mm-hmm. Christer: And then he looked like a question mark. He's an engineer. I said, you have to be really good at selling you. And Elin: Mm-hmm. Christer: what is a good seller? It is someone really good at storytelling. You have to be good at that. To get the job Elin: It's so important. Christer: you have to be good at selling yourself. Elin: So one of the first steps... Sorry. Christer: Here you go. Elin: So one of the first steps for people today towards financial freedom is actually to get really good at selling. Christer: Yeah, really good at selling. And you know, it's one thing is your skillset that is your CV. Elin: Mm. Christer: All right. But then you have your mindset, which is everything. Your skillset Elin: Mm-hmm. Christer: creates 5 % of your results. Your mindset creates 95 % of your results. I say that again. Your mindset creates 95 % of your results. Your skill set creates 5 % of your results. It's like people working in finance. Finance is not difficult. You can make it as complicated as you want. It's like accounting, right? Elin: Thank Christer: You remember that when I was investment director. You said, but this is all just accounting. This is just putting figures in different ways and then you create value. Yes, it is. It is. It's not difficult. So you Elin: No? Christer: have to be really good at selling. And those we know that did that, are really good at selling. They are good storytellers and people trust them. Your Elin: Yeah. Christer: ability to do it. Elin: If you should give advice to young people today, what Christer: Yeah. Elin: kind of mistakes should young people avoid? Christer: It's easy for us to give advice since we have everything we want, right? Elin: Mm-hmm. Christer: So, but I would say, don't spend more than you have. Put 10 % of what you make aside and create a bank account, a savings account. Elin: Mm-hmm. Christer: I think we're pretty much peak on Elin: Okay. Christer: in the stock market now, so I would, I have a savings account, right? So I can only give advice based on what I do myself. I never made money on the stock market. I made money on owning shares in companies that I was running. Elin: Okay. Christer: And then I invested that into real estate. think real estate is too high now still to make it cashflow. But if you can make something cashflow. But my point is that start investing instead of spending. Elin: Mm. Christer: All right. To create freedom. I say this to all women that we work with, you should have your own savings account. Elin: Mm-hmm. Christer: A lot of people, get married and that's nice. And then they start to buy things, but you have to have your own money. It's the same thing with young men. Elin: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Christer: have your own money, right? It's not because you don't trust another one, it's because you can, there is a lot of freedom, right? Money is a terrible master, but a great servant and you serve Elin: Mm. Christer: and you spend the money to invest in yourself to things you want, right? You don't have to ask for permission, especially in personal development, right? Elin: Yeah. Christer: Because very often in a couple, there is one starting and the other one following. Elin: It's true, yeah. Christer: I would say focus on creating wealth means that you master money in a good way, that you manage it in a good way. And the more money you prove that you can circulate in an orderly way, the more money you will have. Elin: Mm-hmm. Christer: Focus on creating a good skill set that is relevant as well, and don't be afraid of changing. Elin: No. Christer: My education, four and a half years, was created a lot of my my career. was best Elin: Thank Christer: student out of the university as well, meaning that I had the possibility to come to job interviews so I could sell. Right. Elin: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Christer: And then work on your mindset. But then when it comes to wealth and money, start in the small and just put money aside, put money aside. And then you use the interest on interest and all that, you know, and if Elin: and Christer: you have 50,000 of each from Kroner in the bank account, it's so much more than zero. Right. Elin: It is. Christer: But I would say, remember the law of compensation, the for what you do, your ability to do it, and how easy it is to replace you. Focus on what you can be really good at. Elin: Mm-hmm. Christer: And if there is one thing that will give you high income is to be really good at sales, selling yourself. The bigger problems you serve for more people, the more money you will make. Elin: Thank Christer: But wealth is so much more, but I understand that it's difficult to build wealth without money. That Elin: Mm. Christer: is why I said it's easy for us to say, right? Because we have the wealth, right? Elin: Yeah. Christer: So, we have the money, right? Elin: I actually would say if someone listening now thinks that, I really need to be good at selling, well, speak to us then. Yeah. We can teach you. Christer: Yeah, yeah, and sales is a totally different thing than most people think. Sales is about helping people. So wealth, I want you to use the extended wealth, Extended wealth, what do you call it? Concept, right? Elin: Okay. Christer: It's about happiness, it's about freedom, it's about health, and it's about money. Elin: Hmm. Hmm. Christer: Right, but money is a tool to create wealth. Money is Elin: It is. Christer: not a goal in itself. Money is always the effect, never the cause. So money is always the effect of what you do, it's never the cause to what you do. Elin: Mm. Christer: Which is a different way of thinking. Right? And it's like if you always have negative thoughts about money, you will never make more money. You will just be afraid of losing it. And then you keep it tight. Elin: No. So keep on thinking, be positive. Christer: Be positive, circle it in an orderly way. Ask for advice from other people that have done what you want. Go to the millionaires, go to the billionaires and say, you know, I really admire you. What did you do? And what Elin: and learn how to sell. Christer: most of them did, they dared. Yeah, they were daring. Elin: Yeah. Christer: They were different. And they said, no matter what, we're going to do it. And most who have a lot have lost a lot. That's interesting. One or two times they have been almost broke. And then they said, we don't give up. We never give up. We just move on. Elin: So... Christer: So that was wealth, right? It's very, very Elin: Yeah. Christer: interesting and very much understood just like money is understood. I Elin: Mm. Mm. Christer: always tell the people that want to more money that I say, well, increase your income instead of saving and cutting costs. Increase your income. It's so much easier, so much more fun. Elin: Mm-hmm. Christer: And then say, I don't know how to do that now, but I can teach you that. Yeah. Okay. So ask people, ask for advice, but only ask for advice from people that have done what you truly want to do yourself. Don't listen to everybody else because they have no idea. They only talk from their own fears. Okay. So Elin: Thank you. Christer: you're welcome. Happiness takes freedom, freedom takes success. And all we do is to your success. Elin: Freedom takes courage. Christer: Yeah, it does. Courage to me. Okay. Feel free Elin: Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Christer: to subscribe. Share this with others that you think can learn from this. And if you want to work with us, you're just curious about how it is. And if you're a high achiever, go to our website, chrisdjohnson.com. Click on the let's Elin: Mm-hmm. Christer: talk button and see if you qualify for a clarity call with us. And until next time, have a wonderful day. Elin: Yeah, and I will call you. Bye bye. Christer: Bye bye.