You’re just undisciplined in the right areas. I see this quite often with my coaching clients. People think they’re late to the game, that he missed the window, that everyone else is ahead. No, they’re just inconsistent where it [00:01:00] actually matters. I’ve got a client, I’m blessed, a coach, high level business leader in the horse racing world, own thoroughbred horses, makes big decisions, operates at a high level, but he came to me frustrated, said, coach Fe, I feel like I should be further along.

So we dug in. It wasn’t a knowledge problem, it wasn’t a resource problem, it was a disciplined placement problem. He was locked in just on the wrong thing, spending time reacting instead of executing, letting small distractions steal big opportunities, being aggressive in burst, not inconsistent, and not.

Consistent in standards. So we flipped it. We didn’t add more, we got tighter, clear standards, clean ex execution, no emotional swings, just decisions and actions. Here’s what happened. Momentum not because he started doing something magical, but because he stopped leaking energy into the wrong places. So listen, winning isn’t about doing more, it’s about doing the right things consistently under pressure.

So if you feel behind right now, good. That’s awareness. Now ask yourself, where am I disciplined that doesn’t actually move my life forward? Fix that, and everything starts to shift and squad. I got a 2.0 [00:02:00] interview today and I hope you are ready to level up in not just going through the motions, like what I was talking about with my coaching nugget there.

’cause today’s guest, he doesn’t deal in theory, he deals in execution, discipline, and results. I got a 2.0 interview with Brian Mudd in studio. Brian Spear has the five to 9:00 AM slot here at WJ and o, and guest hosts for the likes of Sean Hannity, Mark Levine, and Clay Buck. Brian is a nationally recognized voice in financial markets, economics, and real world strategy, but what separates him isn’t just what he knows.

It’s how he lives it. Applies it and teaches it. On a personal note, this man has been a mentor to me in the radio space, and what I bring to the mic is a direct reflection of the time he’s spent with me. Brian has spent years breaking down complex systems, money markets, mindset, and turning them into a clear, actionable framework that people can actually use to win.

And one of the most powerful frameworks he’s built is eight keys for success. Not motivational fluff, not Instagram quotes. Keys built from experience refined through pressure, proven through results. We’re talking about the kind of [00:03:00] principles that separate people who talk about success from people who actually build it, sustain it, and scale it.

So if you’re someone who wants more, more clarity. More control, more confidence under pressure, or maybe you’re just tired of spinning your wheels and ready to finally lock in and execute at a higher level. You’re gonna wanna lean in and learn from this one. Brian’s about to break down what it really takes to win in your finances, your mindset, and your life.

So Brian 2.0 man. 

Brian Mudd: Well, I, I’ll tell you, you talk about mentoring, you can mentor me and everybody else in the business when it comes to intros. The undisputed king of intros. 

Coach Fergie: Yeah, 

Brian Mudd: coach. 

Coach Fergie: I take time. I really appreciate it, man. Uh, like everything you’ve done for me and, uh, and sticking by me and the way you give me the constructive criticism, I actually enjoy it.

Right. 

Brian Mudd: One of the great things is, uh, there there’s not a ton of it. Thank you. And the other more important thing is, and it, it is a very difficult thing because there is a certain type of personality and a certain amount of healthy ego that is necessary to do this and to communicate at a [00:04:00] high level and writing that balance, you are amazing because not only.

Do you have your ego in the right place, but you’re always looking to learn, uh, so many people that have had success, what they wanna do as well. Thank you. I’ve got my own way of doing 

Coach Fergie: things. Thank you. But this shows about quiet and that comes humility comes from the man that’s sitting about 10 feet away, which you’re gonna have him on the mic in a minute.

And Larry Ferguson, the Frog Man. Is in town, my pops, and I can’t wait. I’m having a great time this weekend. Whether an American hero Yes. And an American hero serving the Ang Vietnam. And he’s just the, he’s the man. He’s my hero here. So, but Brian, if we pull people, no, actually, I. You are known for breaking down complex financial and economic topics, the people that listen to you.

Right. But what’s an everyday habit you do, right? That you do might surprise people listening, right? You look at you like first thing you might do in the day. 

Brian Mudd: The number one thing that probably surprises people is that my favorite place in the world is out back on the beach, cleaning it [00:05:00] up. 

Coach Fergie: Really? 

Brian Mudd: Yeah.

So what I do, I love nature. 

Coach Fergie: Mm-hmm. 

Brian Mudd: I deal with a lot of stress. Yeah, obviously a lot of news, all the chaos, everything else that goes on. I love peace and quiet and nature. I always feel like I need to be doing something constructive. 

Coach Fergie: Right. 

Brian Mudd: And so I will walk, I’ll get some exercise in that way, and then I, I will clean up and sometimes it’s kayaking.

If I see things that are out bloating, boom. Grab the kayak we go to. And so yes, simple beach cleanup, 

Coach Fergie: right? 

Brian Mudd: And just being out, out with the water, being with nature, that is what does it for me. 

Coach Fergie: Yeah. And it’s giving back in its own little way to the world. Uh, the nature and whatnot. Just you, you lean into stuff and that’s, that’s one thing.

I mean, two sides to every story, one side to every fact. I have to ask you, did you come up with that? 

Brian Mudd: I did. So a couple things about the eight keys for success. It’s weird at this point in my life because I actually came up with these. Over half a lifetime ago. 

Coach Fergie: Wow. 

Brian Mudd: Uh, for me, I was really young. One of the [00:06:00] things I was, that is really weird for me at this point in my life is that I’ve lived what feels like a few different versions of it.

Coach Fergie: Right. 

Brian Mudd: Uh, people these days will recognize me for most of what I do in the day-to-day, which is news is politics and the national shows and that, and yeah, the financial analytics, which I do still at least once a week, but my background before all this was in, in business, in entrepreneurship. And also I helped a lot of people investing.

Uh, and Wow. A lot of that was because my dad taught me how to invest at 11, and I ended up having a lot of success at a very young age, along with. Um, entrepreneurial success. So I ended up getting a lot of attention by people before the age of 20. Right. And when, it’s weird when you have adults that are twice, three times your age looking to you as a kid saying, Hey, what kind of tips do you have in this type of thing?

And what I learned very quickly, especially because I was behind the mic at the same time, sure. It’s [00:07:00] one thing if you’ve got this kid, if you didn’t know who I was, who’s this kid that’s like saying all this stuff? Right? Who does he think he is? If you package it as a product and you position it where it makes sense to people, it’s not about me anymore.

Coach Fergie: No. It’s 

Brian Mudd: all about that. The funny thing is I call the eight Keys for success. I just called ’em my isms for 15 plus years. Wow. It was actually a consultant. Uh, about around a decade plus ago that said, you gotta come up with a name for these, right? And people try to get me to write books around it and, and that type of thing.

Maybe one day. Um, but 

Coach Fergie: we’ll look forward to that. 

Brian Mudd: But the, uh, I’m like, okay. So there were like all these D finally I’m like, how about eight keys for success? 

Coach Fergie: Yeah. Break it down. Good on algorithms and all, everything. 

Brian Mudd: Yeah. So that’s what it became. But it really was not about my eight keys for success as much as it simply was.

Things that I identify that if you apply, you can have success with. Right? And we talk about two sides to [00:08:00] stories and one side of facts. 

Coach Fergie: Right? 

Brian Mudd: I did come up with that because when I was getting into the industry, I took a look at all these giants. You had Rush, you had Hannity. I listened to Hannity from the time he was the local guy, uh, rush from the very beginning.

Coach Fergie: Oh, down there in Atlanta, right? Wasn’t he? 

Brian Mudd: Yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I grew up in suburban Atlanta and that was, I mean, it was the golden age of Atlanta talk radio was amazing. And when I got into it. Again, it’s the, who is this guy? 

Coach Fergie: Right? 

Brian Mudd: And I had entrepreneurial success and I had some business cred, 

Coach Fergie: right?

Brian Mudd: In certain circles, but nothing in the talk radio world or anything else. And so I’m like, you know what’s gonna differentiate me? I don’t have more talent than these guys. 

Coach Fergie: Something. Yep. 

Brian Mudd: I, I’m not funnier than they are, 

Coach Fergie: right? 

Brian Mudd: And I’m not saying that they don’t apply the facts, but the one thing that is going to be the differentiator is I am going to establish the facts to everything.

I will always go where they take me. 

Coach Fergie: Yes. 

Brian Mudd: And, and that will be my guiding guidance. And back 

Coach Fergie: it up man. That’s the key. Like that, that’s [00:09:00] that, that, that’s the biggest thing. And I have to ask you, when, when you were younger and people would, you would be given this financial advice to people? Did they ever ask like, how long you been, how long have you been doing this?

Because I, real estate business, this would be my 27th year. Yeah. I started 1999. And people were like, how long have you been doing this? Like, I, my whole canned que answer was, it seems like a lifetime. And it stopped the conversation, like right there. But what did you tell people? 

Brian Mudd: It was a weird kind of situation for me again, because I was so young.

So I, I started investing at 11 and I ended up winning a statewide award in investing 

Coach Fergie: Wow. 

Brian Mudd: While I was still in high school. Okay. And then I ended up starting as a teenager. My, my first business, which ended up winning, um, a, a statewide award in Georgia in, uh, what would that have been? Like, 98. 

Coach Fergie: Okay. 

Brian Mudd: And, and so then I became a 20, under 20.

And so in these certain circles I had that kind of thing [00:10:00] that was working for me. And so I never put it out there. Right. It was never actually my. Thought that I’m going to go, you know, instill all this wisdom as a teenager right. Onto you. But people constantly kept asking. Right? And when I started radio in particular, people would call in and say, Hey, uh, what do you think about this doc?

Or, Hey, what do you think about this investment? Or, Hey, what, and that’s when, where all these things came about. All of the eight different keys for success Sure. Were simply recurring types of themes and questions that were brought to me. Right. And somewhere along the way I am, like once a year, I’m just gonna package these and I’m gonna drop ’em all.

And so we’ll kinda go and I, I made it, you know, over 20 years ago, usually around Thanksgiving. Sure. I’ll go ahead and just drop these and do a show. Right. That’s just all about the a Keys for success. 

Coach Fergie: This, you, you are in the legitimate Alex p Keaton for the Generation X Xers that are living out there.

The show Family Ties. Michael J. Fox played. Alex p Keaton. You were like that Republican, right? You were 

Brian Mudd: So I was that kid of the eighties. Yeah, I [00:11:00] was, I actually did have like the Reagan poster on my wall. Um, love it. I was that guy. Yeah. 

Coach Fergie: I love it. And, and so, you know, the, the premise you see, everything falls apart of, it’s built on false foundation, like everything that’s right from, from my god, my savior.

Brian Mudd: Amen. 

Coach Fergie: You know, the, the foundation that I have, you know, what, where do you find people most are lying to themselves right now that sabotaging their success? 

Brian Mudd: It, it’s what you just talked about. You have to establish the facts. So the premise is my first of the eight keys. Um, and it’s also where I base the two sides of the story’s.

One side of facts on if the premise of anything is false, anything that’s built on that false premise is going to fail too. 

Coach Fergie: Sure. 

Brian Mudd: The example I always use and your real estate guy too. Um, you can have your dream house, everything you ever envisioned, and you could have this thing built and you take a look at it and it’s like, oh my gosh, here it is.

If that foundation is flawed. 

Coach Fergie: Yeah. 

Brian Mudd: What just happened in your dream house, 

Coach Fergie: right? 

Brian Mudd: That thing’s condemned. 

Coach Fergie: [00:12:00] Yes. 

Brian Mudd: You’re done. 

Coach Fergie: Well done. Right. 

Brian Mudd: You have to be ba whatever it is you’re doing in life. If we’re, if we’re talking about news, what are the facts? If we’re talking about my, my marriage, what is the foundation of my marriage?

If we’re talking about the big picture. Be rooted in your faith. And by the way, be intentional and get that right because I tell you right now, and I struggle with this for years, if you are not right with God, right, nothing else is gonna be right for long. A 

Coach Fergie: hundred percent yes. And it took me a while to really get there.

’cause when I was raised, I think you and I talked about off Mike, I was kind of raised Southern Baptist, shoved down my throat. Ran away from it. But there’s a time in life when God’s like, well, it’s time to come back. 

Yeah, 

Coach Fergie: right. Absolutely. And then it built the foundation. Absolutely. Once I did that, everything changed for me.

Brian Mudd: You got it 

Coach Fergie: right. 

Brian Mudd: Same 

Coach Fergie: here. That’s amazing. So squad, we are going to toss it to my good friend Steve Austin with Rise Mortgage, our awesome sponsor that I’m blessed to have. We come back, we’re gonna talk a little bit with Brian about a little bit of morality, adversity, and revealing characters. So Steve, take it away.[00:13:00] 

Steve Austin (Show Sponsor!): Thanks Scott. Happy Saturday everyone. This is Steve Austin with the Rise Mortgage Dynamic Team with your mortgage market tip of the week. Plan for your total cost to close early, and that doesn’t mean just saving more money. With the right strategy, you can work your closing costs to not have to come outta your bank account.

To learn how this works, give us a call at (561) 250-6044. That’s 5 6 1 2 5 0 6 0 4 4. That’s it for this week. This is Steve Austin, your branch manager, nml, S 7 6 2 3 2 8. With the Rise mortgage Dynamic team N MLS 1 6 0 4 6 6 3 an equal housing lender. 

Joel Malkin: Are you looking to finance your dream home vacation getaway, or an investment property?

The Rise Mortgage Dynamic team and company is here to help Steve Austin and his team. They’re expert loan advisors, combine local knowledge with cutting edge technology to make your financing process of. Efficient and seamless. Whether it’s your first home or your next investment, [00:14:00] trust Steve Austin and the Rise Mortgage Dynamic team and company to guide you every step of the way.

Visit them today and experience the perfect blend of technology and personal touch. Steve Austin’s Rise Mortgage Dynamic team. Your local experts in residential financing. Call Steve today at (561) 352-9278. That’s 5 6 1 3 5 2 9 2 7 8 5 6 1 3 5 2 9 2 7 8 and MLS number 1 6 0 4 6 6 3. 

Coach Fergie: Hey, hey Steve. Thank you so much and I am starting to see a little, uh, the downtick in the interest rates out there.

So again, really appreciate your sponsorship. You’re the, you’re the man, buddy, and squad. Also, I have to have a. Quick shout out to the frog man, my hero, my father who made the trip down from Alabama today and tell everybody back there in Alabama, hello, pop. 

Larry ‘Frog Man’ Ferguson: Hello Alabama. 

Coach Fergie: Tell him how proud you are of your son.[00:15:00] 

Larry ‘Frogman’ Ferguson: Hey, I’m pretty proud of my son. He’s come a long ways in his time. Got a long ways to go. 

Coach Fergie: Yes, I do. God willing, man. I do appreciate that, pop. Thanks for coming down. I love you, man. So, Brian, on a sliding scale of morality, 

Larry ‘Frogman’ Ferguson: yeah. 

Coach Fergie: Adversity, like it reveals character. Right? That’s, that’s what I really have found in my 54 years.

I’ve, I’ve really found that out. Have you seen success actually expose people more than failure Does. 

Brian Mudd: Ooh, that’s a good one. 

Coach Fergie: You know? 

Brian Mudd: Yeah, no doubt. Because you can really, you have a lot of Sunshine warriors, um, and, and people that when things are going well, um, will be able to put on a happy face and be good people.

But the moment that there’s adversity, you see what people are really made of. Right. And the case of people who feel like they’ve made it and that they have it. 

Steve Austin (Show Sponsor!): Mm. 

Brian Mudd: They don’t even need the adversity anymore. Right? Right. Now you just see who they are because they have the. [00:16:00] Wherewithal, or at least they think they do right?

To just be who they’re going to be. And so without question, I think that success, especially financially, is revealing and often for those people that are, I know 

Coach Fergie: where you’re going, 

Brian Mudd: not in a good place, can be fleeting as well. 

Coach Fergie: Right? Yeah. And it’s funny, like a lot of times it’ll make you more of what you already are, right?

Yeah. Like if, like you’re, if you’re already a jerk, yes, more money’s gonna make you more of a 

Brian Mudd: jerk. 

Coach Fergie: Right. And then 

Brian Mudd: Absolutely. Absolutely. And what you’re talking about with the sliding scale Moral, it’s another one of my, A Keys for Success. I wanted to come up with something to explain why it is that people get hurt.

And this actually came from financial advisors, like Backstabbed people and people that are taking advantage of and that kind of thing. And the way I explained it is, you know, we’re all, none of us are, are perfect, right? None of us are Jesus Christ. Right? Not by long shot, but let’s say you have a scale of, of one to 10 and, and 10 is perfect and one.

You are really a horrible human being, right? Um, we’re, we’re all somewhere [00:17:00] in between, but. Some of us start with a higher place than others, and a lot of that has to do with morality, our sense of right and wrong, um, and, and what is a guiding light. And so maybe on our best day, we’re an eight, which means we’re pretty darn good people.

We’re really good there. Yeah. We’ll go out of our way to help people given the opportunity. And even on the bad day, maybe we’re a five or six, which means even at our worst, we’re not gonna hurt each anybody intentionally. Right, right, right. Well, let’s say that you start out as a, a five, six, maybe even a a seven, probably more like a five, six.

When things are going well, they might seem like a pretty decent person. Sure. And you might befriend them or you might trust them with your money or whatever it is. But when stuff goes sideways, when things go wrong, why is it now that suddenly I feel like I’m being backs stacked or I’m being taken advantage of?

How did this person that maybe I, I even knew for years right. Suddenly become somebody who would, who would hurt me? Right? And the answer is now at when adversity hits at their worst, they will hurt people. 

Coach Fergie: Right? [00:18:00] 

Brian Mudd: It’s really important to align yourself with people that have the same types of, of values that you do, because if you line yourself up in a meaningful way 

Coach Fergie: Sure.

Brian Mudd: With people that are below that, they are always going to hurt you. Right? It’s the whole thing about the bad apple that can spoil the whole punch. Hundred percent. You have to, it’s always good to go out there, you know, and God teaches us, uh, to try to bring people to him, right? And so it’s not giving up on other people, but there’s a difference between.

Being that kind of person that, that will have the outreach versus putting your trust, your relationships 

Coach Fergie: right 

Brian Mudd: into somebody who is not where they need to be. 

Coach Fergie: Right. And just, I, I noticed that when I would have rough times with God. A lot of times I’d be like, God, can you take this away? Yeah. Like, you just take it.

Yeah. Instead now it’s, you know, someone said to me about eight years ago, they really taught me, it’s like, just invite him in. 

Brian Mudd: Yeah. 

Coach Fergie: Like, be in the fire with you. 

Brian Mudd: Yeah. 

Coach Fergie: You know, just like in, in, um, was it the horse shack? A Bendigo, you know, the three ones that were in the fire and God was [00:19:00] like there with him.

Right. Just be there. Which you’ll help keep your character grounded right when you invite him in versus trying to do it on your own. 

Brian Mudd: It’s the ultimate ego check. You never succeed on your own. 

Coach Fergie: Right. So you, you talk about the Millionaire plan. Yeah. People get excited when they see that part. Right? You know, it’s simple math is what you said, but it’s not magic.

So how do so many people kind of overcomplicate wealth instead of just committing to the process? 

Brian Mudd: So we are conditioned. To want to get rich quick or want to, especially when we’re younger, attain whatever that goal is now. 

Coach Fergie: Right. 

Brian Mudd: And now more so than ever, I came up with a millionaire plan 25, 6 years ago or something, and Right.

Um, the reason it, by the way, a million dollars today, not exactly what a million dollars used to be, was when I did this. Right. Right. But it’s still an aspirational number and it’s really more about the point than it, you know, am I a millionaire? And the, the principle behind it is this. People will [00:20:00] chase trends, chase things and might be, I’m chasing Bitcoin.

Why? Well, because I think it’s gonna do whatever. Okay. Uh, or here is this hot stock to pro, right? People are just hoping and guessing it’s not a plan, that it’s not strategy. And you know, gambling within reason. I mean, okay, if it’s like an entertainment budget, but as a means of investing a strategy to try to build wealth.

You’re 

Coach Fergie: probably 

Brian Mudd: not the right 

Coach Fergie: way to go. 

Brian Mudd: Again, people do win the lottery, so it happens, but that is not a strategy. So the idea behind the Millionaire Plan was to do it in bite-sized portions in a way that everybody legitimately could achieve their financial goals. Sure, all a million dollars is all it is is a thousand dollars month.

A month, saved and invested in the s and p 500, and that is done for 22 years. In three months, if you, at average historic rates of return simply had a thousand dollars a month, $12,000 a year, invest in the s and p 500, [00:21:00] you left it alone for 22 years and three months, you have a million dollars, 

Coach Fergie: right?

Brian Mudd: That’s it. 

Coach Fergie: It simple math. 

Brian Mudd: And so one of some of the, the, the, one of the greatest things about the Millionaire Plan having delivered, as long as I have the number of people that reach out, um, and, and will tell me I did it. One of the coolest things is so often people will do better than the average, or they’re able to save and invest more than a 

Coach Fergie: thousand dollars.

Brian Mudd: No. Like 2000 a month instead. Right. And they applied the principles. 

Coach Fergie: Right. Right. 

Brian Mudd: I had somebody, um, just in recent weeks that reached out to me and said, Hey, I wanted to thank you so much. I never thought I was gonna be able to retire. 14 years of applying your Millionaire Plan, I retired five years early.

And it’s that kind of thing. That is super cool. It is. It’s just having a strategy and a plan and playing to the strengths and, you know, there are strategies obviously in real estate that can work too. 

Coach Fergie: Sure. 

Brian Mudd: Absolutely. Most of my focus though, I do have a background in real estate, has to do with, with stock market investment and so 

Coach Fergie: like the REIT side and stuff like that or, 

Brian Mudd: so I’ve done that on the real estate side [00:22:00] as well.

But yeah, I mean, no, I on stock when it comes to stocks. Yeah, no. Uh, I’ll, I’ll invest in anything that I think is, is a compelling opportunity. 

Coach Fergie: Right. So the, the power of negotiation. 

Brian Mudd: Yes. 

Coach Fergie: Right. 

Brian Mudd: Oh, this is a good one. 

Coach Fergie: What I, I pride myself through the years. I was a terrible negotiator when I was younger. Yeah.

I was trying to one up be that guy. Now it’s. More. I listen two ears, one mouth for a reason. And kinda going back to your point about the slow play as well, it’s like inch by inch, its a inch, right? Yeah. By the yard. It’s hard, like everybody wants it now. And it comes the same with negotiation as well. You have to learn, negotiate the correct way, but most people don’t even try.

Right. So is that a competence issue, do you think, or a knowledge gap? Or maybe it’s just a fear of the rejection. 

Brian Mudd: So one of the more remarkable statistics to me is that fewer than half of college graduates are financially literate. Okay. 

Coach Fergie: Right. 

Brian Mudd: That’s college graduates. 

Coach Fergie: Yeah. 

Brian Mudd: These are people that are the most formally, it’s not taught in schools.

Yes. The most formally educated people [00:23:00] are not typically. Financially literate, right? Which doesn’t get better by the way. With those who are are less formally educated, it just gets worse. And so given that the average adult. Is financially illiterate. And, and that’s not to be an insult, it’s just a reality, 

Coach Fergie: right?

Brian Mudd: This, this is part of like advanced ed when it comes to managing money, economics, understanding, having confidence, right? That isn’t taught. And so, yeah, most people don’t understand the basics of economics, let alone where the opportunities to negotiate are and how this can be applied. One of the things that I did in, as part of a study with, um, US Chamber of Commerce going back a couple of decades ago now.

You constantly hear about the gap, um, be in, in pay between men and women. 

Steve Austin (Show Sponsor!): Sure 

Brian Mudd: it’s garbage. Um, I’m, I’m here to tell you that people who say that are, are lying or don’t know what they are talking about. And the reason is this, is there still, still some institutionalized bias maybe at the margins. But I’ve been able to, um, demonstrate that all but [00:24:00] 1% and really less than 1% of the gender pay gap by the time you adjust for.

Time in position. Sure. And also amount of ability within that position when you adjust for results, all but about 1% can be explained away. By negotiation. The number one difference is men, for example, when it comes to an employer, are far more willing to negotiate on a salary upfront than a woman is. Sure, very few women are.

And so that has to do with the gender pay gap. And again, if people just tried so often, they would end up finding that they could have a lot more success, and that can have a lifetime impact, right? If you’ve been at a job for a long time, you never negotiated. Anytime you even get a raise, you’re operating off of a lower basis than you ever would’ve been.

It could be a, a negotiation that that didn’t take place that could impact your entire remaining financial drive. Right. And it often does. Most things are negotiable. Most people never try. Yeah, 

Coach Fergie: they just don’t. They, they, yes. Because. [00:25:00] Maybe call it a sheep mentality. And I’m not saying that to be derogatory.

Yeah. But they are, they, they just kind of follow the herd and stand out. ’cause none of the financial education is taught in schools. 

Joel Malkin: Correct. 

Coach Fergie: Now I speak at Palm Beach Central, um, and a couple other schools that, about the financial literacy part. That’s correct. Because it’s not, that’s, it’s not taught.

Joel Malkin: That’s great. 

Coach Fergie: Right. I know I wasn’t. 

Joel Malkin: Yeah. 

Coach Fergie: You know, and it, I had to learn it a lot of times the hard way. But kinda like as we wind things down here, Brian, but let’s say if someone’s listening right now. Right. Who feels behind, you know, financially we’ll, we’ll stick with it financially, you know, what’s the first move they should make today to shift that momentum?

Brian Mudd: So the first thing you need to do is to understand how much you have. That is a liability, how much it is that you have coming through the door, and actually see where it is that you can. Make progress. One of the other eight keys. I call it my third plan. One of the reasons why people tend to do poorly in financial management once they’re behind in the game mm-hmm.

Is [00:26:00] because it feels like it’s all sacrifice. Even if I am, am trying to improve. Yes. All I’m doing is, is just chasing my debt. I’m not getting ahead or anything else. You need to set up your lifestyle in a way in which you can do what I call the third plan, which is. You need to be able to have of everything that is, is net that’s coming through your door a third that you can set away, set aside and invest and save a third that you can, uh, go ahead and, and have, uh, some fun with.

Right. And a third that is going to pay pay down debt. 

Coach Fergie: Sure. 

Brian Mudd: If you do that, it instantly rewards all aspects of your life. You are having some money that’s there for fun things, right? You are making progress, um, for your future. You’re taking care of your debt at the same time, if you set up your household so you can do that type of thing, even if the numbers are small at first, not only are you going to feel better about it, but the other thing is.

As you make progress, [00:27:00] guess what? You pay off that debt. Now it’s a 50 50 plan. Right now I have more money for fun stuff. Now I have more money to save and invest, right? And however you shape it. And so it’s a perpetual positive feedback loop. The biggest thing is that people are not setting themselves up in a sustainable way.

Right. And you have to have that evaluation and you take that step back and then things will get constantly better from there if you, 

Coach Fergie: yeah. Again, inch by inch. 

Brian Mudd: Yeah. That’s 

Coach Fergie: it. Right. It’s the, it’s your 

Brian Mudd: philosophy 

Coach Fergie: and squa, this has just been a blessing for me. I know you are blessed is well, to have Brian come in and share part of his eight eight cues for Success.

Success. What is isms, what of his isms and. Thank you to WJ O Thank you to my pops Larry Ferguson for coming in down and into studio today. And thank you Brian, and thank you. Have a great weekend everybody. Absolutely love your guts.