Episode 89: Creating Real Prosperity with Penelope Jane Smith

Brad Dobson: Welcome to the Path to Profit Podcast. With your hosts, Dr. Minette Riordan, and Brad Dobson.

Minette Riordan: Hey everybody, welcome to the Path to Profit Podcast. I’m Dr. Minette Riordan, along with my husband Brad Dobson. And together, we’re the Co-Founders of the Path to Profit Academy, where we teach creative entrepreneurs how to build profitable businesses. And profit is all about money, but not just about making money, but actually having money left over at the end of the day.

Brad Dobson: So net, not gross.

Minette Riordan: So net, not gross.

Brad Dobson: Yep.

Minette Riordan: And if you don’t know what that means, go look it up, it’s really important. Or, maybe our awesome guest can really explain a little bit about what that means.

Brad Dobson: Exactly.

Minette Riordan: Both personally, and in terms of our business. And we’ve got a great quote to start the show off, you want to read the quote?

Brad Dobson: Before we introduce our guest?

Minette Riordan: Before we introduce our guest.

Brad Dobson: Okay.

Minette Riordan: We’ll get started.

Brad Dobson: Today’s quote’s from Dave Ramsey, who you most likely have heard of.

Minette Riordan: [inaudible 00:01:07] talks about him a lot.

Brad Dobson: “You’ve got to tell your money what to do, or it will leave.” So take charge.

Minette Riordan: Yeah. I love that. He was a big influence in our lives, and I know I’ve heard our awesome guest, Penelope Jane Smith, talk about him as well. And so, let me just stop, pause-

Brad Dobson: Welcome Penelope.

Minette Riordan: … Catch a breath, and say welcome Penelope.

PJ Smith: Hi, so happy to be here.

Minette Riordan: So happy to have you, it’s like been my pleasure to get to spend time with you lately. We did an awesome webinar a little while ago for the people just on our list. And now I’m extra excited to introduce you to the wider audience of the Path to Profit Podcast, and grateful for your time as a new mom, and busy entrepreneur, and women of many talents. So, I first met Penelope when she was doing her List-a-Palooza, List Building Challenge. And, Penelope’s also how I found out about Thrive Academy-

Brad Dobson: Ah.

Minette Riordan: … And Jesse Coren, and Charlotte Jacobs, ’cause I took advantage of my free scholarship on her email list.

Brad Dobson: Very nice.

Minette Riordan: So she knows a lot about building business. But Penelope, I think that thing that drew me to you in your story at the very beginning when I first met you and started following you six, seven, eight years ago, I’m not even sure how long it’s been now. Was your personal story of what you went through financially, and how you’ve come back from that. So, I’m wondering if you’d be willing to share that story with our listeners today, ’cause it’s so powerful.

PJ Smith: Sure, and it’s kind of painful, but also there’s a lot of lessons to glean from it, so I’d be happy to share for the sake of everyone’s learning. And, you know, but if you’re just listening in and you haven’t heard me share this before. I actually, not that long ago, had taken $10,000 of my own money, and turned it into six million dollars in real estate. And, I was on track to be able to retire by the time I was 31. Then, of course the real estate market crashed, and everything changed. So not only did I lose all that money and more, but I lost my own home to foreclosure, and I struggled, and struggled, and struggled to make ends meet. And, I eventually was forced to declare bankruptcy.
Which, was not the worst part. The worst part that I had actually borrowed money from family and friends to go out to these real estate projects with me, and I wasn’t able to pay them back. It just was like, losing my own money was one thing, but having people lose money because of getting in projects with me was just completely devastating. And finally I understood those stories of Japanese businessmen that fling themselves off buildings when the market changes, because I thought, “Oh my God, how am I going to be able to pay these people back? The only thing I can think is maybe, if there was some way I could die, and the life insurance company would pay them.” That was the only way I could see out of it.
And so, I was kind of like sitting with this question of, “How could I commit suicide in a way that they’ll still pay out?” You know? Which is a very depressing place to be, so I was depressed, and anxious. And, in that spot I actually got invited to go to a workshop that I had paid for a few years ago. They wouldn’t give me a refund no matter what. So I’m like, “Okay, I need to do something. I don’t know what I’m going to do, but it has to be something.”
I went to this workshop, and it was a really good thing I did. Because, the facilitator stood up in front of this whole group of people, and he declared that he wanted to be single handedly responsible for turning the economy around, and won a Nobel Prize for it. And, I was really shocked, and inspired by that. And I thought, “Wow, who is he to say that he’s going to do this?” And I thought, “Well, what’s stopping me from saying I’m going to do something like that?” And so, it shifted the conversation in my head like, “Well what could I do to turn the economy around?” And, so it shifted it everything.
And, what I’ve noticed is as you ask yourself better questions, you start getting better answers. And as it … Do we have time for me to share what I came up with?

Minette Riordan: Yeah.

Brad Dobson: Oh, absolutely.

PJ Smith: Cool. So what I noticed was, even though I was losing my house, and going bankrupt. There are other people who I knew who were having their best year in business ever. And, I realized that everyone has their own personal economy, and then there’s the economy at large. And I thought, “If I could help enough individual entrepreneurs shift their own personal economy, then eventually we would hit a tipping point, and that would shift the economy at large.” And so, I started working individually with entrepreneurs, not to make millions and millions of dollars in two years. But like, “Hey, how do you make money now so that you can sustain yourself, and pay your bills, and build towards the future?” And, I also started making micro loans to women in third world countries, through a company called, “Kiva,” so that I could be having a positive global impact right from the start.
And, what was so wonderful about this was like, by just focusing on helping other people, because I knew how to get clients and make money. I was really good at that. I just needed to learn how to keep money, right? So, by helping other people do that, my business actually tripled the next year, where it was before the crash. And, my best year in business was about $750,000 in sales so far. And-

Minette Riordan: I got goosebumps.

PJ Smith: … You know, being able to help more people at the same time. And since then, I have been able to learn more about how to manage and keep money as well. So now my business is pretty awesome. I’m able to make a healthy six figures doing something that I really love, while only working 20 to 25 hours a week so I can be with my new baby, who is nine months old now.

Minette Riordan: [crosstalk 00:06:41].

PJ Smith: I was able to cashflow my dream wedding, and an extra long maternity leave, and I’ve been able to take some wonderful vacations. Most recently to Hawaii with my baby. I have a beautiful car that I own free and clear, and I’ve built my retirements back up to where they were before the crash. So, that’s going well. And, the reason I’m so passionate about sharing this is, I’ve lived through some people’s worst nightmares, right? And lived to tell the tale. So hopefully I can help you avoid some of the terrible, terrible painful mistakes I’ve made, and if it’s too late, like you’ve already faced financial challenges, too late to avoid them. Hopefully I can show you how you can come back from that, and rise like a phoenix from the ashes to start over. Yeah.

Minette Riordan: So thank you, first of all.

Brad Dobson: That’s a heavy story.

Minette Riordan: Thank you for sharing that, and I never get tired of hearing it. And, I’m sure if there’s other people listening who know you, they don’t get tired of hearing it either. Because, it’s so inspiring. All of it, and the fact that you’re so smart with money is also super inspiring. Our community tends to be a lot of creatives, we don’t tend to be the best with money.

PJ Smith: Yeah.

Minette Riordan: Because we don’t want to pay attention to it, and I think every time I listen to you, it reminds me of the importance of just paying attention to the details of our money, or what Dave Ramsey said about, “You’ve got to tell your money what to do or it will leave.” I love that, ’cause I was that business owner. That, I was great at making money, and not so great at holding onto it. Actually, that was like both of us in our careers. We’ve been great at making lots of money, not so great at holding onto it. And there’s such-

Brad Dobson: Good spenders.

Minette Riordan: … There’s such a … Not even spenders, it just sort of drifts away, right? We’re not very intentional about it, and we’ve learned over the years, and Dave Ramsey was one of the people that helped us as well, get a lot more clear about that. But, you talk a lot about this word, prosperity. And it’s a really interesting word. In fact, your company is called, Real Prosperity Incorporated. So, I don’t want to go down a long rabbit hole, but what does prosperity mean to you?

PJ Smith: Well actually, before I give my answer, I would like to kind of turn that back around.

Minette Riordan: Sure.

PJ Smith: If you’re listening in on this, or watching in on this podcast, I invite you to ask yourself that question, because the number one reason most people don’t get what they want is, they don’t know what they want. And, most people who are listening in probably like the idea of prosperity. But, what does that mean specifically? You know, otherwise it’s like a game that you’re playing without any rules. How do you know if you’re winning or getting there?
So, for me specifically, I love this quote by Eric Butterworth, who was a popular Unity Minister. He said, “Prosperity is a way of living and thinking, and not just money or things. And poverty is a way of living and thinking, not just the lack of money or things.”

Brad Dobson: So mindset.

PJ Smith: Yeah. So for me what that looks like is, being grateful for all the abundance that’s in my life now, and looking forward to even more. And, when you’re embracing or incorporating that way of living and being, and that’s actually … My company is called Real Prosperity Incorporated, not just because it’s a corporation, but because it’s like incorporating that into your way of being every day, right? And so, when you cultivate that prosperity consciousness, first of all, life is just more fun. But then, can you also see how it would be easier to attract more wealth than when you’re living in scarcity and fear?

Brad Dobson: Sure.

Minette Riordan: Yeah, absolutely. And I love what you said about gratitude, and being grateful for what you have in the moment. And I’m curious, do you have like a proactive gratitude practice, do you just sort of sit in the consciousness of that, what do you recommend to people that you’re suggesting to be grateful every day?

PJ Smith: I do have several gratitude practices actually. I often do like a morning gratitude prayer. I’m what I would call spiritual, but not religious. So, I kind of sit out this blanket statement to everybody. I’m like, “Dear universe, God, angels, spirit guides, whoever’s out there. Thank you for these things.” You know? And I’ll just kind of do this rampage of appreciation, and get to what I’m grateful for, and then I’ll also make my requests. Saying, “I’d also like these things too please.” And then, in the evening I often write down at least five things I’m grateful for.
But, there’s another practice I love doing just anytime, and I’d like to invite you to do this with me. Which is, to just take a moment to realize that if you are listening in or watching this interview, you’re already wealthier than 95% of the world’s population. Which is just extraordinary to think about it. But, would you trade financial lives to somebody else on the planet at random? If you’re lucky you could end up with the finances of somebody extremely wealthy, like Richard Branson. But, the odds are against you. The chances you’d probably end up with a much lower standard of living than you are now. And, I remember traveling to Tanzania and seeing the little mud huts that they cram like six people into. And I’m like, “You know, a lot of people in the world, that’s the way they live.”
And if you take time into the equation, would you trade places with a king or a queen if it was 300 years ago? ‘Cause to live like a king sounds great. You’ve got servants, and feasts, and it was the most lavage possible lifestyle at the time. But, you wouldn’t have running water, or antibiotics, or internet, or airplanes, or internet on airplanes, or any of these incredible modern conveniences that we so often take for granted. So, if you just take a moment to tune into that, check in and see if you’re already beginning to feel more wealthy and prosperous.

Brad Dobson: Very nice.

Minette Riordan: Yeah.

Brad Dobson: Along those lines, I know we’ve had clients along the way, and I guess ourselves, recognize that our money mindset, like you were talking about earlier in terms of maybe a poverty mindset, or a prosperity mindset. They come to realizations when they start asking questions, or they don’t want to admit, or they come to the realization that they didn’t understand that they have a poverty mindset. So I’m interested, so I think in our listeners, there’s probably some of those people. And, how is it that you can identify, or you can help people identify that they’re living in that type of mindset?

PJ Smith: Mm.

Brad Dobson: And the reason I ask that is, it seems to me, they’re going to get nowhere unless they identify that, and start working through that.

PJ Smith: Mm-hmm (affirmative). So there’s two ways to approach it. One is to identify some of your limited beliefs of things that are holding you back, so that you can switch them. Because, so many of our thoughts that create our reality are subconscious, right? And so, you kind of bring them to the surface, and then shift them. That’s one route to go. But if you’re not aware, right? Awareness is the first step in change. And if you’re like, “Well I don’t even know what these thoughts are.” You can also plant thoughts, like seeds and let them grow in your subconscious.
So, that’s one reason I like declarations, you know? Like, one of my favorite declarations is, “I deserve to be wealthy, healthy, and happy.” And that’s like planting a seed. And if something comes up that says, “No you don’t.” Ah, you just started getting awareness about perhaps a limiting belief. You’re like, “What’s this voice saying no I don’t? What’s that about?” And then you can explore and do whatever kind of personal growth work you do. Whether it’s hypnotherapy, or … I mean, there’s lots of different modalities to help you shift your thoughts, right? But once you have awareness, then you can do that.
And, if you don’t believe in declarations or affirmations, I have another one for you. A bonus one, which does, “My declarations work for me whether I believe they do or not.”

Brad Dobson: I love that. It’s a meta declaration.

Minette Riordan: He needs that one.

Brad Dobson: That’s beautiful.

Minette Riordan: I love that, that is a total, total bonus one. So mindset is often, at least 50%, if not more of the inner game of prosperity. But when it comes to kind of the real world, telling your money what to do outer game, I know you’re super passionate about financial education. I’ve heard some of your talks, and tips, and strategies. But, it feels pretty overwhelming Penelope, it’s a big topic. So, if I’m somebody that is really conscious that I am committed to starting this journey of taking responsibility for my money, where should I start?

PJ Smith: Where should you start taking responsibility for your money, or where should you start with your financial education?

Minette Riordan: Oh, those are two great questions. You pick.

PJ Smith: Okay. So if you’re listening to this interview, you’ve probably had some form of formal education, whether that’s high school, college, kindergarten. And, if you think back to what they taught you about money in school, they probably didn’t teach you very much. I remember in school, learning how to make change, you know? They’re like, “Hey, if somebody gives you this much money, then it costs this much, how much change do you give them?” And I’m like, “Ha,” in retrospect. So, what were they training me for, you know? I guess to be a retail employee.
So, typically in the school system, you’re not getting a financial education. And so, I think it helps to understand what are the main areas of financial education, what does that mean. And again, this is that outer game of money, where the prosperity, consciousness is the emotional, psychological inner game. But, financial education, I mean specifically how to handle five areas. And I imagine it like, you can think about it like a financial fountain, you know? How money flows in your life. So at the top of the fountain is making money. You have money coming in, the water’s coming into the fountain, right? So the first part of financial education is learning how to make money.
One way to make money that most people are probably familiar with, is to sell their time, right? So, how do you sell your time for the highest price possible? What are other ways to make money that don’t involve selling your time? That’s part of the, that part of financial education.
But in the next part, the water’s kind of flowing down into the next little basin, is to save some of that money, right? This is where the keeping money skills start getting involved. So, what systems and structures can you put in place to actually save some of that money? And then of that money you save, the next little tier is managing it. How do you manage it, and make sure that the different areas of your life are kind of covered? Almost like … You know, in my Prosperity 101 Program, I talk about baseball. How, you don’t put your entire baseball team on defending third base. Like, everybody has a different assignment, right? So, how do you make sure all your bases are covered monetarily?
And then the next part is investing some of that money. So, that it grows for you, and eventually you don’t have to work for it. And then like the base of the fountain that keeps it all together, is protecting your money. So learning how to protect your money from coming out of the fountain entirely, through taxes, or lawsuits, or even when you die, having the state take a bunch of your money. You want it to go to your heirs, or to charities, or wherever. Making sure that the money goes where you want when you die. That’s part of protecting it too.
So when you understand that those are like the five layers, you can kind of see, “Okay, well how am I approaching these five layers? And, where am I weakest?” You know? Then you can start educating yourself in that area.

Minette Riordan: I love that, that’s such a great … So I love the visual aspect of it, ’cause I could totally see that in my minds eye. So, for entrepreneurs, they tend to be really focused on making money.

PJ Smith: Yes.

Minette Riordan: And, they’re not necessarily focused on saving for the future, or protecting their money, so how do you help them move from that focus on just making money, to the importance of saving, investing, and protecting?

PJ Smith: Well part of it is a consciousness shift, right? Because, entrepreneurs especially, fall into what I call the, “Income trap.” Which is to think, “If I just make more money, that’s going to solve all my problems.”

Minette Riordan: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

PJ Smith: And it’s very insidious, because there’s some truth to it, like there’s two parts of the equation. There’s income and expenses, right? So, if you want to up your lifestyle, or you want to have more passive income, having your income be more than your expenses, that is going to help to an extent. But, I’d say about 20% of the time across the board, when someone’s not quite meeting their financial goals, it’s an income problem. And about 80% of the time, it’s a lack of systems problem, and organization problem. Because, human beings aren’t good with money. We’re not wired for it. If you think about the entire evolution of human history, how long have we had to deal with money? Not very long. Before that it was like, “Oh, let’s go kill the buffalo, and gather some berries, and feed our tribes.” That was for millions of years, that’s what we were doing.
So, money’s pretty new, and we don’t get it. So, you have to kind of put systems in place to protect yourself from your own human behavior, you know?

Minette Riordan: Yeah.

PJ Smith: Or trick yourself into doing smart things with money. So, one way to trick yourself into doing something smart with money is, automatic money transfers, or payments, you know? Like people that have money automatically going into an IRA, or 401K. I even have, I have a separate bank account called, “Non monthly expenses,” so that I don’t get surprised by those big things that come up annually.

Brad Dobson: Right.

PJ Smith: So, $150 a month just automatically transfers into that account, and then when it’s time to pay property taxes, or auto insurance, or whatever those things that come up every six to 12 months are. It’s like, “Wow, that’s a big deal. Oh, there’s money here …” You know? And when it just comes out of the account automatically every month, then I don’t have to rely on my own willpower to manage that.

Minette Riordan: So I love that. We’ve been reading and studying a lot lately about habits, and being fans of systems, and we’re big fans of Profit First by Michael Michalowicz … I can never say his name.

PJ Smith: Michalowicz.

Brad Dobson: Michalowicz.

Minette Riordan: Michalowicz.

PJ Smith: Yep.

Minette Riordan: And, this whole concept of not having to make decisions all the time, because it creates decision fatigue, and we get so worn out. I hadn’t thought about applying it to money, but what I hear you saying is, the more that you can set up these systems, the less decisions you have to make. And the more likely you are to stay on track with doing things in a way that really supports you, and sort of investing, saving, all those things that we need to know and do about money.
But, there was something you said that was really smart, about almost like buckets.

Brad Dobson: Well it was all really smart.

Minette Riordan: It was all really smart, yes. But the thing that struck me was, and made me think of Profit First was about the separate savings account. And, having these different buckets where you’re automatically putting money in order to take care of it, and nurture it, and protect yourself very differently. So it was about habit, systems, and protection all rolled up in this beautiful little bundle. Do you have other accounts like that? Where you automatically put money in order to just take care of it a little bit differently?

PJ Smith: I do. I have different accounts set up for different purposes, and this is kind of like when I was talking about having all your bases covered, right? And so, I have an account to basically solve any money problem I ran into in the past. And so, in my Prosperity 101 Program, I talk about a bunch of different bank accounts to consider having, depending on your life. ‘Cause, you want to have as few as possible so it’s not complicated. But, you also, again, want to make sure your bases are covered.
So for me, I have an emergency fund, which if you’re like, “Ah, law of attraction, don’t say emergency.” You can call it a contingency fund, or a reserve fund. I actually call mine a reserve fund for my business, and then for personal with my husband, we call it an emergency fund. I haven’t noticed myself having more emergencies from calling it that, so I’m okay with it, even though I do believe in the law of attraction. So, I have that because it’s nice to have that little buffer between me and reality. I have the non monthly expenses account, as I mentioned. I also, as a business owner, started doing a Cost Of Goods Sold Account, COGS account.
So, one of the things you may or may not have realized as a business owner is, a lot of times there’s a cost to delivering whatever thing you’re selling. So for me, I have my big Platinum Mastermind Retreat Program. Well, money to pay the retreat center’s, and I print these like really beautiful color binders for my clients. When somebody signs up for the program they get an iPad preloaded with tens of thousands of dollars of trainings on it. And so, that’s costs to me.

Minette Riordan: Right.

PJ Smith: That I don’t have unless I have a client. But, once I have a client, I have to make sure that I account for that, right? And so, having a completely separate account for it, just made it a lot easier, because I would be like, “Woo, $60,000 came in. Wait, why don’t I have the money for the retreat center?” You know? It was like, it was driving me crazy. And I thought, “You know, let’s just make it easy, and have an account for that.”

Minette Riordan: Yeah, I love that. That’s super smart, especially for people that are selling products, as well as services, or gifting products. We just came back recently from Traffic and Conversion Summit in San Diego.

PJ Smith: Nice.

Minette Riordan: And listening to one of the Co-Founders of Digital Marketer, Perry Belcher, talk about using premiums as part of your onboarding, and engagement, and retention in your program, so the iPad’s a great example of, “Hey, join my program and you get an iPad.” And, what people want is the iPad, right? You think they want the program, but what they really want is the iPad all preloaded, right? It’s a premium offer. I know they want your program as well. But it was such a … He shared some really funny examples of premiums, but they cost you money. It’s a hard cost, right? And people often don’t recognize that those hard costs of delivering those kind of premiums are coming out of their pocket. So, super, super important.
When we do our live events, I have a beautiful deck of cards I give people. They get journals, we do spiral bound. And our printing for each of our life events can be really high, not to mention hotel fees-

PJ Smith: Oh yeah.

Minette Riordan: … I think that’s brilliant, for people to be super conscientious of the fact that the cost of goods sold is going to get them at the end of the day, if they’re not paying attention to it.

PJ Smith: Yeah, and again, you only need that if it’s a problem. Like, some people who are just doing straight up one on one coaching and don’t have a whole lot of costs of goods sold, you don’t need a whole account for that.

Minette Riordan: Yeah.

PJ Smith: You know?

Brad Dobson: We find that the … Yeah, they don’t need a whole account, but what they … They lose focus on the actual amount that they’re spending. You know, by the time you’ve bought three different internet tools to support your business, and X, and Y, and driving costs, or whatever it is. And people don’t track those things, but then they … Then they have no net. It’s all gross, they don’t have that they needed to be taking that out. And so, I love the idea of having a separate account, just because it forces you to see how much output you have, as opposed to-

PJ Smith: In some cases, yeah. The best tool … I mean, when you say that, what it makes me think of is, cashflow planning, like actually making a plan for the income that’s coming in, and telling your money where to go, instead of wondering where it went. And this is something I work with my clients on a lot. So, if you having a regular income, and you have problems with cashflow planning, then I have a special gift for you. Is it okay if I do that Minette?

Minette Riordan: Yeah, go for it, it’s perfect.

PJ Smith: What I’d like to do is, if you’re listening to this and you want some support really getting your money systems in place, then I would like to offer you the chance to do a Financial Clarity Strategy Session with me, as my gift. So, I charge $1,500 an hour if somebody wants to just book an hour of my time and pick my brain. But for this, as part of this podcast, if you go to ProsperityTrainings.Com, you can apply. I have a few of these set aside for Minette’s tribe, and you can get a Financial Clarity Strategy Session with me.

Brad Dobson: Very nice, that’s an awesome offer.

Minette Riordan: Awesome. And we’ll make sure we put that link in the show notes online as well, Prosperity Trainings, with an S, dot com.

PJ Smith: Yep.

Minette Riordan: So, I can’t tell you how smart Penelope is, and how good she is at looking at this stuff. So if you’re listening and you know you need help, go now, ’cause I know you don’t have very many of these available. It really, this is not some plea, or plug, or scarcity mentality. She is a busy working mommy who has made being a mommy a priority, and I really honor that as well. So, highly encourage people to take advantage of that.

Brad Dobson: I like the part where you said, “If you need help with this.”

Minette Riordan: If you need help with this.

Brad Dobson: It’s like, everybody needs help with this.

Minette Riordan: Everybody needs help with this, and everybody [crosstalk 00:27:36].

PJ Smith: Well not everybody, but probably 89% of people.

Minette Riordan: Yeah.

PJ Smith: Yeah.

Minette Riordan: Well, we all can always learn. And I think it all comes back to the consciousness piece, and the mindset piece, and understanding that we are in relationship with money all the time, every day, right? Whether it’s managing the outer details, or the inner game around money. We’re in a relationship with money. So, any last words of advice, or brilliance about really learning to shift our relationship with money?

PJ Smith: Well, I love that you say that because, just like you have relationships with other people, you have a relationship with money. And so, the first step in having a really great relationship with money, is to decide that it’s important to you, and it’s worth spending time with. Like, if you’re in a relationship with somebody and you tell them, “You’re just not that important to me.” How long do you think they’re going to stick around, right?

Brad Dobson: Right.

Minette Riordan: Yeah.

PJ Smith: So, some ways to look for this is like, do you keep your cash organized in your wallet or purse, or do you keep it crumpled up in wads around the house, with piles of loose change? That’s one area where maybe you could start treating your money with respect. When money’s important to you, you’re willing to spend quality time with it, just like somebody you’re dating, right? So I recommend that you schedule a regular time to give somebody your full … To give your money your full attention. This is something that I often talk with my VIP clients about, is having a regular money date. And during this money date, just like you’d have date night with your spouse, you have this money date with your money, you can find out how your money is doing by reviewing your financial statements, balancing your checkbook, reconciling your accounts, whatever you want to do during your money date.
In the past when I didn’t have this, I handled my finances kind of randomly. I would balance my checkbook, and pay my bills when I got around to it. Which meant, that sometimes I was organized, and sometimes my finances were in total chaos. And, I wasted hundreds of dollars on fees, that could have easily been avoided if I was actually paying attention. So, now that I have consistent money dates, I have clarity around my finances, I make better decisions. I notice that it’s easier for money to come in. When you do this, you become more attractive to money, because money loves attention. So, I love it, and I believe you will too.
And, I actually put together a Money Date Checklist, which is basically a template of things you might consider doing during your money date. And, we’ve put that up for you for free at RealProsperityInc.Com/MoneyDate. So, you can go ahead and download that if you want some ideas for, “What would I do during this money date?”

Minette Riordan: I love that, and it’s kind of scary to think that we don’t even know what we should be doing during a money date. But I remember that moment, when someone first, one of my mentors said, “You should be having regular money dates.” And I’m like, “Well, what do I do during a money date?” And it’s so simple, and logical, and it makes perfect sense once you know what you should be looking at. Like, I remember looking at this money system, and I got asked this question, “What are the details that you need to pay attention to every month in your business?” And I’m like … I had to really think about it.
This was six or seven years ago when I was really re-looking at, and learning that I was in relationship with money. And it was so life changing to just realize, it’s not that complicated. I think we think that this is about investing, or stocks, or all this complicated stuff that is out there, and possible. But, when you’re talking about this checklist and money dates, it’s pretty simple. So, I think you said you’re checking your accounts, you’re balancing your checkbook, you’re paying your bills, right? That, these aren’t complicated strategies, they’re just consistent strategies to keep us on point, correct?

PJ Smith: Mm-hmm (affirmative), yeah.

Minette Riordan: Yeah, so smart. All right. I want to say thank you so much for your time. This was brilliant, as always. I always so appreciate your insights. Again, you can grab that free gift at RealProsperityInc.com/MoneyDate. If, like me, you’re wondering what you should be doing on your money date. And, it’s time to get into a relationship with money, and this is one of those podcasts, Penelope, that I know will go out over, and over, and over again, and that we’ll continue to share and talk about, because it’s so practical. And, the number one reason that businesses fail, is not because people don’t work hard. It’s because they’re under capitalized, right? And, your business doesn’t need to be under capitalized if you’re doing all the things that Penelope teaches.

Brad Dobson: Good stuff. Fun interview.

Minette Riordan: All right, any last words of wisdom you want to share? You have so many.

PJ Smith: I would just encourage you to do something your future self will thank you for.

Minette Riordan: Yeah.

PJ Smith: You know? Start taking those baby steps towards getting a better relationship with your money now, so that in a year, five years, 10 years, 20 years, your future self is like, “Oh my God, thank you.”

Minette Riordan: Yeah, and that makes me think about on the webinar, just as a last thought, that one of the things that I love about you, is you give everybody hope. You’re not saying, “You have to be 20 to make all these systems work. You can be 60 or 70, and make this work for you.” So there’s hope for everyone, no matter at what stage of being in relationship with money you’re at. So Penelope, thank you so much for your time.

Brad Dobson: Thank you.

PJ Smith: Thank you.

Minette Riordan: All right, we’re Brad and Minette on the Path to Profit Podcast, and we’ll see you on the next episode.

Brad Dobson: Thanks for listening.