Book Club featuring George Grombacher

george grombacher 0:01
Well, blood, this is George G. And the time is right. Welcome to our monthly book club and welcome our author, strong and powerful me, I assure you that I am ready to go. So I am excited to be talking about my first book, be your own CFO, businesslike approach to your personal finances. And

when I started the book club, when we started the book club,

it was more a desire to

highlight and have the author talk a little bit about themselves, their process, what they’re hoping that the book accomplishes what they want people to get out of the book versus what the book itself is, and is all about, hopefully, you’ll be interested enough or you’ll be intrigued enough or whatever it might be that you’ll pick up a copy of the book, and you’ll experience it yourself. And you’ll get out of it what you will, but that you’ll have that sort of a unique opportunity to hear from that the author themselves. And to hear a little bit about the motivations and again, the process. So that’s, that’s what I wanted to share with you a little bit about today, I wanted to talk about what my experience is, with writing just in general. And certainly the about the book itself, and what you can expect from me and my writing into the future. So that is what we are going to do. I grew up in northern Minnesota, and had a great upbringing. Really fortunate to, to be raised by a wonderful mother, my folks put up when I was five, and my mom essentially raised me, and she was a school teacher. And while there was never enough money to go around, she did just an incredible job. And I had the opportunity through some of our community connections to go to a really good school, grade seven through 12. It was a private school in the town that I was from. And as a matter of fact, just two weeks ago, when I was out and about at a at a friend’s birthday party for one of their kids. I met a young lady who was from Duluth, also, er, had spent time there. And I asked her what her family name was. And it turns out that it was her grandfather who had given me the scholarships to go to the school that I had gone to. So it’s a small world. And I’m forever grateful for that experience, I had the opportunity to have a lot of really good teachers, particularly a lot, a lot of really good English teachers. And I think I was always a pretty good writer. But when I was in eighth grade, or gosh, I should remember, I think it was eighth or ninth grade. My professors name was Dr. Berta, Bo. And I was pretty proud of the papers that I’d written for his class. But at the end of the year, we had like an award ceremony for the entire school and they had all the all the awards, on tables in the hallway. And I was just walking around looking at the different awards. And I won the English award for for the eighth or ninth grade, I really want to remember which one, and I just I, I was shocked to see my name on the certificate. And I think that I’m really fond of the same that gives somebody great reputation to live up to, you know, we don’t know, when we’re young. And we still don’t know even today, if we’re good at something. We have a sense of it, but just getting the validation, at least for me, that was a really, really important thing. Like, oh, wow, maybe I’m a really good, maybe I am a good writer, or I have the seeds of one day being a good writer. Now whether or not I’m a good writer today, that’s a whole nother a whole nother thing. But that that moment really, really put into my mind, Hey, I am at least as good as everybody else. So I’ve always enjoyed writing and looking back on my schooling, I really wish that I would have studied English but Hindsight is 2020. So that being said, I went for years and years and years and years not writing. I just didn’t do it. I was just so career focused and just not doing any writing. I had ideas about starting blogs or writing throughout my 20s and even into my 30s but I finally did make the decision once I started the podcast that well maybe I should start writing also it was really what I decided to create the the website for lifeblood that I recognize the need and the desire to, to really start writing. And so I did, I started writing every day. And I got to the point where I was writing 2000 words a day. And at the same time, I had started doing a lot of virtual presentations. So during COVID, and had the opportunity to do all these webinars for companies all across the United States, and one of the webinars that I was doing consistently, that was the most asked for was beating on CFO. So what are the main drivers of success that the chief operating or the chief financial officer within a company that they’re using to help their companies to be financially successful? What can we as individuals take and apply into our lives. So he’s doing all that. So obviously, spending a lot of time thinking about that, and formulating that. And at the same time, I had invested in a, a course program community to teach you how to blog, how to have a successful blog, all the different variables. And and part of that they they will do and still do something called Content warrior challenge, where you just try and do as much content as you can over a 30 day period. And I had also invested in a program that would help me to do more speaking because I really enjoy that. It’s a really, it’s one of my favorite things to do is to be in front of people and have the opportunity to, to teach and hopefully get people to change behaviors in that one hour or two hours, or whatever it might be. And I think that I’m pretty good at that, too. So during that time, they had said, my my professor, for lack of a better term, teacher, course person. A lot of people were talking about how it’s important to have a book if you’re going to be a speaker. So this confluence of different events, my desire to write more my writing more, this 30 Day content challenge, me doing this, this presentation beer on CFO presentation, and then combined with the benefit of having a book, I essentially made the decision to write the book over the course of or at least get the first draft done over the course of that 30 day period. And so I did. My writing starts with creating an outline. So just getting all the ideas down, like literally just mapping out what each what what the main ideas are figuring out what the chapters will be, and then bringing it all together and getting it all done. And so that is essentially how the book came to be sort of a long winded answer, not that there was a question in there anywhere, but you get the idea. So fundamentally, the main idea behind the book is that there’s never going to be anybody more interested in your financial success than you are. And because of that, you need to act accordingly. I think that we all intellectually understand a lot of the things that it takes to be good at money. But we don’t do them, we don’t put them into practice. And throughout the book, I beat myself up and talk about where I’ve fallen short. And I’m fond of that, I think it’s really important. I think that if I were to get up in front of people, and or if I had written a book about how perfect I am and how I’ve never made any financial mistakes, that it would really fall flat, and I would not be connecting with anybody. And it’d be a lie, because I’ve made just a ton of financial mistakes. I’ve made most of the financial mistakes that somebody can make. Fortunately, I’ve also made a lot of really good financial decisions. So the idea of the book is, how can I through a lot of my story, and then marrying that with the, with some of the key activities and key things that chief financial officers do to help their companies to be financially successful? What lessons can we take and then apply in our lives so that we, as individuals and family units can become financially successful. So that is the whole idea of the book. And the more that we can take a businesslike approach to our personal finances. I really think that it’s, it’s, it’s all for the better. So throughout the book, it’s broken out into talking about the best practice of Chief Financial Officer, how you can take and apply that in your life and how you can just kind of keep everything moving forward. And I think that the book is really, really accessible. I think it’s only steady, really, really long book. thread around 100 pages. Looks like it is exactly

100 And and should have been prepared, but 112 pages. So it’s a quick, easy read. It is designed so that anybody can read the book, it is something that a high school student can absolutely read, and grasp and take and apply. And it’s somebody that something that that 60 year olds can also pick up and read and apply. So I am way more interested in being useful than I am brilliant. And that could simply be because I’m not necessarily a brilliant person at all. So better to be something than nothing. So trying to be useful, all kidding aside, that I think that it is hopefully a very, very practical book that is easy to digest, and even easier, so to actually implement. So that is a whole idea of the book. I’m not looking at the questions that I normally will ask people, when they are talking about the book that they had written best part of the book, the thing that I’m most proud of, I think simply put just that I did it, you hear a lot about how people will talk about how I’ve got a book in me. And I don’t know that that was necessarily true. I always like I mentioned thought of myself as a writer and a pretty good writer. So I wanted to just get the actual book done and written. And I self published it. So it is a lot of new learning. And that is more exciting than it is anything else to me. Rarely, am I daunted by learning something new. In fact, I can’t think of the last time that I looked at something and I found it to be too complicated or complex or cumbersome or burdensome and that it prevented me from moving forward and doing it. If I’d spent some more time thinking about that, I’m sure I’ll come up with a handful of things. But this was like anything else to me. There’s so many great resources that are out there, I think that I leaned on a lot of YouTube videos or other people’s blog posts talk about process for getting it done. Once I hit it written, I needed to find an editor, which I was able to find somebody on Upwork they live in Georgia, and she did an awesome job. And I’m super grateful for all of her help and somebody to help design the book and to get the ISBN number, which is essentially your book Social Security number. And then the process of getting it actually up and on Amazon and then launching the book and and everything else. So it’s not a simple process. Maybe it’s a simple process, but it’s not easy. But it is very sequential. And just following it, taking it step by step, I think is that’s kind of how I do everything. It’s how I wrote the book and how I you know, actually created the book. And I tell you what, it is a pretty cool thing that I just that you just send, you just essentially put it up and put it through Amazon’s portal. And then people can order it. And they will just create one copy one at a time and send it to them. Pretty amazing. So I can’t, if you are somebody who wants to write a book yourself. It’s a fairly straightforward process. And it’s also pretty accessible. And it’s something that you can definitely do. So I feel like you should just like a podcast, if you want to start a podcast, you should by all means start a podcast. And then you can buy copies of it as well. So I feel like I’m doing an advertisement for how to actually write a book versus talking about the book itself. But it’s all pretty cool. It’s all pretty cool. It’s all pretty straightforward. And I am hoping my desire. And my work is designed to help people get better at money so they can live how they want. So I think that there’s a lot of people who are interested in getting rich, and if that’s what you want, that’s awesome. There’s also just a lot of people who are interested in not having to worry about money anymore. And I think that’s awesome, too. People just want to get out of credit card debt. And these are all very, very, very, very real viable desires. And I think that the book can can help you to do those things to do all those things. We all want financial prosperity, but we’re never going to find financial prosperity unless we first reach or find financial security. And my book is really designed to help you reach financial security. Once you do that, then you are positioned to be able to go after and pursue that financial prosperity. The book talks a lot about goal setting talks a lot about values talks a lot about knowing what your personal mission is, and putting all those things together. And I don’t think it’s wrong to call the book basic, fundamental. But it’s all information and knowledge that we need. And think that the more we can work on closing that behavior gap between what I intellectually know and what I actually do. That’s, that’s one of the big keys and becoming financially successful is how do I just understand what I need to be doing on a daily basis on a weekly basis on a consistent basis, that will help me to be financially successful, and to get what I want with money, whatever that might be. And I think that the book can definitely do that. So any other advice to readers? The book will also help you to, it’ll give you a framework for filling in any gaps. One of the big things is being honest with yourself, am I interested in how interest am I interested enough in this in personal finance to do the things that are required. And it’s okay if you’re not, but if you’re not, you need to find somebody who will do the stuff that you’re not willing to do. So, like anything else, if you if you do not have the interest or the discipline, to eat, right, and exercise, and you want to be a healthy person, you need to find a way to make sure you’re getting the right food in your mouth and do the right exercise with with your body. So getting a meal prep company, food delivery of some kind, hiring a personal trainer, that is essentially the same thing for your money. So there’s a framework that will help you to figure out okay, here’s the gaps in my learning. Now that I close that, am I going to do the things that I need to be doing to get to where I want to go with money? And if the answer is no, the book will help you to figure out the best approach for you to get done, what needs to get done. So in regard to recommended reading, I think if you are somebody who is wanting to become a writer, I recommend the artists journey by Julia Cameron. All the time, I think it’s an absolute masterpiece of a book that’s behind me somewhere. And when I say the artists journey, I mean the artists way, by Julia Cameron, I don’t know that I’ve ever said the title of the book correctly. It’s the artists way, by Julia Cameron. And then the War of Art by Steven Pressfield. Similar books, but very different at the same time, also just masterpieces. Even if you don’t, you want to be a writer, it’s all about nurturing your inner creative. And I also whether or not you ever want to write a book, I think that writing itself, journaling is one of the healthiest things that we can do. It’s one of the most, it’s one of the wisest things that we can do. We’re in a time right now, where we are. And I’ll just speak for myself. We’re at a time right now, where I am distrusting of the information, a lot of the information that I’m receiving, I am disinterested in having somebody else do my thinking for me. I am very interested in formulating my own thoughts and opinions about what’s going on in the world. When we write, it helps us to organize our thoughts. And once we get in the habit of organizing our thoughts, we start thinking more thoughts. And we start thinking more about what we’re thinking about. So the act of writing, it just, it’s a great exercise for our brands. It’s great exercise for our thinking, and the more critical thinking that we can do. I’m just there’s it’s probably always been important, but geez right now, at least in my lifetime, it seems like critical thinking skills are just paramount. They are so essential. So I cannot encourage you enough to just start writing and the artists way. The War of Art will help you with that process.

But just making a habit out of every day, starting your day with a a blank piece of paper, and a pen, and just writing. It’d be difficult at first because you’ll be wondering what you’re supposed to be writing about. But just writing write whatever comes into your mind. And then as you do that, you’ll become more focused. And like I said, you’ll start thinking more about things. And it’ll just be, it’ll really be a virtuous cycle for you. So that is it. So my sheet here says, guest, thank you so much for coming on. Me. Thank you so much for coming on. Where can people learn more about you? How can they engage with you? Where can you get a copy of B or on CFO, a business like approach to personal finances, you can go to amazon.com, which is where the book is sold. You can also go to George grombacher.com, which will take you to one of the websites. And that’s an opportunity to learn more obviously, life blood dot live is the place for the podcast. And you can read a lot more of my writing there, and the writings and the podcasts and videos from all of our guests on the podcast. And, again, never going to be anybody. There’s never going to be anybody more interested in your financial success than you are. So act accordingly. Well, thanks again. Thanks as always for listening. And remember, do your part by doing your best

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