Invest in Yourself with Rocco Carriero

george grombacher 0:00
Come on Well, I’m left with this is George G and the time is right to welcome today’s guest struggle powerful Rocco Carrera Rocco, are you ready to do this?

Unknown Speaker 0:18
I’m ready to deal with yours. Let’s do it.

george grombacher 0:20
Let’s go. Rocco has an MBA he has a CR PC and APM, a private wealth advisor. And he is the author of the three chords approach to life and wealth management. For business owners, Rocco excited to have you on again, tell us a little about your personal life’s more about your work and why you do what you do.

Unknown Speaker 0:40
Alright, George, well, a little bit about myself. So I’m talking to you here from Southampton, Long Island, New York, I grew up in Patchogue, which is about 3540 minutes from here, and I’m in the wealth management business, I’ve been working with highly successful business owners for about 25 years, I’ve really got to know the personality, what makes them tick, what really creates true wealth for these people. And so I decided to write a book a few years back on the subject, to help business owners with the three most important areas of their life, which is their, their family life, their their business life and themselves as an individual.

george grombacher 1:22
Nice, I appreciate that. So true wealth, after 25 years, I imagine your ideas of what that was when you got started was different than 10 years, and it was different. And now 25 years in, tell me about that sort of how that’s changed for you,

Unknown Speaker 1:43
you know, getting into the wealth management business, you think that just substantial or very large financial resources, has the ability to create wealth or create happiness? And, you know, what I’ve seen over the past 25 years is that, yes, it is a very important component. But it’s not the only component to creating happiness, that there was two other factors that I saw that were really in the happiest of people. And, you know, certainly money does not create happiness. Money just basically emphasizes who the person really is. So if you’re a kind, generous, terrific person, the more money you have, you’re just going to be a greater, kinder, more terrific person. If you’re a rotten person, the more money you have, it just makes it even more run. So what I saw was basically, that it was the three components that create the true wealth, it wasn’t the one component, I thought, initially it was, and I gotta get a quick story to share with you more than working with a client who billionaire client, and the guy just, you know, fabulously successfully, wealthy, couldn’t find happiness and own football teams, jets, yachts, you name it, he owned it. And it wasn’t until he actually went to Mexico on a on a retreat. And he brought some wheelchairs there, right and bought some wheelchairs there to provide them for some kids who, who couldn’t afford a wheelchair. And he told me, he’s like, listen, he goes, it wasn’t until that day that I really, really felt truly wealthy and really happy. It wasn’t the football teams or the Jets, or any of the other types of things that he had in his life, it was helping others. So that’s been one of you know, I work with lots of real wealthy people. And I try to get them to see that by helping others with their wealth, they actually get more out of it than just spending it on things. And I always get excited when I’m able to kind of connect the dots there, because a lot of people who are really wealthy don’t really think they can do it, right. They just think, well, what happens if I need it really? Is it my responsibility to do it, other people that have more money, they’re doing it? And so and so the book really talks a lot about that it talks about how to become wealthy, right? It’s a, it goes over the topics of around financial planning, Wealth Management, growing your wealth and protecting your wealth, but it weaves in the three topics, which is looking at yourself as an individual as well as your family, which is, you know, critically important as well.

george grombacher 4:36
Yeah, that’s a that’s a really powerful story. If somebody who is who is wealthy beyond most people’s human beings imagination, yet still not necessarily feeling wealthy, and it takes maybe being removed from the situation and just in a different environment, change that perspective around a little bit where it finally clicked.

Unknown Speaker 5:00
See, this guy that guy was telling you about, he actually felt wealthy when he started helping, you know, he felt good about himself. And he felt good about as well, when he started applying the capital to the, you know, to making a difference in helping helping people, you know, one of the kids, one of the kids look at him in the face and said, I want to study your face, because when I see it happen, I want to thank you again and blew away the guy.

george grombacher 5:27
Yeah, that’s, I can’t even imagine. Super interesting that it doesn’t matter. If you are 100,000 aire, a millionaire billionaire trillionaire, you will still look in the mirror and say, Is it my responsibility? What kind of impact Am I really capable of having? Do you think that everybody? Is it? How relevant is the amount of money you have?

Unknown Speaker 5:55
I think after a certain amount, and I think studies show that any money made after you know, somebody has in excess of like, their basic needs, whether it’s 75,000 100,000, anything more than that really does not create any more happiness, or you talk to people that, that do mountain climbing, and they talk to the Sherpas and all these other people that are in parts of the world that they make, like $5 A week or something, you know, and they’re happy. They’re, you know, they so there’s no, you know, once I think somebody’s basic needs are met, anything more than that certainly does not create any more happiness. It’s, it’s with that wealth, how is it applied? Right? And I think it’s, it’s how it’s applied, that determines the happiness, right? Some people get a lot of, you don’t have to be a billionaire here. But you know, some people get a lot of joy out of giving gifts to other people. And so, you know, it’s it’s really this the diet, the the psychological dynamics of it are really interesting. I mean, listen, money is really important. I’m not saying it’s not I mean, it’s really the it’s what the to the oil that moves the engine. But it’s the uses of it, how people apply it, you know, I can’t stand when people really make the, the connotation that Oh, money is the root of all evil of money. The devil is far from the truth. It’s the application of it, it’s the person heads how the how the person treats the resources and what they do and how they act with it. That’s, you know, that that’s the real issue.

george grombacher 7:30
Yeah, money is neither good nor bad, right? It’s just, it’s just, it’s just money. Money, right? Money

Unknown Speaker 7:35
has no personality, it’s just there.

george grombacher 7:39
I imagine that one of your struggles slash opportunities is helping people to, to start having these kinds of conversations with themselves and thinking now, because I bet people say, Well, yeah, okay, Rocco, that’s great. I’ll do that, once I do this, or I’ll start this kind of planning, once I hit that trillion dollars or whatever.

Unknown Speaker 8:04
Yeah, that’s, yeah, that’s a people’s, they’re just not ready. Yet. They’re, you know, you know, after I do this, or after I do that, it really is not, it’s not the you know, it’s not the majority, you would think that more people that have substantial financial resources would actually do more. It’s the minority of the people that have substantial resources that do the majority of the giving back and helping others. And it’s not because those people don’t want to do it, they just are not educated in the area of that they can do it. One of the things that we plan on doing more this year, and next year, is providing educational forums and kind of just teaching these really smart, successful business people more about options and things that they can do to help others looking, you know, and really excited about doing that. Because if what gets me really excited about that, is that I believe that if they do it correctly, they will have much more joy in their life while they’re here. versus not doing that at all. It’s just my you know, my kind of thought on it.

george grombacher 9:10
Ya know, I think that that makes a ton of sense. Is it? Is it kind of like, if you ask somebody what their goals are, they’re like, I, man, that’s just too it’s too broad. It’s too. It’s, I don’t know, but if you said, Hey, what do you what are your goals for your relationship with your oldest child? Then they’d be able to kind of connect that so if you say, what, who do you want to give money to or what what impact you want to have? It’s just too big. But if you say, You know what, there’s opportunities for kids in Mexico, the nude wheelchairs and people in Slovakia that need braces?

Unknown Speaker 9:43
Yeah, yeah, if you just, you know, you put it out there, you know, I mean, the situation over in the Ukraine, whatever it might be presenting that to them, giving them choices and options and they say you know what, that kind of feels like feels right for me and let’s, let’s let’s try that and You know, not everybody’s, you know, that everybody is is is thinking that way. And so giving people choices and options as to how they can apply their capital is, I find found a great way to, you know, great way to do it, we’re gonna do a lot of that we’re gonna, you know, it’s gonna be one of the things that we continue to do more and more people want to learn more about it. And, you know, they also, you know, people that are wealthy, they don’t want to see that that money squandered. They don’t want to see it misappropriated or used incorrectly or stolen. So that’s sometimes the reservation that people have, that causes them to pause is based upon hearing those horror stories of you know, that you’ll hear that ever we all hear on the news. But, but it’s great stuff, really. But again, you know, back to the book. So that’s a component of it, you know, your yourself as an individual, how you take care of yourself, your health, diet, exercise, are you seeing doctors, as well as the importance of family? Right? So, you know, this is you can always, you know, we all say that family is important, right? And it’s always interesting is that you say, Okay, well, let me take a look at your schedule. And you’ll have these hard charging business owners, they’ll have 26 appointments, and it’s like, Well, do you have any do you have I don’t see any time on your calendar here for your your kids, or your spouse, or your your parents or your whoever? And, and so, you know, people say, Oh, you’re right, you know, there isn’t, you know, but I get Yeah, they eventually get to it. Yeah, well, you get to it with whatever time is left. So I always ask business people, are you a? Are you a business person that also has a family? Or are you a family person that also has a business that really makes people think, think deeply? Like, you know what? Yeah, exactly. You know, because when you when you I’m a family person that has a business? Well, it’s very clear that that person, you know, values, their family or their business, or I’m a business person that has a family. Well, that sounds like that person values or their business over their family. So, yeah, just a different way to think of it.

george grombacher 12:10
Yeah. And back to that whole money’s not good or bad. There’s not a right or wrong answer to that somebody wants to be a business person, then it’s a family. I suppose that’s just fine, too.

Unknown Speaker 12:19
Yeah. Well, there’s no yeah, this mod here to, you know, never judge anybody. And it’s just you know, but the one thing that, that I will say is that I have seen that the people that that think about the three areas being super successful at business, because if you’re really great at your, you know, yourself health, wellness, and you’re a terrific family person, but you’re a lousy business person, that causes another whole set of problems. So it’s being successful in all three areas, is what is the key, in my experience to real true wealth? Not one, not two, but all three?

george grombacher 13:01
Yeah, that makes no sense. When you were talking about how go into the calendar, the schedule of really successful high driving person, you’ve got 26 appointments on there. And the family time is what’s leftover, it made me think about the whole pay yourself first thing that you need to pay yourself first, and then everybody else otherwise, there’s no money left over for you and strikes me that time is the same way.

Unknown Speaker 13:23
That’s a great point. You’re exactly correct. Right. The pay yourself first concept is, you know, he makes sure you out Yeah, that’s it’s very similar to that, like, you know what, you know, so many, so many business owners don’t do that, right? A lot of startup business owners, they basically will pay them whatever might be leftover, if anything at the end of the day they carve off. But the ones that say, Okay, I’m going to keep two cents of every dollar for myself. They’re the ones that actually accumulate something. So yep, that’s the point. It’s really good point.

george grombacher 13:54
And I, in terms of and I love that the whole three chords concept is that a rope is much stronger with three interwoven chords versus just one. And that that really resonates with me and makes sense. And taking that integrated approach and making sure that you’re paying attention to all three areas. And it’s natural that over time, probably it’s not going to be 3330 333 Helping people strike that balance, if that’s the right term or the right rhythm. And so how do you help people with that?

Unknown Speaker 14:27
You know, it’s, I think it’s more about focused and balance. It’s okay, if you’re, you know, your family, you try to be you try to be present while you’re there, right? You try to be and so you’re focused on your family during the family time. You’re, you’re focused on your business during the business time and you’re focused on yourself during the time that you’re focused on yourself. So it’s really, you know, it’s you can’t you know, if you balance if you’re doing all three at once and you’re balancing them, it’s it’s not possible to To achieve optimum success at add a bite by doing all three at once, it’s it’s one at one at a time.

george grombacher 15:08
Yeah, yeah, I think that makes, I mean, just really being in giving 100% of your time and attention and energy with whatever you’re doing. That’s probably the trick, especially when you’re talking about people that have so many different demands on their time, energy and attention. So

Unknown Speaker 15:27
for sure, yeah, yeah, that’s the, it’s hard. It’s really hard. And, you know, and I wrote the book on I’m not saying that I’m perfect by any means. I wrote the book because of my observations, and I tried to live by it. And, and every once in a while, and I kind of feel like really overwhelmed that I don’t really know what to do, I take a piece of paper, and I break it down into threes, and I write down all the things that I want to be doing or should be doing with family, all the things that I want to do to grow my business, because I still want to grow my business, and all the things that I need to be paying attention to about myself, right, am I you know, what, you know, the doctors, the, you know, the, the gym, the, you know, exercise and the diet. And, and I say to myself, Okay, well, are you are you were what, where, what, where? Are you not putting any of the energy? Or where are you lacking, you need to spend more time in that space? It’s hard, but it’s, it’s fun, right? It’s, it’s great. You know, I think you go through life in a, in a better way, by having focus in all three areas, as opposed to just one I mean, we all know, the super successful business owner, which has been married four times, no relationship with their kids, smokes a pack of cigarettes, drinks excessively, you know, they’re, they’re like a speeding, you know, train car that’s gonna crash, we all know that person. And that person’s story usually doesn’t end good, right. And we all know, the the person that, you know, neglected their business as well, you know, so you really, we all know the characters that we’ve been talking about on this podcast here. But I can tell you again through 25 years and research, the people that that that put the, put some put the energy into their their relationships, and put the energy into their business and put the energy into themselves are the ones that that in the end have the full that have the greatest fulfilled lives. And that’s what they leave behind. Right. So I was just talking to somebody yesterday, and we’re, you know, unfortunately, they were at, they were just had a week, and they said, you know, the person, you don’t take anything with you, like, that’s it like you, you leave everything behind, and whenever you you know, you whatever you leave behind, you want it to be good. That’s the That’s what you want to leave behind. And if you can leave behind your wealth and get it in a good way, if you you know, as a family person and the things that you might have done personally. That to me is that is, you know, you made a good, good imprint on the world.

george grombacher 18:04
That’s well said, that’s a solid one right there, Rocco that people are ready for your difference making tip, but you have for them,

Unknown Speaker 18:13
I would say span, you know, Warren Buffett at his last investor conference was was talking about what’s the what’s the best investment that you can make, and it’s an investment in yourself. And I’m a big believer in that, that that you that you need to be working harder on yourself than you then you should be on on anything on anything else. Right, work hard on yourself, and everything else will will help to take care of itself.

george grombacher 18:41
So what I think that that is great stuff that definitely gets Come on. Rocco, thank you so much for coming on. Where can people learn more? Where can people learn more about you? How can they engage and where can they get a copy of the three chords approach to life and wealth management for business owners.

Unknown Speaker 18:57
They can go on to the three courts website, which is three courts approach.com They can go on to which you can go to Rockaway carrera.com And you’ll be able to buy a book on it’s on Amazon. It’s at Barnes and Noble target and a bunch of other places but yeah, hope you enjoy the book. If somebody wants to reach out feel free to send them email and stay in touch. Excellent.

george grombacher 19:22
Well, if you enjoyed as much as I did show, record your appreciation and share today’s show with a friend who also appreciates good ideas go to Rocco a carrera.com. It’s our OCC Oh, a C A R r i e r o.com. And check out all the great things that Rocco is working on pick up a copy of the three chords approach to life and wealth management for business owners wherever you buy your books. Thanks again, Rocco.

Unknown Speaker 19:47
Thanks, George.

george grombacher 19:49
And until next time, keep fighting the good fight. We’re all in this together.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai