Self-Reliance vs Community

The question that some doctors or dentists get hung up on is, “How much time is this going to take for me to join and figure out how I can make the investments that will set me free?”

I don't hold back. Joining Freedom Founders and obtaining the education to become your own  financial advocate is a reinvestment period. It’s the third investment I think we should all make. Let me explain.

The First Investment We All Make – Education and License

Going to college, professional school, then residency, GPR, specialization, and the ongoing CE we doctors take to upgrade our skills. This all falls under the primary investment all doctors and dentists make. And it’s a large investment of both time and money.

But we all agree that the investment for the education, the career path, the profession and, ultimately, the business is worth it. We pursue it because we’re entrepreneurial. We want to be financially successful.

The Second Investment – Business or Practice

Our second investment is acquiring and building our business or practice. We want some control. We want the opportunity to drive our own car in the business world.

We all know it comes with a lot of risk and liabilities and headaches, but I don't think any of us would have it any other way. This is another large investment because we don't come out of school as good business owners.

Business is a whole other world. So we take new courses, learn the management of our practices from the ground up, and seek consultants.

We are always learning, and upgrading the caliber and capacity of our ability to lead and be profitable and effective business owners.

The Third Investment – Investing Your Money

The third investment, or reinvestment, is learning how to take the hard-earned capital that you save outside of your business, and get it to work for you.

This is not just storing it in places that some financial advisor or money manager, or 401(k) administrator tells you to. That is an abdication – surrendering control of your capital to somebody else.

Freedom Founders is not just a group where someone will financially advise you to put your money here or there.

We want our members to become the best financial advocates for themselves. This doesn’t mean you have to know everything. Our members receive guidance from the community. We have a securities attorney on retainer, a chief financial officer, and a CPA.

We have the experts to give advice to all of us to help us better discern the best decisions. We can’t be experts in everything, so we seek counsel while maintaining autonomy over our money.

Your job is to start gaining an understanding of how your money works throughout economic cycles. This is something that everybody can learn, and our members do within the first six months in Freedom Founders.

Our members have said “It's like drinking from a fire hose.” And the amount of time you put into it will be relative to the amount of transformation, not just change, but transformation on your path to freedom. 

Prioritize Your Freedom

Now, some people have to re-prioritize their lives a little bit. We have people with five or six kids in their thirties and forties. That's a busy time in one's life while running a business and trying to figure out how to manage the money their practice has been kicking off. 

Figuring out what your priorities are is something everybody has to do. We all have the same amount of time everyday and every week. But we have to become very astute and intentional in how we decide to use that time.

This is why having conversations with your spouse, your partner, your significant other is so important. You have to be on the same page, and have a clear and common vision. Many lose that as they get distracted by their busy lives, their practice, and building their family.

It’s easy for two spouses to start to deviate from one another but coming together is one of the most important things you can do. And when you decide to reinvest in education to learn how to make your money work for you, you can accelerate your path to freedom because you are on the same page.

This is why on our Blueprint Weekends, we facilitate the conversations between couples regarding the trade-offs of every available decision. All decisions in life have trade-offs. You're giving up something to have something else, and it’s crucial to clarify your priorities.

What are your negotiables? What are your non-negotiables? Until you figure them out and have clarity, everything will be bright, shiny objects. You’ll be gambling your money at a Vegas casino.

I know that's not the way you want to invest your capital. Are you wanting to fold time and learn how this works within a community? Or do you want to be the soloist, the penny pincher, the frugal person who only depends upon him or herself?