“I cant afford it, I’m broke” he said.

…to which I responded “broke is a mindset”

He says “Broke Is a Fact!”

This intrigued me, so I did an experiment.

The other week was really interesting.

In one day I spoke to a Banking & Finance billionaire…

…a millionaire…

…a million pound bonus CEO…

…a six figure salary Investment Banker…

…200 interns at most major banks…

…7 graduates on my facebook group that could not get a job…

…and 1 student that said he was too broke to invest in one of my training programs.

Now although this is a normal week for me in my line of business,

but this time I was looking through different glasses.

I remember what it was like to be short of cash, but broke has never been in my vocabulary.

Even when I had £100,000 debt, I still thought I was rich.

Everybody else thought I was deluded.

I spent and spent and spent on training, business ideas, professional qualifications and things that I knew would further my life.

I have never used the words “I can’t afford it”, because it is so limited in terms of mindset.

…so when I had a conversation with a student that said he could not afford it, he was offended by my broke is a mindset comment.

And it set my brain thinking that particular day…

What is the difference between a Banking & Finance billionaire…

…a Banking & Finance millionaire…

…a £100,000 salary in Banking & Finance…

…a £25,000 salary in Banking & Finance…

…and broke with a Banking & Finance Masters?

Interesting?

…so interesting, I thought I would share the results with you here…

So, I decided to speak to them all in one day.

First, the broke student.

His belief was that money is scarce…

…and that he is ‘just’ a student…

…and students don’t have money!

When I was a student I was self funded, had a job and owned a business because I wanted to have all the money I needed at uni.

Just because I was a student, didn’t mean I wanted to be broke for a second.

Why did we both have two different realities?

Interesting?

A few hours later I met an Investment Banker with regards to raising finance for a private equity deal.

I don’t know for sure, but my guess is that he might be on £100,000 plus bonus.

As an Investment Banker, you get to meet serious business geniuses and Venture Capitalists.

In my Investment Banking days, When I was raising finance for them, I always used to ask myself “How did you start this”

I was always curious about the founder, how it began, the inspiration, the vision and the mission behind the idea.

This particular Investment Banker never thought about those things.

He was focused on sealing the deal and moving to the next stage.

Interesting?

I then got on the phone to my business partner Peter Hargreaves, he owns Hargreaves Lansdown, a FTSE listed Wealth Management Company with his own personal net worth of £500 million, in the Times Rich List.

I was excited about a new project I was working on in October where I was going to run a Bank sponsored day for students and graduates who want to work in Banking & Finance with all proceeds going to a charity I am a volunteer and fundraiser for called “Peace One Day”.

The day is going to hook students and graduates up with the biggest influencers in Banking & Finance and tell them about new opportunity in the new economy with billionaires and inspiring leaders. (Put November 22nd in your diary)

Immediately Peter asked me about how profitable the event will be. I told him I don’t know, he said get back to me when you have thought about it.

Interesting?

Then on the same day I met Mike Harris, who created three multi billion pound businesses in a row, two of them in Banking and Finance.

I asked him about two of his Banking & Finance businesses…

…he told me they were both born out of his mission to “Transform Banking”.

In his mission to transform banking, he created First Direct, the first telephone bank and Egg, the first online bank.

I asked him, how do you create a multi billion pound business.

His response…

“You need to have a mission, you need to transform something, you need to revolutionise, you need passion”

There was a bit more to the four hour conversation than that, but that is the essence.

Interesting?

I immediately gave Mike Harris a value proposition and we agreed to do a consultancy swap for half a day each.

We agreed that I would consult him for half a day on my value proposition and he’ll consult me for half a day on building an iconic brand.

(I’ll teach you how to get a result like this in another conversation!)

To which I immediately accepted.

Consulting from a multi billionaire on building an iconic brand…

Result

Then later that evening I went to a party I had organised with over 200 interns from every major Bank in the world.

‘The Banking & Finance VIP Party’

At the party there were a few people that didn’t recognise me and asked me where I was interning.

I told them I owned Benedix and I was here to meet and network with my clients who have secured their first job in Banking & Finance and discuss next steps to turn it into more.

He was shocked!

He though I was too young to own a company.

Interesting?

I spoke to hundreds of interns that evening from Goldmans, Citi, Deutsche, Barclays Capital and every major bank.

The theme of their conversation with me…?

Simon, how can I turn this into a full time offer and they were buzzing over the £25-£35k salary they were receiving.

Interesting?

You see, I could of told them about how to build an iconic multi billion pound brand, from the conversation I was having earlier that day, but there mind was not thinking higher than getting the £30k job.

Interesting?

So what is the point in all this, Simon?

OK.

The results of my interesting day?

We get paid what we believe we should be paid.

We tend to earn the same amount of money as the people we spend most of our time with.

We all have unlimited potential, but limited beliefs.

What if I introduced the broke student to the billionaire and they hung out for three months.

Do you think the broke student might see things differently, meet some new contacts, be introduced to a new way of thinking, come up with an idea?

They say our income is the average of the 5 people we spend most of our time with.

The Take away

Billionaires think differently from millionaires…

…millionaires think differently from £100k salaries…

£100k salaries think differently from £25k salaries…

£25k salaries think differently from broke students.

Students who can afford our programs think differently from those who can’t?

So we all have unlimited potential, but the only thing that determines our result is our belief.

Mike Harris believes he can transform.

And he transforms.

Peter Hargreaves believes profit is king.

And he profits in a huge way.

The Investment Banker believes he can seal the deal.

And he sealed the deal.

The interns believe £25k is amazing.

And they got their internship.

The student that can’t afford to invest in the training to get his career moving believes he is broke.

And he still has not enrolled on my Banking & Finance Professional Program, to get a different result.

I believe anything is possible, we have unlimited potential and everything is belief, combined with strategy.

Get the belief and strategy right and anything can be done.

The strategy comes from those who have achieved the result you want to achieve.

Nowhere else.

The belief is from within.

But there are ways of increasing your belief.

Hang out with those who believe differently.

Skeptics are controlled by fear.

Opportunists, feel the fear and do it anyway.

Being skeptical is easy.

Taking a risk means you grow and learn.

You risk looking foolish if it goes wrong, but the alternative is being a skeptic and never trying.

Opportunists have the same fear.

But that fear is the fear of not achieving the result they want.

That fear drives both the skeptic and the opportunist.

They both get different results.

I think it’s interesting anyway?

Surround yourself with people who have the result you want and eventually you will have that result.

Please comment and let me know your thoughts.

To your success

Simon

P.S. Join me in my Banking & Finance Professional Program if you like this kind of thinking, if you don’t like this kind of thinking, it’s not for you!

P.P.S. Another trait of successful leaders is bad spelling, so no smart arse comments about my bad spelling and grammar! LOL. Please share this blog if you like it.