My world was unexpectedly turned upside down with this discussion. I’ll admit, at times my views can be quite rigid; however, hearing this person’s story has shown me I maybe need a different approach at times. With all that being said, the pathway and moral-of-the-story was once again the same (and yet another data point): no excuses! Our guest, Ethan (“qualia” in the chat room), had an upbringing that caused him first need to do some heavy lifting in order to change his mindset, but after doing so, he’s built himself a nice life and is now expanding into trading. The trading journey is still young, but given his mindset with his work ethic sprinkled in, there’s no doubt he’s going to be doing great things. I truly enjoyed this discussion and I know you will too. (in fact, I enjoyed it so much I also had a longer discussion with him on my The Money with Clay Podcast) Notes: Today we interview community member Ethan who goes by qualia in the chat rooms. While running his business in California, he met a broker who actually cared and tried to help his clients outperform the market. After looking at all the fees, Ethan wondered why he shouldn’t just buy stocks himself. Considering his upbringing, he realized that he had conflicting thoughts about money. This has led to swings in his income over time. He needed to change his thinking and this would ultimately be the turning point for him. After visiting some friends down south, Ethan realized that his money could go much further in the real estate market there over the California market. After getting established at their new home, Ethan decided on a date to which he was going to enroll in Claytrader University. Now that his finances were in order, he spoke with a broker friend of his and realized that he could learn how to do this himself. Regardless of his new plethora of knowledge, the next hurdle to overcome is the emotional side. He knows what he needs to do but it really counts when the rubber meets the road. Quotes: Somehow I got in contact with a broker and this guy was so caring. He always made sure he was helping his clients. Thinking differently was like an exercise and building on it one small step at a time. We had some friends that lived down south. I could start up my business again and I could buy real estate very cheap. People use brokers because they are afraid. They don’t want to do it. They want to put it in the hands of others. I actually have to sit down and make a plan and test that plan until I know it works. That’s the hardest part.