Episode 46 | Jason Valadao | Military Millionaire Podcast

00:00 - 05:00

Intro:

You're listening to the military millionaire podcast, a show about real estate investing for the working class. Stay tuned as we explore ways to help you improve your finances, build wealth through real estate, and become a person that is worth knowing.

David:

Wow, guys, it's Dave military to millionaire. And I just got done recording a show with Jason Valadao, and it's awesome. It's just full of value all the way through.

So Jason is a naval officer who started out enlisted and then worked his way up to flying Hawkeyes and F18 so everybody's dream right, fighter pilot. And then he decided that wasn't enough. So he became a physician. Now he's an author, a speaker, a success coach. And it's just an amazing, amazing story.

So we are going to dig into his books, some tips from his book. I mean, we talked about all kinds of stuff even working with NFL athletes so definitely check it out towards the end we'll talk a little bit about his real estate investment but I don't think that's the most value we'll get out of this. I think the most value we get out of this is life and success coaching and ideas and just mindset and mindset is huge.

This is an awesome episode we went a little longer than I normally go because we were just having a blast talking. And you know that happens a few times.

So anyway, if this is your first time listening thanks for joining the community. If not welcome back. Show notes are found at Frommilitarytomillionaire.com/podcast. Now relax and enjoy the show.

Sponsor:

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David:

Hey, what's up everybody? It's Dave from military to millionaire and I am here with Jason Valadao today who is a naval officer who has been a pilot and a physician in the Navy as well as done a little bit of real estate investing. He's an author now and he's just got a really cool story. And so we were talking back and forth through email I first heard you on. Man, I'm gonna mess this up and need to edit it out. I heard you Well, I think I forgot about two podcasts now.

But the first one ever was the best ever real estate with Joe Fairless. And so I heard it and immediately I was like, man, I gotta reach out to this guy this sounds awesome. So we started emailing back and forth for probably about a month and a half now because I was moving and then you were moving but anyway, so we finally linked up it’s 4:30 in the morning. We're gonna have a conversation about your book and everything else. So Jason, thanks for joining us today.

Jason:

Yeah, thanks for bringing me on. I'm excited. You know, hopefully you can offer your listeners a lot of great stuff they can take with them. I mean, obviously without them, you're not going to have your show. And so it's pretty awesome to military guys doing other things outside the realm and I think that inspires a lot of motivation, inspiration, whatever you want to call it to not just military members, but other people showing them that you can have a lot of different things going on in your life, fuse them together and, and kind of serve many different purposes at once.

So I'm totally excited to be here. And you're right, I was uh, I got invited on Joe's show and Joe's got a big following in real estate. He manages a lot of money in a lot of places and it was pretty cool to go on the best ever podcast. That was one of the first ones I had done after the book came out so I'm excited to be here.

05:00 - 10:00

David:

Awesome. Awesome.

Yeah, it's funny that Joe puts out an episode every day. I don't know how he does it, but I can't keep up. So I probably only listen to one episode a week, maybe. So I guess it was cool that I got to listen to.

Jason, tell us a little bit about yourself. I'd love to hear your story.

Jason:

Yeah, for sure.

So I mean, I've been in the Navy now for going on 19 years next month. So it's been quite a journey started all the way at the bottom as an E three, and then kind of promoted through the ranks. And after years of flying and teaching ROTC at a big time university, I also got the fortune to go to medical school and become a family and sports medicine physician. And the journey continues now in Newport, Rhode Island, where we train two thirds of all the officers that go into the US Navy, or get commissioned there.

And so just arrived recently, an exciting new place, but really, my passion has been about trying to help people design the life that they want. And whether I do that through medicine, helping people get through their debilitation with illness or preventative care, or I do it through personal executive coaching, helping people with their finances, thinking about ways to invest in different things, but also just how to stay healthy and live the best life ever.

And so I think coming on your show today was exciting, because it kind of mirrors up with what my life has been all about and really trying to extend that extra hand to help as many people as possible.

David:

That's awesome.

Yeah, no, that's, that's super cool. So you fly in airplanes for a while we were talking earlier. I was I couldn't I couldn't wrap my head around why you would stop flying F18’s. But that's also because I've never been allowed to do that. It just seems cool. So you get into the medical field. And you've been helping people here for years. What was the tipping point for you deciding that you want to write a book?

Jason:

Yeah.

So you know, I get that question asked a lot now, because a lot of people are like, Oh, I want to write a book now. And it's awesome that that inspires someone to want to do that. But I also think that sometimes you gotta sit back and think well, number one, what do you want to talk about? What's your story, then that you can actually give you give people something that they'll believe in, or want to follow? And also, what was the work you put in because I think there's a great quote that, you know, everyone wants to be where you are, but not everybody wants to do the work that you did to get where you are. And, it was a challenge. I mean, I don't know if I was the right guy to ever be said, you're gonna write a book one day, I just had this passion, I was living in my car in high school. And I know I've mentioned that on a lot of podcasts now, but it kind of builds the story. And I started journaling. And this was back at 16 years old and lived in my truck for about 10 months during my junior senior year. And every night I would, I would spend time writing in my journal coming up with ideas of how I wanted to live my life, how I could make it better from where I was where my family had come from. And then I started making these notes, this idea about the process and that life is a systematic thing that happens. But if you're not engaged in it, it'll just happen to you. And you don't want life to happen to you. You want to make decisions that you're causing life to happen.

And so years and years went by I started meeting people networking, if that's what you want to call it, but I always call it just building relationships. And through that time, I came up with these different ideas about how different people live their life, and how everyone was successful in their own unique way. And so when I came up with the idea about my first book, I wanted it to be something that people could pick up, beat through, get some fun laughs out of, maybe hear pieces of my story, but really hear pieces of other people's stories that maybe they could relate to. And I turned my book into something that was really more about the reader than about me. And then I'm also using every day average Joe stories, but also celebrities that I've been fortunate to get to know professional athletes that I've worked with, put all those stories together in a book that I think can really help people as a guide, not just something they read once, but something you can read, answer some questions and kind of go back to as you try to design the life that you want.

David:

Yeah, and I think you hit on a kind of a cool statistic that I mean, the statistics are staggering for the number of people who say they want to write a book, the number of people who have written a book and never published and then the number of people who actually published a book, and I'm not going to try to cite them, but I know it's like one in five or something like that.

Jason:

Yeah.

David:

It's funny, because, you know, I hear people talk about it all the time and I always kind of think, well, do you want to write a book? Or do you want to have written a book? Like, do you want just the piece? The say that you wrote a book? Because if that's the case, I mean, you're never going to get around to it. But it's definitely not an easy process. I've got, you know, like, I think 15,000 words or something written and it is slow, okay, maybe I need to read or whatever. It'll happen eventually. But..

Jason:

Yeah, no, I like how you say that. And I think part of it is you really have to decide the route you want to go. For me it really came down. I told the publisher when I got picked up and the company I went with, I mean, they don't take very many manuscripts they get. I think they advertise around 5%. And so I felt really honored that I got picked up. But I also had to make a big investment. I mean, it's not like a first time author. They're not just paying for you to write the book, like these big name bestsellers.

10:00 - 15:00

Jason:

And so, for me, it was you know, digging in spending money that I had saved and whether that was through real estate investments, whatever I had done that I, my wife and I talked and said, You know what, you haven't spent money on yourself your whole life, if this is a story that you need to spread, that's going to help change people's lives. And the emails, text messages, phone calls that I've gotten comments on my blog website, it's already doing things that I never expected. And like I told the publisher, if I only sell one copy, but it's a legacy that I leave for my kids, and all the people that I've mentored people that have mentored me, then that's fine. The money that I invested, if I lose it, never gets it back. That's okay. And, and almost everything that I'm making off, the book is going back into different charities. So, I feel like I'm doing it for the right reason. And I think when you chase that, and your purpose is built around doing the right things, you're gonna get where you need to go.

David:

I agree, I think the legacy piece is huge. You know, I met someone the other day, we were talking before this about how I have a, this is actually a book that I haven't even started, but I have a journal and a Mission Log for deployment, I thought about putting it all together, if nothing else, for my kids, and I met someone, you know, I've met this guy think I've talked to him two or three times. And we were talking and he mentioned at one point that he wrote a book like a decade ago, and nobody's ever seen it, nobody ever will see it. The whole point of it was, you know, a legacy for his children, his family, whatever. So they would know what he went through when he was deployed. And it was really funny, because he's sitting there with his significant other, and she had no idea that he's written this thing.

I don't talk to anyone about it. But uh, but the whole point of just being able to hand something to his family is a legacy, which is funny, because I'm going to draw up like the book EB sledges book.

Jason:

I'm having a hard time. I know that author's name, too.
David:

Yeah, it's gonna get mad at myself later. That's like, my favorite comment is reading this book. But it's a great book through World War II. And the book was written as something to just explain what he went through for his family. And then his family published it. And the book is, I mean, because of that, it's super gory, and super detailed and super intense. But it's probably one of my favorite books off the, you know, about War history.

So I think that's really a cool concept that you were like, even if I don't make any money off this, it's something that I can leave for my family. And I think a lot of people kind of feel like that. That's a big internal motivation for people.

Jason:

Yeah, I mean, that's the thing is like, I have got countless journals in a box. And you know, I, when my daughters were born, I have two little girls, I, I started a journal for each of them the day they were born, where I ride in it, and minimum once a month, one of them's nine years old now. And one seven, and I've written in the journal at least once, sometimes twice a month about things that have happened, things I've seen them grow with adventures we've been on as a family. And I look at that as part of that legacy piece. And I think in 2019 legacies, not what we used to think it might have been, because now with social media, Facebook, Instagram, everything so instant, that people are putting their legacy there and not really spending that time devoted to things that you're going to pass down.

And so for me, that's what it was. And it's kind of neat, because now my girls like, Oh Dad, yeah, we're gonna start reading your book. And I'm like, you guys are nine and seven, you don't need to start reading. So they read like one page out of it. And it's kind of funny, but it is creating something that you want to give on to those that kind of come after you. And it's not about you, it's about them, and inspiring them to continue whatever it is they want to build their lives to be.

David:

You mean Facebook isn't a legacy 20 years back, selfies.

Alright, so you know, we didn't even talk about what the book is. So if we can talk about that for a second, I know the description I've got is discover your purpose and design a life that's fully yours is called an Exceptional Every Day, which I think is a pretty cool title, especially because I mean, just there's just the title speaks to me a little bit as I try to figure out like, man, how do I make all of this crazy work in life? So I'd love to hear a little snippet about your book, and then we'll move on and talk about some other stuff.

Jason:

Yeah, ofcourse, so I think the biggest part, especially with that title, exceptional every day is some people at first are kind of taken aback. I've gotten some will you say negative? Or maybe other type comments were exceptional every day, how can you be that night, when I do that, I don't mean you're being perfect every day, part of being exceptional is that you find a way to get better.

And then if you're getting better at something, one out of 10 things in your life daily, whether it's you know, you're getting stronger, because you're outside exercising more, you're eating a little bit better. You're watching your tone or your voice when you react to someone or you're taking a step back, when you get an email that you're not so happy about, you're getting better at something. And when you get better at one little thing. It's like compounding interest in the bank or when you're buying real estate and you're starting to get this residual income that comes in because you know, you're not having to do anything. You take care of it. You have a renter, you've got someone who's investing in you now. But it's that compounding effect that if we do little things, little things after a long time can turn out to be something grand.

15:00 - 20:00

Jason:

And so when I came up with the idea for the book, it was like how do I get people to buy into this and so my way was, if I can get people to invest in what they're purchasing is and you can change your purpose. I talk about this all the time, especially with my coaching clients, hey, you don't have to pick one purpose now at the age of 25. And that's got to be the purpose that you're driving the rest of your life, you can redefine it, something new might come in your life, a new relationship, a new job, a new career, and you have to redefine who you are constantly. That's what personal growth is all about. You don't just read a book today, and do nothing about it six months from now, it's that continual thing and we talk about big time successful people, CEOs, on an average, I've had different statistics, but anywhere from 25 to 50 books a year, you know, that's something that you've got to invest in, whether it's audio books, or podcasts. And so there's a continual need to grow 15-20 minutes a day is really all it takes something.

And so that's really what I wanted to drive in the book. And I go through these different chapters, where I give people what I think are like the most important priorities in our life, starting with chapter one, it's all about you. And it's not a conceited narcissistic way to think about you, it's that if you don't take care of yourself, you can't take care of anyone else. And like when I was on Joe show for real estate, you know, he asked me, we did the Sunday special, where you're talking about little things, and we talked about morning rituals, and you get up, you start your day, you get your body moving, you eat, right, you drink water. And really, if you start the day, that way, you're winning the day, you know, you're starting the day on the right foot, and now the rest of the day is gonna be so much better the way you react to people the way you interact with others.

And so I wanted the book to kind of encompass all that. And I talked about things from health and fitness to spirituality, to who sits at your table, like the people that you spend the most time with. And so I really wanted it to be about your priorities and how to reset those because we get so caught up in life, that we break our lives up into work, life and self instead of fusing them together. And so that's really what I call it and, you know, call what you will, there really is no such thing as work life self balance, it's really you have to fuse them together. It's like you said 4:30 in the morning, on a Saturday, most people are not willing to do this on a Saturday, get up and do a podcast interview. And I think that's why we remember days like this.

David:

It's funny, because I'll text them what, like some cuz I go to bed early, right? Because there's no way to function if I'm not going to bed, I said early. I mean, it's kind of moved to like 10 or 11 at night, which isn't really that early. You know, I'm probably getting five or six hours of sleep, but I'll text someone back because someone will text me at, you know, 10 or 11 at night, and I turn my phone sits nowhere near me after nine. I'm like, nope, nope. Try to grab a book and read or just maybe I'll watch some YouTube videos and stuff that I want to learn which I know TV is still not great, but better than the phone.

And so you know, and then I'll text someone back when I wake up and I get my phone. And inevitably, they're like, what are you doing awake? And like my alarm goes off at 3:55 every day. Like why? Like, you know what? If you're asking me this question in this way, it's not really worth explaining. But I get more done between four and six than I would in the evening.

Jason:

Exactly.

David:

So I think it's funny, even though you mentioned that 25 to 50 books a year. So I'm just gonna self plug myself there and say, Hey, I do that. And yesterday, for the first time ever, I was on a call with someone. And someone was like, so you're the CEO of the military to millionaire, right? And I was like, you know, I guess if I'm the only person involved I should probably so I have on my email signature, it says owner and I was like, I have a reminder on my phone today and go in and change everything and say CEO, because I was like, That's it..

Today, I'm gonna claim that I'm the CEO of business.

Jason:

There you go.

David:

And I read 25 books a year. So there we go.

Jason:

Yeah.

David:

Audible, most of them audible because I stack up physical copies of books.

Jason:

I know. It's crazy. I'm going through that now I got approached by a few people that said, you know, your book should really be turned into an audio book. So that's something now that you know, obviously, it's another investment, spending more money, but I did realize and it kind of slapped me in the face like, you know, I can touch a lot of people, a lot of people commute these days. The average commute in California is anywhere from 30 to 60 minutes alone, and you look around the world, there's places that commute longer than we do. And there's also people that you know, might have some impairment with reading dyslexia, they might there's blindness, there's so many people you can affect. So I'm actually working with a military group now on creating an audio book of this too. And we'll see if we can get that done here in the next five or six months. Like you said, it's trying to put all these pieces together, but also trying to spread the word and just help more people.

David:

That's cool.

Yeah. So I like the audio book just because well, like you said, it's filled some time on commute. But I also like that I can. I'm that weirdo who listens to it at chipmunk speed. I think I'm up to two and a quarter times.

Jason:

Yes.

David:

So I'm like drive to work. And I'm like, I can listen to a book and half the time I'm supposed to listen to it and probably four times what it takes me to read it.

David:

So it's glad you say that because people don't believe me. Like in my clinic. I talk to patients about stuff like that about speed reading and just like how to learn more. And there's a lot of research out there that if you do increase the speed on things like 1.5 speed up to like two or even more like you said, you actually can retain almost more of it. Your mind is wired to do that. So it's, it's pretty phenomenal.

20:00 - 25:00

David:

I took a class on speed reading because I've always been crummy, like physical. I think it's, I think it's a rebellious thing. When I was in high school, I was homeschooled, and my mom was like, you're gonna read this book. And I was like, This book is stupid. For most of the books that I was told to read in high school, I thought were just a waste of time, there's nothing out of them. And so I just, you know, I always hate reading. So it's like, it's been hard for me to adapt to reading faster. So one of the things I did last year was actually took a paid someone like 100 bucks to take a class on how to physically read faster.

And it's been huge. I mean, I probably up to four or 500 words a minute reading, which is, and I retained just as much as I did, when I was reading you out to 300 words a minute, I could probably hit six or 700, if I was really trying to push it. But I mean, I can cut a book down and by a third, which is just awesome.

So anyway, all that to say, as you pointed out, you know, improving a little bit every day is huge. It compounds very fast. So I'm looking over here, and I saw you do some keynotes and some seminars and some town halls and stuff. And I know we were talking about you speaking all over the place, I'd be curious, as someone who eventually we'd like to get into speaking, if you have any, any tips or pointers on that before we start digging into whatever, I don't know where we're gonna go with this for the next little bit.

Jason:

Yeah, for sure.

Well, I think, you know, I think you've already, you're already steps ahead. So I mean, one of the things is to go out to all your listeners too. Look at your platform already. So for like you, David, you know, being in the Marine Corps, you've had to be up in front of people before then you start your own little business, and you're doing things where you're putting yourself out there, you're getting involved with people myself, I was always shy growing up, and people asked me like, what could you change if you went back and talk to your 20 year old self?

Well, I went back and talked to my 10 year old self first, and then my 15 and then 20, you'd be having more confidence. I didn't have that. I was very shy. I think the only confident part was like when I was playing sports, I was varsity, like Captain of the varsity basketball team, and played soccer. And so sports kind of did it for me. And then, but throughout high school was very quiet, got good grades and worked my butt off.

But then I look back and I go, man, if I would have just had more confidence back then and not worried about what people thought, like, what I looked like, in the mirror, how my voice sounded, I was very self critical. I still hate my voice to this day. And now people are like, Oh, you should really do an audio book with your voice, you should be the one reading it. And so I'm getting used to that even though I still am not, you know, not so keen on it. But uh, it's one of those things where you just have to take that step and then start practicing. I've had friends who have gotten into the whole Toastmasters thing, they go to rotary visits, and they start talking with people. And I think for me, it was just, you know, being in the military was a great platform for having to speak in front of people. And that started off in small groups, three or four people here and there. And then I went into doing these coaching certifications, I joined the john Maxwell team, which is a big platform, John Maxwell does a lot of leadership books. And that kind of got me to the next level, and then just found ways to start working one on one. And I assumed that if I could talk with someone one on one, if you had four or five more people in that room, 10 more people in that room, it's really no different. That if you make it a relationship, and you start to see those people as just one of you and you're a part of them, it gets easier.

And so I started trying to find ways that would be a value and things that I learned along the way, were like, you don't want to go speak somewhere for one or two hours at a time, people need to hear your message. And that could be 20 minutes, it could be 30 minutes, and just trying to find different ways, looking at groups where you can just go be present. And so I would find myself just going to like a Rotary Club, say when I was stationed at Camp Pendleton Rotary Club in Oceanside. And I just go to one of their meetings, I'd see if they'd let me come to like one of their one hour lunch talks, just listen to other people speak on different topics. And I think that's what really pushed the envelope and then getting the book written and working with different groups.

And so I think it's just a process. There's a lot more I want to do in the years to come. And I think if you can find out some things that you like, and some people start with just making little three, four minute videos in their room, on their own on things they want to talk about. I've got a list of ones I want to make. And now life is just getting in the way right now. And so it's like, okay, is this the priority today? Or is this tomorrow? So, great, you want to do it.

David:

Well, if it makes you feel any better, everybody hates their voice.

Jason:

Yeah!

David:

Once the podcast is published. I don't think I've ever listened to what I say. Like yeah, it's out there the world is but just and you know, it's funny. So every now and then I'll turn on my YouTube channel at home on the TV. And I'll let it play through the day because you want to you know it just extra watch time on YouTube if it's actually like videos getting played all the way through supposed to help the channel every now and then I'll do it just to see if it makes a difference. And I always mute it after like two minutes of just shaving. I'm like mute. I don't want to hear myself talk. So it's definitely that way for everybody.

25:00 - 30:00

David:

Yeah, like the Rotary Club thing. I need to look into some launch and stuff and see if there's any of that around. So I'm looking at there's a couple Toastmasters clubs around here that look like they might be worth, check it out. You know, they're all like on the same evening of the week. So I have to do something like..

Jason:

Yeah and was something for you just thinking about where you are, and maybe other people in your in all across the US. But there's something called Startup Grind. And I got introduced to them when I was out in Carlsbad just a couple months ago, but definitely look up Startup Grind, and they've got them all across the US all across the world now. But people that are budding entrepreneurs with all different types of businesses that they're looking at, you go in these small groups, 20-30 people, and it's pretty neat, though, and it's like a conversation. And I think that's what's really cool. I'm, I'm going out to San Francisco here next year to speak at the Commonwealth Club. And I got invited to that, and they do more of an interview style. So you're not just up at a lecture podium, it's you sitting in a chair with someone else like what we're doing today, but in front of 300 people that are trying to make a difference in the world. And I think that's the kind of stuff that's really awesome. They're like these fireside chats. And so that was cool.

David:

Yeah, I love that idea. We tried to get on a panel for there's this conference I go to called fin con. It's a financial convention. I love it. And we submitted to a panel about real estate. But I don't think we've quite cracked the nut. If you're listening to this, and you're from fin con, we know you're not real estate investor friendly, no. They focused on building blogs and building YouTube channels and marketing sides, we've been trying to crack the nut for getting some real estate investors up on stage. And we need to find, maybe we just need to talk about these real estate investors' built blogs. But yeah, we'll find that niche. But I've liked the idea of having a moderator and asking some questions and answering the questions, I think that's a really laid back way to do it. And I got to hear, I'm going to draw a blank on his name, but the CEO of Sam Adams gave a fireside chat like that at a conference I was at a year ago. And it was I mean, it was hilarious.

For one, the guy is everything you would expect of a billionaire beer guy, no filter fits right in with all the military guys in the crowd. But there's just a really cool way to do it. Because it's super laid back and authentic.

Jason:

I think that I mean, that word right there, you know, use the word authentic just now that always brings a big bell with me, I think that's everything in life. And that, you know, especially when you're on your journey, whether you're thinking about how we talk about my book, exceptional everyday, but being your authentic self, and figuring out who you are not trying to mask it with something because of what someone posts on social media that you've got to fit in with someone else. And I think that that's gonna get us along this path. And whether it has to do with our investing style has to do with you know who we are as people, if you can truly try to look at yourself in that Daily Mirror and think about how do I be my authentic self? Who is it that I want to be? Who is it that I am? And just be you. And I think that's the struggle we all go through? We are not perfect, and it's, it's a daily battle.

David:

I agree.

So I'm gonna transition just a little bit, because I know you own some real estate. And although I'm slowly branching out from just real estate people on this, I would like to ask you a little bit about like, how'd you get started in real estate investing and why real estate? And then and then we'll kind of wrap things up.

Jason:

Yeah, of course, I think for us, my wife and I, it was, you know, years ago, just looking at this thing I'd heard in the military, that every duty station you go to you should try to buy something well, I definitely was behind the power curve on that. I think going through flight school, and then deploying and then going to teach at a university and I ended up living in some really expensive areas like San Francisco where, you know, buying real estate was not something that was really going to happen. I ended up being able to, you know, help out with some family stuff. And cheap in Arizona, got my mom into something and was able to do that. And then was in Florida for a while, picked up something very cheap there. And then the Hurricanes came and blew stuff away.

So it's this process. And then thinking about we got to California, and at first we lived on a military base, because we're like, wow, it's really expensive out here too. And it wasn't, you know, the bubble had already burst and people were losing money and the way loans are getting put out.

So in the Camp Pendleton area, we finally were able to get something small. But for us it was adequate, like for my wife and I and two kids were like, We don't need to be extravagant. And I think if I had to give a piece of advice first is whether you're going to live in it or not. So for us, it was a home to live in, like one of the homes that we bought, and we didn't need it to be 5000 square feet, we didn't need to be 2000 square feet, we needed to be us so that our family could feel like a family there.

We didn't want something we had to spend a lot of time working on. And so that was one piece of us thinking about our investment that like, hey, if we put in if we put money down on this house, and we lose a ton of money next year, then what just happened? And so we also looked at it as that way, but how much do we want to put down? Are we going to be able to have a renter if the military moves us? So thinking about those things, we did a lot of studying and VA loans and also other types of loans that are out there and 15 year versus 30 year and trying to figure out what's the right piece. And so, for instance, I don't know if every time you move, it's ideal just to buy something maybe like we talk and we say Hey, now that we're in this location, maybe we should look at buying something over here as more of a real estate investment.

30:00 - 35:00

Jason:

So I just spent a year in Waco, Texas, I didn't buy anything there because I was only there for a year. But it was very tempting. And I think it would have been smart in a lot of ways. Maybe I kicked myself a little bit, but where I was at Baylor University, if you've heard a fixer upper and chip and Joanna Gaines, I mean, they're all over the place. That's their part of the program that I was a part of there. And so they've done so much to rebuild a town and you could buy homes there for like $100,000. And these are the same homes with five 600,000 in California.

So it's trying to decide and not overextending yourself but realizing, Hey, is this right appropriate thing for me, should I buy into a duplex? Should I get a single family home, a condominium and, and really not trying to overdo it. So I work with a lot of professional athletes. And real estate is a big topic that we go through when I'm doing my executive coaching with them. And part of it is yeah, they're making millions, they're making way more than you and I make.

But sometimes they overextend themselves, because they're buying five cars, they're buying five houses, they're traveling to France on their day off for just a massage. I mean, it's pretty hilarious. The stuff that I talk to these NFL players about, I'm like, wow, you have four days off from work, and you're just gonna fly to France for a day to get a massage that's really interesting. Or they're going on a yacht. And I'm just like, This is crazy. And some of the same, like, let's go to my sports medicine realm for a minute, some of the therapies that we do in the US when people hurt their knees, or ankles, all these things, we do the same things here in the United States. But they've heard that it's better in Germany, or they heard that it's better in France, or England. And so they're making these trips. And so the money goes quick, even if you're making $50 million, it's disappearing. And so one of my good friends who's done very well in the NFL, for instance, he has one car, one house, one girlfriend, and he just puts the rest of the money he invested. And he's been doing that for 10 years and has been in the league. And that's why he's got hundreds of millions of dollars now.

And so, you know, I think that's it, and people overextend themselves, you're gonna see it, where you are now at Camp Pendleton, that everybody wants to buy a house in California. And so you can spend these huge prices on these homes, because you're not really letting things settle. And so, you know, I'm the first one to admit making some mistakes here and there and trying to learn from it. And that's kind of what the plan is. But I think real estate still, if you look at what's out there, you look at putting your money in a savings account, which I messed up for years. And I did that because I was super conservative. And in different ways with Roth, IRAs, tsp. Real estate is still one of those things where you're owning a piece of something that hey, you can live in. And when it's paid off, you pay your taxes, you have something because you've got to live somewhere. And so there's, there's different approaches. But, I do think there's a lot of ways to do this. And I mean, I'm so I'm excited to be here today with you, because this is what you do. And you know, you keep researching it and getting better at it. And that's how you're helping people.

David:

A little niche.

I like that you mentioned for one, I think you're spot on with the athletes. And they're, I mean, it's the same thing as when they talk about someone wins the lottery and like 80, something like 80% of them go back to where they are, just because you make millions and hundreds of millions of dollars doesn't mean that you understand finances, and like you said with the athletes, I can't imagine flying to France for a massage. But I guess, hey, it's exactly that if you have the money, why not? But then it becomes, well, now I don't have the income anymore. And I have these crazy spending habits. So that's, you know, it takes work.

But I like that you mentioned that you don't know if buying a house at every duty station is the right answer, because I talk about that all the time. Because I think that's the worst advice a servicemember could hear.

I think buying a house or buying an investment at every duty station could be sound advice, but the problem is understanding when it's not an investment. Because you know, that advice is great for someone who got in the military in 2011. And has bought a house every year since then.

Jason:

Yes!

David:

It's not great for someone who joined in 2000 and bought in. O4,O5, O6.

Jason:

Yes.

David:

And then lost everything. So, you know, it just, it's all about the numbers.

Jason:

Yeah.

And I think the other part of it is you've got to really decide, are you someone that wants to be a landlord? Do you want to have tenants in your house? Because you never I've heard some stories that are just crazy.

I think in the military, when we rent to other military one advantages, we know they're in the military, number one, and that we know that you know, they're getting paid every month, and that if they do default on paying you they can get into some serious trouble with their command. So there's always that protective factor, but that doesn't work for everyone. And the other thing that I try to talk to people about when I'm giving them some real estate advice is how much are utilities and everything else you're paying for.

So I'll give you an example. us coming out to Rhode Island. We probably looked at 110 different homes, condos on from a realtor that we'd reached out to and just nothing was fitting for us. We're like Wow, that's really expensive for 1000 square feet. But then the part that they weren't saying was the utilities out here because winter is four to $500 a month for oil heating, and like so for 500 plus your taxes plus your insurance plus your mortgage. Now you're way over the allotment that you're giving yourself. And, you know, I am from the school of thought, and you might have a little bit different, but probably closest, how much of your income are you spending on your monthly, like on your what you're living in, you know, there's all kinds, but that whole 20 to 30%, which is kind of a good range.

35:00 - 40:00

Jason:

It's still pretty accurate if you look at are you overextending yourself? And then you've got to add in Do you have a car payment? Do you have other things, what kind of lifestyle and so it may not be the perfect time to buy and sometimes renting is smart. I mean, I think that where we are now we're in a good spot, our rent is well below what I get for my housing allotment plus, we're not paying for utilities, we're doing things and so we're, we're able to put that money away and maybe pay off our other real estate, which is, you know, another way or, like you probably preach to is if you get someone else to pay off that real estate for you. That's what investing is all about. And I mean, that's how you get ahead.

So yeah, I love that you also believe in not just telling people just buy something every time you go somewhere. So.

David:

Like, as we talked about, before we started recording I'm renting right now, I'm not gonna be here for that many years and the mortgage is pretty high. So I figured the odds of me making enough money to compensate for realtor commission when I sell. And I don't really know that I want to be a long term landlord in San Diego, I've got enough real estate. So I'm just getting out there. The landlord laws in California, if I plan on staying here, sure. But if you know, I don't. So.

Jason:

Yeah.

David:

Awesome. Well, I got a couple questions that I like to run.

Jason:

Yeah, please.

David:

And then we'll kind of wrap this up.

So one of the first ones that I asked and I usually ask this somewhat real estate specific, but I think I'll just ask it in general is, if young, E one, E two 18-19 year old walked up to you asking you for life advice, and you had just a few minutes to give it to, what do you think would be your your one little your little elevator pitch for what they should do to benefit themselves?

Jason:

That is a great question. Because yesterday I had 11 people that were 18-19 that came into my office because I covered the Naval Academy prep school now in Newport, Rhode Island and an officer and an Officer Candidate School. So they're 21-22, then I've got a bunch of corpsmen that are 18-19. And they actually asked me those exact questions.

David:

Awesome.

Jason:

So I think part of it, you know, I think what's great is to start thinking about the things that mean the most to you. And, and I like to drive this home, especially with military people, because a lot of times our purpose is handed to us when we join the Marine Corps and join the Navy, the Air Force, the army, whatever Coast Guard, we're told what we're going to do.

And so in that we get lost, and we don't look at what our own purposes, we forget that because we're like, Hey, I'm a machinist mate, I got to do this everyday or I'm a corpsman, I got to do this in the hospital, or I'm an aviation mechanic, this is what I do. And we lose sight of the things that we also want to do outside of work. And so first thing is start thinking about the things that mean a lot to you.

If you're really into health and wellness, start thinking about ways to build yourself around becoming an expert in something. And it could be, you know, build your niche, you use that word earlier. And that's kind of how I look at my niche is that there aren't a lot of Family Medicine, sports medicine physicians, who also flew airplanes in the Navy, who also are really into health and wellness and work with professional athletes.

And so I'm trying to build my own niche. And so I that's something I believe in, and I want people to be inspired by that I don't like. I think one thing is I love seeing people develop themselves. And so I do tell all of them right away, find a way to get yourself on a study plan for personal growth, come up with your own personal goal sheet for the year, I like to have short term and long term goals. And actually, I give a lot of them this Microsoft Word document that I made, it's like planning out your year.

And so it's kind of like your year plan and how you're going to read two or three books in a month, how you're going to listen to podcasts, watch YouTube videos, and always be eager to learn something 15-20 minutes a day is easy. Like you said earlier, I get up around four o'clock as well. And those first two hours, I'm at least getting 20-30 minutes of reading and journaling in the morning. Because I know that if the day gets really crazy, I mean I get to do that. And I kick myself every time if I put off journaling till lunchtime or later because now it's like, oh wow, 20 other things came up.

So I think planning your day, really thinking about what you want to get out of it. And then also, I always tell people you start to build these rituals that if you start to build these habits in your life the way you get up in the morning you start your day off on the right foot you get your exercise in or you do your exercise at night but try to be consistent and and be and have the courage to actually be disciplined be uncomfortable. I think that's my number one thing that I tell people is when you're uncomfortable, that's when you know you're doing the right thing if you're just comfortable all the time and things are easy. Then you really grow because growth hurts. Think about a child like my nine year old right now tells me at night Oh my knees are hurting dad my bones. She's going through a growth spurt. It's that pre pre puberty stage where her body is growing and so we should also be hurting sometimes we're like, wow, there's three books I want want to read and I'm not getting through it fast enough for, I want to go do this and this, I'm going to exercise and now my muscles hurt, like you got to push yourself to be uncomfortable.

40:00 - 45:00

Jason:

And so I think that's what I would give out today. I mean, there's so many amazing things we could say and advice wise, but find things that you really enjoy, start working towards those goals, be uncomfortable, and have a vision for what you want your future to look like. It's really designed for the life that you want.

David:

That's huge.

Yeah, it's funny, you know, we don't we definitely don't need to go down this rabbit hole that I'm about to open up. But I think you know, the military this 22 a day problem. And I think there's probably..

Jason:

Oh, yeah.

David:

There's a lot of theories for what this is. And I think part of it, I think part of it's just the publicity, right? You think of the book, the tipping point.

But I think another thing is just purpose. So one of the reasons that I started this was because I knew talking to people who've gotten out of the military. When I get out of the military, one of my one of the biggest struggles people go through, and as far as depression, a lot of things that go from having this huge sense of purpose to Well, now what? And so I was like, Okay, well, I got to figure something out and start working on that. And that's kind of what the platform has started from is me trying to build a purpose for myself when I go to the military.

So I totally agree with you to say I'm like, hey, think about what you enjoy, what you're passionate about, and then learn something about it.

Jason:

Well, this isn't this isn't necessarily a plug for a prior podcast, and I was on but you might even know about them, or, you know, you could probably be a guest. And I think it'd be awesome, I think they'd love to have you but I did a podcast with mentors for the military. And one of our talks was on this whole purpose idea, you have this sense of purpose, then you leave. And now you struggle. And that's why a lot of veterans go through addiction, substance abuse, because now they don't know how to they don't have a purpose anymore. And that's what they're struggling with. And that's a big reason why I wanted to become a physician in the military, so I could help those people and work with the Veterans Administration and, and help people that are getting out transitioning, also figure that out. And not just battle with PTSD is something they have to live with their whole life, but something we could work on. And so I but mentors for the military does a great job. They've done some amazing work. I know that the podcasts I did with them, I think we got 1000s of downloads within the first day. And they do this fireside chat type of way, like what we're doing today, just having this conversation and, and they're doing some good work. You're doing it. we're plugging this out there. And it's like I said, it's not for military people, it's for anybody. But it's awesome. If we can help those in the military that are still struggling or trying to find their purpose in life.

David:

Absolutely, I agree. Gallop, check them out and read maybe reach out to him. That sounds like a good group. I like the name. So that sounds like a good group of guys. Definitely.

So I always ask what is one book, resource, or course that you would recommend for anyone either getting started in business or real estate or entrepreneurship? I would imagine that I can think of a good book that you might recommend, but is so aside from exceptional every day, is there a book or force that you kind of? I know, that's...

Jason:

Yeah, there are so many, you know, it's and that's what's great is like, you know, trying to bridge it that there's so many out there that are good for so many different things. And I like to start people with kind of a personal growth and development.

So I think if you think of that first, then you can branch into anything, whether it's real estate, your personal work, but Napoleon Hill is one of my favorite authors. And he has written some amazing books, I've read so many of them. But there's so many that aren't even written yet they have his old manuscripts that people are trying to put together. But Think and Grow Rich is probably one of the best books ever written. And it's when I first saw it, I was like, I don't want to read that. That just means that you're just trying to make a lot of money. And I don't want people to think I'm that type of person. Because I'm not, I want to think I want to grow rich in my life. And so when I read Think and Grow Rich, I'm like, Wow, it really is about developing you as a person. And then I read his huge volume called the law of success. And that is like my favorite. But that's a hard one for everybody. It's hundreds of pages. But it's amazing to think that 120 years ago, he had these ideas when he was interviewing people like Andrew Carnegie, JD Rockefeller, Teddy Roosevelt, and that he put all these things together.

And I think those are great ways. I think that Dale Carnegie's book, How to Win Friends and Influence People is such an awesome way. It's just it gets you to understand yourself better and how to interact with people. And then if we look at a more modern book, things now like Kiyosaki’s book, Rich Dad, Poor Dad and investing and I mean, I know these are books that everybody's probably heard of and done, but I've got so many because I love to read like you. I mean, I'm plugging through tons of books a month, and I actually go back and read some of them at least once a year to get those ideas back in my mind.

You know, and so Victor Frankel's Man's Search for Meaning is a great way if you're trying to figure out your purpose, and how you really can get through anything that the one thing that people can't take away from you is your attitude, and how you react to things. If you use those kinds of things in real estate, I mean, I think you can go a long way because you're not going to let the influence of a realtor or someone who's trying to sell you on something really get to you. You're going to know your stuff, and you're gonna stand by and be like, okay, I can do this. And so those are just a few.

45:00 - 49:37

Jason:

There's new books coming out all the time, which is, it's so powerful. But yeah, and then you've got my book. But like we said, I mean, I'm, I think what's great and people laugh because they're like, Man, you got to market your book better. I'm here to just help people change lives. I like directing people to my website, because it's not about selling my book. It's about my free blog that I write once a week. And that's that JasonValadao.com.

I know you've been there, David, because that's how we first connected. But I do a weekly blog, and then a monthly newsletter now, and I'm in the process of always adapting that. But I've got over 100, free PDFs on there on health and wellness, physical therapy, exercise and stuff I want people to download. There's also free things that go with the book.

So you can get links to the book from there, whether it's Amazon, Barnes and Noble, 800, CEO read, which is another awesome place to get books, especially if you're going to get in bulk. But I just want people to go there, get the free resources. I really don't care if you get the book or not. That's why I'm doing this. And I feel great saying that. I know, it's not a great marketing technique, but I really don't care. And it shows because I have people reaching out all the time going, Hey, I think I'm going to get your book now. And whether they do or not, it's okay. I'm just trying to change lives a little bit. Because if anything I know talking about the book with you today on your podcast, it at least gets people thinking about the idea that I've got to reestablish my purpose, I got to think about my why and why I'm here living on this earth.

And if I had to give some parting shots, I mean, one of them that I tell my kids every day, and they laugh, like Dad, are you gonna keep talking about this, and I tell them to be accountable, and that they should always give more to society than they take out. And I think that's what I'm trying to do. That's what you're trying to do. We're doing this, like you said, 4:30 in the morning trying to make a difference. So.

David:

I like that always give more to society. That's cool.

So yeah, the one book you mentioned in there that I haven't read is Man's Search for Meaning.

Jason:

It's quick, you'll read in like a day. So it's awesome.

David:

Awesome. I'll check that out.

Yeah, so I love Napoleon Hill. Have you read his? I'm sure you have. But his book that you talked about his manuscripts read and published later, but the one about like, the devil or whatever?

Jason:

Yes, yes.

David:

Interesting read.

It’s kind of creepy in his own way. But it's a book.

But it's, for those of you who don't know, this book was essentially like, he wrote it, and his family begged him not to publish this thing. And so it was like, not published until the rest of his family died off. And finally, someone was like, I'm gonna let the world see this. And it's, it's basically written like, he's talking to the devil. And it's very, very strange, but it's cool.

Anyway. Oh, man.

Well, so you mentioned your website, is there anywhere else that you would recommend people go if they want to reach out? Or is that the best way to get a hold of you?

Jason:

Yeah, I think it's great. I mean, they can go to Instagram, which is just Jason Valadao, or at Jason Valadao. A lot of people have been reaching out to me through there. I like to push the podcasts on there. And there's also and I think those are the two best ways I've got a LinkedIn account. If people are on LinkedIn, they can find me just with my name.

I do my posts on there as well, Twitter, just trying to grow this. I'm not the best technology wise, but we're starting to build it up. And so but the websites are a great stop, they can comment, they can reach out to me there and I do return all the messages I get, you know, so I definitely want to, you know, help as many people out there as we can.

David:

Awesome.

Well, Jason, I really appreciate you joining me today. This has been a lot, a lot of fun. Anything you want to add before we wrap this up and sign off?

Jason:

No, man, I just I you know, just telling people to go out there attack life, don't sit back and let life happen to you, but really try to make life happen. And so it's you know, it's a great way to continue. This 2019 is kind of wrapping up already. We only got a few months left.

David:

The end of a decade.

I see all those posts, and I've made one about like, what are you out the decade and I laugh and I posted it because it's an interesting thought. But realistically, like, Who cares if it's the end of the decade? It's just the end of another year? Just don't focus on the end of the cycle.

Awesome. Well, Jason, thank you so much for joining me. This has been an awesome show today.

Jason:

Yeah, man, so grateful to be here.

End:

Thank you for listening to another episode about my journey From military to millionaire. If you liked it, be sure to visit Frommilitarytomillionaire.com/podcast to subscribe to future podcasts. While you're there, we'd love for you to rate the show. Give us a review on iTunes. Now get out there and take action.