Todd Miller: Episode 542

Transcript

[0:00:36] DA: Todd Miller had a thriving career leading multi-million-dollar entertainment companies. By all metrics, he was successful yet he was miserable. He always had to be on the ball, on his toes, on call 24/7, and on the money. He wanted more than just a prestigious career though, he wanted control, financial independence, time, and fulfillment. He wanted an enriched life. In his new book, Enrich. Todd teaches life skills to create optionality even in the most uncertain situations. Through a practical, proven, six-step process, you’ll learn how to get financially fit fast, savor life’s deliciousness and achieve career satisfaction. Hey listeners, my name is Drew Applebaum and I’m excited to be here today with Todd Miller. Author of Enrich. Todd, I’m excited you’re here, welcome to the Author Hour Podcast.

[0:01:24] Todd Miller: Thanks so much, great to be here.

[0:01:25] DA: Todd, tell us a little bit about your professional background?

[0:01:29] Todd Miller: Sure. I am an entertainment executive. I’ve spent most of my time 18 years with a major Hollywood studio, and for the past eight years, I ran the largest, independent media broadcaster in Asia, and I retired about a year ago.

[0:01:49] DA: Congratulations.

[0:01:50] Todd Miller: Thank you.

[0:01:53] DA: So, who should read this book?

[0:01:54] Todd Miller: Any professional who is looking for financial security, time-wealth, and meaning.

[0:02:01] DA: I like that word, time-wealth. Tell us about what time wealth is?

[0:02:06] Todd Miller: Well, one of the realities of modern professional life is — we don’t find enough time in the day. There’s never enough time. And the thing about time is, it’s a perplexing commodity. It’s abundant and free, yet it’s scarce and is precious and it’s irreplaceable. And, for many professionals, including a good number of whom I interviewed as research for this book, control over time is the ultimate measure of success. And so, I very much believe that when you control your time, you control your life. When we think about life, really, there’s two currencies. There is money, and that gets all the attention, but time is also a currency and of the two currencies, it’s the more valuable. In fact, a study done by UCLA asked people to choose time or money. Can you guess how many chose time?

[0:03:10] DA: I’d say 70%.

[0:03:11] Todd Miller: 70%, it’s the other way around. Two thirds prioritized money over time. Yet, those who prioritized time over money, statistically — they’re more happy and are more satisfied with life. And that’s adjusted for gender, age, income and all kinds of other variables. And so, we have generally a promiscuous relationship with time. I mean, we spend on average, 142 minutes a day consumed by social media and that’s based on research by the Global Web Index. And so, when we think about time, maybe instead of a casual promiscuous relationship with this valuable currency. Maybe it’s time to commit to the time and that’s really one of the key themes of Enrich. And so in the book, I lay out a process to create time-wealth. But it’s really just having the time and spending that time in a purposeful way.

[0:04:16] DA: You’ve had a very long and successful career. What would you say is the key inspiration for the book and why now?

[0:04:24] Todd Miller: Sure. So, when I was starting out in my time at the Hollywood studio. I felt that I had won the lottery. It was my dream job and I loved that job and I was fast a rising star within the studio. And I had two incidents, very early in that career, that caused me to be deliberate with, to be obsessed about not being satisfied with just having a great career. I wanted a great life. As a result of those catalyst, I’ve been a student of beset practices for life success for 25 years. And through that, I’ve been researching, probing and I’ve been pushing all the conventional boundaries of this work-life equation. And so, this book distills all that research and all of these findings, into a six-step method that is actionable and that is replicable. But I want to emphasize, that this book is not my story. I’ve spent years conducting research, I’ve interviewed scores of professionals from around the world, all of whom, contribute meaningful perspective to this topic of life success and what makes a successful life. And so, one of the themes in this book is goals and goals achievement. I learned from multiple world record holders about how to achieve big goals. I mean, setting a world record, it’s like the ultimate expression in goal achievement. And so, they illuminate the process in the section on goals. And through this extensively researched book, I hope and believe that I provide a framework that is relevant and that is actionable by professionals who are looking for financial security. Who are looking for that time-wealth and who are looking for meaning in their lives and in their careers.

[0:06:53] DA: Is your research and experience that you put in the book, is this something that you wish you had earlier in your career and what changes do you think you would have made earlier had you read this book?

[0:07:06] Todd Miller: Well, I wish when I was starting out in my career, that someone had given me the formula. Because, I have spent a lot of time with painful lessons, often expensive lessons — trying to figure this out on my own and you know, I think back when I graduated Columbia Business School. And at that time, it struck me how many of my classmates, who are brilliant people, super smart, and now super successful — How they made very short term and it seemed to me, sometimes foolish career decisions, just based on money. And that’s what I started thinking. Can we be bought so easily? And then I had those experiences early in my career at the Hollywood studio, and so this whole subject about the relationship between money and life success and what is supposed to be the prescribed “default setting” or "career arc” for highly educated professionals — these are topics that I’ve dealt with, questioned throughout my time. And so, for me, it’s been an incredible learning process and the early part of that process really focused on life optimization. On wanting to have a great life and not just a great career. I figured that out, what I failed to recognize at an early age was the importance of accelerating financial security as quickly as possible. When I was quickly climbing the corporate ladder and when everything was going swimmingly well, financial security, it never even crossed my mind. And it was only years later — When I hated my job, when I was miserable, when I was trapped because I was addicted to a fat paycheque. That’s when I was handicapped by financial insecurity. And so, one of the things that differentiates Enrich, is that it very much, very directly addresses money matters because financial security for many professionals is the starting point. It’s not the end point but it’s the starting point. And so, one of the very strong principles that I advocate throughout this book is — that every professional should endeavor to accelerate financial security as quickly as possible. So let’s talk about financial security. Everyone wants it, but few people have it and even fewer are deliberate in trying to get it until they get to their 50s. And by then sometimes, its’ too late. Many people equate job security with financial security. Perhaps that was a valid equation 50 years ago but not now, certainly not in this climate, and pandemic aside, if you think about all the downward trends on white collar compensation, disruption, globalization. You know, it’s basing one’s financial security on job security is extremely dangerous. And so, I throughout the book, talk about why it’s important, even for people who have great jobs to prioritize financial security and then I talk about strategies, how you can accelerate and future-proof that financial security. There are both offensive as well as defensive reasons why that makes sense. But the book is not all about financial security. Other key aspects of the book deal with time as we’ve discussed and also deal with meaning. And let’s talk about meaning. Because you know, it’s everyone wants purpose, everyone wants meaning and thinking back when I was at – when I was graduating from business school and all my cohorts. How they thought about their careers. You know, two things struck me. One is that people were making very short term career decisions, sometimes even based on the size of the signing bonus, but the other thing that struck me is this fixation on what I call “The Number” and everyone has a number, and you know the idea is that you work toward that number and when you hit that number, then you can go and live the life that you’d prefer to live all along — and how crazy is that? But for many professionals, including myself back in the day, that is the default setting. That is what we are conditioned for. So one of the key themes of Enrich, is really trying to first recognize what is most important and then being intentional about focusing and delivering what’s most important and it is that intentionality that actually provides the means.

[0:13:02] DA: Now you talk about taking money out of the equation but you just mentioned a lot of people see money as success. So what are some questions that readers can ask themselves to find out if they are happy right now or they’re really happy? What are the tough questions that they could ask to be honest with themselves to take money out of their life equation?

[0:13:30] Todd Miller: Sure. I think first question is, if you could do anything in the world right now, what would you and would you be doing what you currently do? Those are two starting questions. And, for many professionals, a career, a job is just a means to an end. It is something that must be endured. It is a price to be paid for “conventional success,” or for financial success and that doesn’t have to be the case. There is another path to get to where people want to go and that path is the one that is truest to what we want as individuals.

[0:14:20] DA: Now that was a powerful question that you said people should ask themselves and let’s say it is Monday morning, a dreaded day that you talk about in the book, your Monday morning commute, and maybe right now you’re even just going from your couch to your desk and you’ve asked yourself this question. You have pondered it on a Sunday night, what is the first thing you’re doing Monday morning to really start kicking off this new plan using the Enrich method?

[0:14:48] Todd Miller: Sure. So I think the first action to take is to identify what’s most important and that involves creating what I call a hierarchy of priorities but it is segmenting what is non-negotiable in life with what is high priority and lower priority and low priority, and once you begin to truly segment the aspirations that we have, then it is about being honest with yourself — whether or not how you spend your days, because how you spend your days adds up to how you spend your life — Whether or not that is getting you to where you want to be, and if it is doing so in a timeframe and in a manner that is acceptable, and so, it is a lot of self-analysis but the starting point is to first identify what is most important and there are processes, there are techniques to do that, and once you understand and recognize what is most important then you can begin to devise ways to try to work toward those aspirations.

[0:16:17] DA: You mentioned you have been writing this book and planning this book for a long time and clearly 2020 has changed things. There is a lot going on right now. What is the biggest piece of advice you can give to folks during these times? And then the second question, how is the investment advice, the long term outlook and the financial security that everybody is looking for, how is that changed this year?

[0:16:44] Todd Miller: Yeah, I mean look, the pandemic changes everything. What we know has been turned upside down and it’s very easy to focus on what we have lost. We have lost our mobility. We have lost a former way of life. Many of us are working from home, some of us, no longer have jobs. Some of us have lost loved ones and so, we have lost a lot but think of also some of the ways in which we can learn from all of this. And this is an opportunity to reset and rethink the basics. And to begin to take all of this awfulness that has been in 2020 and to catalyze so that we can begin to say that life is too short to continue to go the way that we were going, and that this is time where we must commit to time and we must begin to really focus on what we most want out of life, no more games. So I think that this is great, actually, this is the kind of environment that causes people to ask the big questions, to ponder the big questions and to do something about it and what is your second question Drew?

[0:18:25] DA: How has your investment strategy or advice or what changes have been made to the financial security that everybody is looking for during the pandemic?

[0:18:35] Todd Miller: Sure, so there is a philosophical part of that question and there is a practical part of that question. The economic dislocation that has occurred in the first and part of the second quarter of this year very much emphasize why it’s so critical to create financial security because “shit happens.” And when that happens, one needs to be insulated and prepared and not have life adversely affected because of a lack of preparedness in financial turns. And so the pandemic underscores the necessity for financial security. In terms of the strategies and very much enriched advocates a cash flow strategy and that has been terrific advise for this year because when we think back when the markets were melting in late March and early April, many people including the legendary investor, Warren Buffett bailed on stocks and that’s quite a normal human reaction because emotionality takes over. But the thing about a market dislocation is — it’s a terrible time to have to sell assets. It is a great time to be able to buy assets. And so with the cash flow strategy, one there is cash flow to be able to buy assets but also by emphasizing cash flow instead of capital gains — that gives you a reason to hold on to a security such as a stock other than just focusing on the asset value at a particular moment in time. In other words, by having a cash flow strategy instead of just trying to buy and sell high and low it gives you holding power. So that you can ride through these market swings and markets go up and markets go down and it is just gravity and that’s just part of being invested. And so, the key thing is, for financial security is to be able to ride through that and to absorb it and very much in terms of the strategies that I have outlined in this book — that is very much been my experience, for this year.

[0:21:29] DA: Towards the end of the book, you talk about making life delicious, which I think is an excellent term. So tell us what a delicious life looks like.

[0:21:38] Todd Miller: Delicious life is one that is abundant in meaning, abundant in time and that is time for the things that matter and one that is under guarded by financial security.

[0:21:59] DA: Excellent. Well Todd, writing a book is no joke. I know it is a long process so congratulations on finishing.

[0:22:05] Todd Miller: Thank you.

[0:22:06] DA: Now if readers can takeaway one thing from the book, what would you want it to be?

[0:22:11] Todd Miller: So I think the importance of accelerating financial security even if you have a great job and a great career, so that would be the first message but the second message and this really is the core message of the book is that it is about time and when you control your time, you control your life and that is the essence of enrichment.

[0:22:38] DA: Well said. Todd, this has been such a pleasure. I am excited for people to check out the book. Everyone, the book is called, Enrich, and you could find it on Amazon. Todd, besides checking out the book, where can people find you?

[0:22:48] Todd Miller: I am on LinkedIn, I’m on Twitter and I have a personal finance website, enrich101.com.

[0:22:58] DA: Great. Todd, thank you so much for coming on the podcast today.

[0:23:00] Todd Miller: Thank you Drew.

[0:23:02] DA: Thanks for joining us for this episode of Author Hour. You can get Todd Miller’s new book, Enrich, on Amazon. Also, you can also find a transcript of this episode and all of our other episodes on our website at authorhour.co. For more Author Hour, subscribe to this podcast on your favorite subscription service. Thank you for joining us, we’ll see you next time. Same place, different author.