Ten years ago, I thought success was simple.
Make more money.
Produce more.
Collect more.
As a dentist, I believed that if I just worked harder, everything would eventually fall into place. Then I injured my hand skiing. And overnight, I learned a lesson I wish someone had taught me much earlier:
HOW you make your money matters just as much as how much you make.
In this article, I break down the six money truths that completely changed how I think about money, freedom, and life. If I had understood these earlier, I would be much further along today.
?? Watch the full video here, then let’s break it down together.
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Money Truth #1: Chasing Income Is Not the Answer
For years, the only way I made money was by working with my hands.
If I wasn’t at the dental chair, income stopped.
That’s true for a lot of high-income professionals:
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Dentists
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Physicians
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Surgeons
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Lawyers
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Business owners
You’re trading time for money. And when time stops, so does the paycheck.
That’s not freedom.
That’s a treadmill.
I later learned this concept clearly explained in The Cashflow Quadrant. On the left side are employees and the self-employed. Even if you own a practice, if income depends on you showing up every day, you’re still stuck on the same treadmill.
Income alone does not equal freedom.
How you earn matters.
Money Truth #2: Build Assets That Pay You
Wealthy people don’t just work harder for money.
They own assets that pay them, whether they’re working or not.
When all of your income comes from you, it’s fragile. If you get sick, burned out, or injured—like I did—everything stops.
That’s when I realized I needed something outside of my dental practice.
For me, that became real estate—specifically RV parks and mobile home parks. For you, it might be something else. The point is the same:
Assets create income without requiring your time.
And here’s a key shift most people miss:
Cash flow is not the same thing as net worth.
You can have a high net worth tied up in:
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Retirement accounts
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Mutual funds
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Your primary home
But if it doesn’t produce income, you’re still dependent on withdrawals or selling assets.
Cash-flowing assets are what make work optional.
Money Truth #3: Taxes Can Make or Break Wealth
This is one I really wish I had learned earlier.
Taxes quietly become your biggest expense.
Most high-income professionals make money via earned or active income. And earned income is taxed at the highest rates.
The harder you work, the more you make…
And the more you make, the more you hand over to Uncle Sam.
What most people don’t realize is that the type of income you earn matters.
Earned income is taxed the highest.
Passive and investment income is often taxed much lower.
Real estate allows you to legally use the tax code to your advantage through tools like depreciation and cost segregation. On paper, the IRS allows you to show losses even when a property is producing positive cash flow.
That means you keep more of what you earn.
If you’re not proactive with taxes, they will quietly erode your wealth year after year.
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Money Truth #4: Freedom Comes From Time, Not Just Money
I used to think freedom meant hitting a number.
$3 million.
$5 million.
$10 million.
But here’s the truth:
If all your income depends on you working, you’ll never feel free—no matter the number in your account.
Real freedom is when work becomes optional.
It’s waking up and choosing how you spend your day:
When income shows up whether you work or not, you gain choices. And choices create peace of mind.
Money alone doesn’t create freedom.
Time does.
Money Truth #5: Presence Matters More Than Parenting
This one hit me hard as an empty nester.
Looking back, I wish I had slowed down even more—not just being around my kids, but being truly present.
Listening.
Talking.
Being available.
As parents, the most valuable thing we can give our kids isn’t money. It’s perspective. Wisdom. Experience.
They won’t remember how much money we made.
They’ll remember whether we showed up.
And you don’t get that time back.
Money Truth #6: Mentors and Community Accelerate Everything
For years, I tried to figure everything out on my own.
Dentistry.
Money.
Investing.
I thought working harder and reading more was the answer.
It’s not.
Trying to do it alone is the slowest, hardest path.
The real shortcut is finding people who are already where you want to be. That’s why the wealthy move faster. They don’t reinvent the wheel. They find the right mentors and communities.
It’s the idea from the book Who Not How.
Stop asking how.
Start finding who.
The right relationships can save you years of trial and error.
The Bottom Line
If I could go back 10 years, here’s what I’d tell myself:
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Stop chasing income
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Start building assets
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Learn how taxes really work
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Value time over money
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Be present with your family
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Surround yourself with the right people
You don’t have to learn these lessons the hard way.
If you want to keep learning how to build income that works for you—not the other way around.
And let me ask you this:
What’s one money lesson you wish you had learned 10 years ago?
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