Jun 27, 2017
Damion Lupo is the founder of Yokido and is a self-proclaimed financial architect and American sensei. He teaches accelerated learning programs and is the author of 7 books including Reinvented Life, Total Control Financial Guide to the QRP, and The Quick and Dirty Guide to Gold and Silver. Damion’s focus and aim is in financial and spiritual mastery. His greatest passion is helping people move from financial fear to financial freedom. He has a black belt in Aikido, is a practitioner of yoga and a student of reiki.
Damion’s entrepreneurial journey at the age of 11. He became a multi-millionaire at 25 and lost all of his money when he was 31. Listen as Damion explains his rise and fall, the introspective journey he had to undergo to get back up, and why he will always be a high risk taker.
Time Stamped Show Notes:
- 00:05 – Entrepreneurs Organization proudly presents Virtual Learning podcast
- 00:36 – Dave introduces Damion Lupo
- 02:18 – Damion became a multi-millionaire at 25 years old and lost his $20 million net worth 6 years later when he was 31
- 02:54 – Damion’s vision is to move from financial fear to financial freedom and for people to become financially literate
- 03:44 – Damion is a single guy
- 04:17 – An American sensei is a martial arts instructor
residing in America
- 04:44 – Damion feels this phrase best describes him
- 05:51 – As you go deeper into martial arts, your own unique
experiences influence what you are already doing; then you can
create something different
- 06:07 – Damion’s influences are from yoga and reiki work and all of his life experiences changed the way he was doing Aikido
- 06:46 – Martial arts is a different way of engaging with people because it is connected and lethal at the same time
- 07:39 – Damion’s martial arts philosophy involves relationship connections, refocused energy and healing
- 07:56 – Martial arts is about being present and this is the same in business
- 08:22 – Krav Maga is a lethal martial art that is about inflicting damage and Damion thinks people join in with the wrong intentions
- 09:25 – Dave joined a Krav Maga class and says the mentality is to suspend the attacker’s ability to do something against you
- 10:07 – Damion’s training is about being hyper-aware of your surroundings and if you need to, be able to inflict damage
- 10:40 – The idea behind Yokido is for the conflict to fade away
- 11:25 – In the Matrix, there is a scene where Neo just blends into the scene and this is the same in Yokido and in business
- 12:55 – With martial arts and in business, people with an ego
or those who are afraid tend to lose
- 13:05 – The ego takes the space of being present
- 13:20 – Being afraid causes people to become paralyzed and not make decisions well
- 14:17 – Reinventing financial control is about taking the control away from the system
- 15:28 – Financial freedom is about having the confidence to create
- 16:59 – Damion thinks most financial advisers should be called
insurance salespeople
- 17:14 – Financial advisers do NOT know more about money than any other person; they may just be good at selling
- 18:17 – Creating money and investing are totally different things
- 19:26 – It’s good to seek mentors and have a team in place when it comes to your investments
- 20:03 – There is no number big enough that can give you the leeway to hand over your investments to somebody else, you have to be involved in it
- 21:08 – Damion was in his mid-20s and had a $5 million net
worth and $20 million in assets—he felt he was hustling and was
naïve at this time
- 21:36 – His mentality during this time was to get more money and he was willing to do anything to get it
- 22:08 – Damion had a shift from just getting money to making an impact and helping others
- 22:19 – Damion was in the hospital for a week
- 22:50 – Damion was buying houses and selling it on contract to people
- 23:32 – Damion’s ego took over and he even got into development
- 23:53 – When the market crashed, Damion realized he did not have a foundation that was driving him
- 24:32 – Damion had 7 different projects where he lost a million
from each project
- 24:48 – Damion had lots of debt and did not have room to move
- 25:14 – When the markets froze, Damion couldn’t sell anything and he ran out of money—he had a million dollars of debt on credit cards
- 26:21 – Damion was at Costco and was paying for his groceries
when his card was declined
- 26:55 – At that point, Damion realized that things were changing
- 27:26 – Damion’s overhead at the time was 75,000 a month
- 28:24 – Damion had to get real and within 6 months he moved from a penthouse-type condo to a regular house, sold his Ferrari and lost his credit cards but he still pretended to be okay
- 29:20 – The hardest part about losing stuff is losing your identity; this was Damion’s low point – losing his worth and what it was all about
- 30:38 – In 2010, Damion joined a campaign and felt that he was
still not willing to be fully honest with himself
- 31:06 – Damion was fired as a volunteer, but he pretended he resigned
- 31:21 – Damion looked at himself and acknowledged the truth about what was happening to him and began to ask for help
- 32:08 – Damion shifted from just wanting more to being able to create something positive
- 33:02 – Damion gets out of a low point by spending time with people who have a positive outlook and an abundance mindset
- 33:34 – Decide consciously who you spend your time with because you are going to become those people
- 33:55 – Damion spends his time with people who are seeing the bigger picture and those who are creating financial and spiritual wealth
- 34:21 – Teaching helps Damion to be future-focused and optimistic
- 35:15 – Damion dropped out of college three times and was
kicked out once
- 35:36 – Damion hated that students had to pay so much money for books, so he made his own bookstore in his dorm room
- 36:08 – In a week, the bookstore felt a loss in revenue and went to Damion’s university president
- 36:24 – Damion refused to stop selling and was kicked out
- 37:03 – Damion kept on coming back to college because he was pressured by his family and society even though he was not feeling it
- 37:23 – The last time Damion was in college, it took him 45 minutes before he was running out of the campus
- 38:11 – Damion says his parents did not understand what he was
doing and it was hard for him to share it with them
- 39:10 – After Damion’s mom read his book, she asked him why he did not tell her all those stories; Damion said she would have no way to relate to it
- 39:28 – Being a part of Entrepreneur’s Organization, Damion was able to connect with people who understood him
- 40:03 – Damion was just happy he created the book—the feedback from his mom and others is valuable for him and made it worthwhile
- 41:04 – Damion’s father was doing a bit of buying and selling, but was focused on the traditional aspects of work
- 42:08 – Dave says Damion’s level of risk is extremely high
- 42:56 – The tagline of Damion’s work is to disrupt Wall Street
- 43:20 – Damion is now doing something based on a mission—the fear does not catch up to him as he keeps on moving
- 44:28 – Check out the Reinvented Life Workbook on Damion’s website and also check out Total Control Financial
- 44:48 – Damion wants to help free you from financial bondage
- 45:27 – Dave closes the episode and encourages you to visit his website
3 Key Points:
- Money alone, is not enough; have a set of values that act as your foundation and guide you through all that you do.
- Surround yourself with positive people with an abundance mindset—these people will be your greatest influencers
- Fear cannot take over if you keep on moving.
Resources Mentioned:
- Entrepreneur's Organization – The EO Network
- Yokido – Martial arts that Damion founded
- Reinvented Life, Total Control Financial – Damion’s books
- Damion Lupo – Damion’s website