The Transparency of Online Success with Timothy Sykes

Millionaire Stock Trader and Entrepreneur – Timothy Sykes

Excited to have Timothy Sykes, back on the show. Timothy Sykes is an entrepreneur and a penny stock expert, trader and advocate.

He has been featured on CNN, Fox News, CNBC, Larry King and more and has spoken at prestigious institutions such as Harvard University.

By the age of 21 he became a self-made millionaire trading thousands of Penny Stocks. He was able to begin this journey to great wealth while only a high school student.

His trading skills have earned him millions and brought thousands of students to his courses. His honesty in the online space has been a key to his success – showing all the trades he does personally. He has built 47 schools for 3rd world counties so far and his goal is to build 1,000 schools.

A few Learning Objectives for this episode:

• How to shift your focus from earning for wealth to earning for philanthropy
• How to deal with online haters
• How studying every day has a huge impact on your success

Timothy’s Websites:

TimothySykes.com

Transcript: Download

Video Transcription provided by GMR Transcription Services.

Jaime:	Welcome to Eventual Millionaire. I?m Jaime Masters and today I have back on the show, Timothy Sykes. You can check him out at TimSykes.com. He has made money in investing and trading and with an amazing online academy that teaches people how to do it. Thanks so much for coming again on the show today.

Timothy:	Thanks for having me.

Jaime:	When I was doing my research, I was going through and you look up Timothy Sykes and it?s like is he a scammer? Is he not? And then you have a bazillion like posts about am I a scammer? Am I not? Like the world that you have to live in must just be insane.

Timothy:	I mean there are a lot of people on the internet who teach these days. So, anybody who asks that question, I immediately send them to my YouTube channel. I have 1,000-plus free videos now. If you watch those and you still think I?m a scammer after that, I can?t help you. It comes with the job. I?m used to it. I have thick skins by these times.

Jaime:	Right. Well, I guess that?s sort of ? your industry is sort of prone to that anyway, but how did you grow your thick skin because there?s a lot of people that are doing awesome, amazing things online that shrink when you ? because YouTube especially is horrible for really bad comments and haters.

Timothy:	I mean, if you?re doing anything groundbreaking, you?re going to ruffle a few feathers. I mean I trade penny stocks. I short sell. I day trade. I have a Lamborghini and a Ferrari. I show stocks of a million dollars in cash. It?s not like this is a surprise, but since the last time I?ve been on, just for my own personal well-being, I?ve gotten more into charity. We have 47 schools built now with the Timothy Sykes Foundation. My goal is to build 1,000.

	So, I?m doing that and some people still don?t like it. Some people ? like charity has a whole thing of like haters ? like, oh, your charity is just a tax shelter. It?s a scam. Why are your schools built in third world countries where we can?t verify them? And I?m like, oh, my God! Like I thought penny stocks had all the negativity. Somehow I chose an industry that has even more negativity. So, [inaudible] [00:01:56].

Jaime:	Oh, so, you don?t ?

Timothy:	I donated a million dollars to them. They?re fantastic.

Jaime:	They are.

Timothy:	And some people say, oh, I don?t think you actually donated. I was like they put out a press release ? like here are the schools ? I visit them. So, you can?t make some people happy nor should you try. Make yourself happy. So, for me, I talk about the charity stuff because I love it. I?m a teacher. I teach people the stock market, but I also teach people kind of how to live well.

	And I wish someone had told me earlier about how great charity is. I know it sounds weird to give money to other people, but it?s great. Like I started this company called Madowy here and our whole thing is like you give to others and it kind of changes your life ? like it comes back to you. The universe is all connected. I truly believe it. I live it and it?s actually amazing. So, I wish more people would want to give money away because, again, it enhances your life in so many different ways.

Jaime:	I completely agree. And I want to talk more about haters in just a second, but on the note of charity, a lot of people ? when we created this brand ? we asked them, well, why do you want to be a millionaire? And they were like we want to give more. But when I asked them, they weren?t actually giving to begin with. So, where do they start? Because like you said, you don?t have to have millions in order to be able to then give it away.

Timothy:	Yeah.

Jaime:	So, how do they start on that?

Timothy:	You don?t have to go spend $50,000.00 or $60,000.00 to build a school. Volunteer ? like in your local town, there are so many different organizations from feeding the poor to just taking care of like dogs no matter what your town or city is. You find a local community. You find a local charity that peeks your interest. And maybe it?s not even in your town. Maybe you travel a little bit.

	But charity is kind of like a way of life. You can help like a little old lady crossing the street. You can help her with her groceries. You don?t even have to get involved with a whole charity organization. Just start thinking about giving back to others. And it?s very different than most people live ? especially like if you?re training to be a millionaire ? you?re so focused on your end goal. You?re so focused on money. Like giving to others is outside your whole mindset and perspective.

	But bring it inside. It will help you live better and it will actually help you just like be successful ? not just in terms of how much is in your bank account but in terms of how happy you are. Money cannot buy happiness. Money buys freedom, but then the question is what do you do with that freedom? Do you want to just go around like knowing nobody, having no relationships, being all selfish and having like eight figures or nine figures in your bank account and doing nothing with it? You?re then dying with it and not helping the world? Like that?s just sad.

	Once you make enough money ? I?ve been very grateful and very blessed to be able to do so ? you start to question like what makes you happy? I have my Ferrari and my Lamborghini. I?ve lived in mansions. I?ve traveled all over the world. It gets old after a while. Charity ? giving to others, teaching, living in this world as like a respectable human being who cares about others ? that is what true wealth is to me, although having millions of dollars allows you to live better ? like I?m not working for anybody.

	We were just talking ? I got back from Kenya and Seychelles the other day where I had better Wi-Fi. Now I?m in Miami for Art Basel. Next week I?m off to Guatemala to visit some of my schools and then I?m going to Japan for Christmas and New Year?s. So, having money allows that.

Jaime:	See and a lot of people don?t understand. Some people that come on the show call it the millionaire myth, right? So, they?re like I?m working so hard for the money and then ? and then they have this ? [gasping sound] now what? ? because it didn?t solve all my problems. But people don?t listen. Like you?ll say this and people don?t actually listen to it. So, what can they ? do you know what I mean? Like it?s very hard to internalize because they?re like, yeah, but that?s because he has the money. That?s why he can say it.

Timothy:	I wasn?t born with money. I started with a few thousand dollars in my account. I earned my money the hard way. I grinded and that?s how you should too. You shouldn?t even look to like make it too quick. Like I have people going how do I make a lot of money overnight ? like a lot of bitcoin people made it overnight ? now they?ve lost it all.

Jaime:	Right, yeah.

Timothy:	If you go up and down and you go through the steps ? like figuring out what you love ? maybe you don?t make a million right away but maybe you find some strategy online where you make $20,000.00 or $50,000.00 and you learn from it. Maybe you lose it, but then the next success, you make $500,000.00. Like it?s a marathon and not a sprint and you have to start today.

	You have to start having the right mindset. You have to start studying. You have to start trying different strategies and then you get experience. And maybe not on your first business or second business ? or maybe on your 20th business ? you actually find something that makes you really successful. But then, trust me, your money is better in the long run because you?ve grinded ? because you?re more grateful for it.

	If you have it all at first ? like I got into the stock market back in ?99. I was right place ? right time. I didn?t respect my first million. I thought it was like ? like I was so good or lucky or something, but it was too easy. And I actually became a philosophy major in college because that was like my therapy because my mind was so screwed up ? like going from middle class to being a millionaire all while I was in college ? like it was too easy. I don?t want that for you. I want you to grind. I want you to fail and make money in Year 10. Then you?ll respect it so much more.

Jaime:	And then the longevity of it will be able to stick with it too. So, that way you can make it again and make more.

Timothy:	Correct. You?ll respect it.

Jaime:	Yeah.

Timothy:	If you make it too quickly ? trust me ? it screws up your head. Like I know most people want to like make it really quickly ?

Jaime:	Yeah.

Timothy:	? but you want to make it the right way and you want to do it on your own terms. Like I know some people ? like they make money the wrong way ? and they get lucky and it?s like a flash in the pan like these bitcoin people and they?re just ? they lose it so quickly and they waste it and they don?t use it properly to like help humanity or themselves and it?s like that. And I don?t want that to happen to anybody watching this.

Jaime:	Well, and it?s the ? as you were going through, I feel like business owning or, in general, is one of the best personal evolution tactics we could ever possibly do, right? You?re faced with all this stuff ? like we were talking about the haters before. What are some of the lessons that you?ve learned over the longevity? Because you?ve been in the industry for a long time ? what are the key lessons that you?ve learned along the way that have really helped you level up?

Timothy:	Yeah, I mean I think that you have to be ready for opportunity. But whether there?s an opportunity right now ? most people watching this are not prepared. If there?s like a new hot sector, you haven?t studied past hot sectors in the stock market. If there?s some new technology or some hot new social network, you haven?t tried your hand at other social networks like LinkedIn or Snapchat or Instagram, so you?re not prepared for when something new or some new hot trend comes along.

	So, for you guys watching this, you have to get experience. You?re playing a game of catch-up if you don?t have business experience, if you don?t have social network experience. Every single day, you should be studying ? listening to podcasts like this, watching video lessons ? I have 1,000-plus webinars if you want to learn from my own personal experience. So, that?s the beauty of the internet and you didn?t have this opportunity a few years ago ? like we?re in this amazing time in history where you can catch up quicker than most.

	So, no matter what hot stock or hot trend or hot website comes along, you have the ability to be prepared. If you?re not, you waste that opportunity, and frankly, that?s just a missed opportunity. I hate that. I hate wasted opportunity. That?s the worst.

Jaime:	How do you know which opportunity to be ready for though if there?s a million opportunities?

Timothy:	You never know 100 percent, but you start to see the same things happening again and again. Like lately in the stock market, CBD stocks have been hot. Before that, it was weed stocks. Before that, it was bitcoin and blockchain and medical stocks and biotech and nanotech. Things might not be an exact science in the stock market or in business, but the same kinds of ingredients ? the same kinds of set-ups ? happen again and again. Like history does repeat itself. 

	So, all you can do is study the past. I?m basically a glorified history teacher in the stock market. So, I?m just waiting, waiting, waiting. Like right now, as we?re talking, I have zero stocks. I am waiting for the next hot stock ? waiting for signs of the next hot trend. Everyone says what?s the next hot stock? I don?t know. We?ll see what happens with world events, but when you start to see signs, are you ready to recognize those signs? Or you don?t know what you?re looking for ? you?re just like letting life pass you by.

Jaime:	Okay. So, like you have a huge YouTube following and you have a bazillion videos. What made you decide to go down the YouTube path instead of Instagram or something else with a video site?

Timothy:	I mean I have a thousand videos on YouTube ? or like 1,200 videos on YouTube ? I have 6,000 premium video lessons on my website Profit.ly. I have 1,500 recorded webinars. I don?t choose any one network. I record everything and I share it on different networks. Like I have 1.6 million followers now on Instagram, like 300,000 followers on YouTube ? I don?t know why.

	I mean I guess, on Instagram, I?ll tell you some funny stories. Since the last time we talked, some rappers stole some of my Instagram photos. I used to post stacks of like a million dollars in cash. Rappers don?t make the money they used to. So, one of them, Bow Wow ? Bow Wow stole my photo and I called him out. I was like, Bow Wow! Why are you stealing my photo? I?ll teach you the stock market. Then you can have your own money. And I signed it little Little Ju Ju and he didn?t like it.

	So, he told like his four million followers to attack me. And if you tell somebody to attack somebody on Instagram, they put like a little L in your comments, right? So, I?m looking at my screen and I?m getting all these Ls and I?m getting these little snake icons and I?m like, ooh, I?m getting attacked. And then, meanwhile, I got like 300,000 followers overnight because my photos and videos are better than his because [inaudible] [00:11:27] rapper.

	So, sometimes like negative press and opportunity can come to you. I didn?t expect it. So, now, my Instagram is bigger than my YouTube which is more useful because I have like hour-long video lessons. So, you take whatever opportunity comes to you and use social media. Like when someone uses it to attack you, there was never any good thing coming out of that.

	Now when they attack you on social media, spin it and get more following. Show that you?re real. If you?re real, you have nothing to hide. Like that?s the beauty of this. Like if someone says attack you and let?s say you?re like an internet scammer, that?s like your worst nightmare because then you?re going to be exposed because you?ve just been scamming. I don?t scam. I?m real. I welcome everybody ? if you?re a hater, if you?re like a friend of mine ? my first millionaire student was also my first hater. He wrote a blog post called Timothy Sykes is full of bullshit. It?s still online and now he has made over $2,000,000.00.

	So, build a business ? create a strategy where, if anybody attacks you, it doesn?t matter. It just brings you business because you?re real. That?s the ultimate win. That?s the ultimate victory where anybody who says anything about you just brings you more business.

Jaime:	So, how do you become okay with that? I guess that?s sort of the thing. Like I grew up as a female ? like you make everybody happy, blah, blah, blah ? right? And growing a thick skin ? I know it?s just words and all that fun stuff, but the fact that you can spin it that quickly. In the initial stages of everybody getting pissed at you, were you hit at all? Was it like ahh?

Timothy:	I mean I?ve been on like seven terrible reality shows at this point. So, reality shows bring you a lot of thick skin. My mom would like cry at first.

Jaime:	Really?

Timothy:	Like we always had a good time on the reality shows. Like, I?ve been on this TV show ?Below Deck?. I brought my students on. I surprised them with their own schools, but the reality show didn?t show that.

Jaime:	Okay.

Timothy:	They just showed me like acting all happy. I made $70,000.00 aboard a yacht with very little Wi-Fi. The cameras were in my face. I was like this is going to be the best episode ever. They don?t show me make the trade. They just see me happy and everyone?s like why is he so happy? Like he?s so full of himself.

Jaime:	Right.

Timothy:	So, when you see reality shows and you see the internet and you see the way the world likes to twist things, like you just can?t let it bother you. This is the beauty of being real and this is why I want all of your viewers to just be real and make your mistakes and make your screw-ups. Play the game, but you just can?t take anything too seriously if you stay true to yourself. Again, if you?re a scam, if you?re a fake, then be very scared when someone attacks you.

	But if you?re doing good ? like I?m building schools, I?m teaching, I?m not selling drugs to kids ? like people are like, oh, you?re just selling stuff online. I?m like, yeah, I?m selling education, you know? Feel free to ignore my education. Learn on your own. It?s going to cost you ten times as much, ten years plus of confusion, or you can just buy my lessons. Like you have to be real with who you are and you have to be happy with who you are. And that?s, frankly, the beauty of loving my job and loving this path that I?ve chosen.

	If I worked for somebody else, I might not be able to take the hate because I?m building somebody else?s dreams and do I really want to defend them? Like I don?t know them. They might be a scammer. But if you?re real and you know yourself and you?re only responsible for yourself ? like just own it.

Jaime:	See, I love that attitude. That makes a lot of sense ? especially with ? I was watching one of your videos and you were talking about how you don?t have to be more professional ? because sometimes online we?re like and we are perfect. Everything in my life is exactly as it should be. And I feel like that?s ? even when they?re not scammers ? even if they?re actually providing good training ?

Timothy:	I have a perfect plan right here. Look at my feng shui. No! Like just literally be real. Like the internet ? we?re at this amazing time where there are so many bakers and so many people like trying to like position everything perfectly ? like how?s my hair? Do I look okay? And you?re just like that?s not real. Like we have this opportunity right now where the slickest advertising ? like you can hire like a professional video guy and like make it all slick like a freaking Acura commercial and that won?t do well.

Jaime:	Yeah.

Timothy:	All you have to do is be real and be truthful. Like, I don?t even have good internet. Before this interview started, some podcasters would be like give me all these directions for perfect Wi-Fi. I rented this giant villa. Look at this ? this place is beautiful for Art Basel. There?s ten bedrooms right on the water. We?ve got a dock, we?ve got jet skis, and the Wi-Fi sucks. And I?m just going to be real about it because this is what?s actually happening.

	And so, you use your mistakes. You use sometimes the ugliness of reality to your advantage. And it?s amazing to come through this screen and anybody watching this can be like whoa! Tim Sykes is intense, but at least he?s real. Like when I screw up on a stock trade and I have a loss, I don?t hide it. I make a whole video lesson about it. I wrote ?Seven Mistakes I Made on this Trade? and those are my most popular video lessons and blog posts.

	I see too many like start-up founders ? they come up with these crazy names for their start-ups ? and then their start-ups disappear. And then their LinkedIn changes and there?s some new crazy start-up and I?m like, whoa, what happened to your last start-up? You don?t know. They don?t talk about it. They just kind of hide it under the rug.

Jaime:	Yeah.

Timothy:	They?re always looking for new investors. Talk about it! Say what failed. What did I do wrong with this start-up? Learn from it and then you start to build relationships. Like if I actually wanted to raise money ? I don?t need to ? but if I wanted to, I have so many relationships with so many tens of thousands of people who have followed my journey now for teaching ten-plus years <p data-wpview-marker="%5Baudio%20cuts%20out%5D">.</p> [inaudible] [00:16:54] I show my students. I show good trades, bad trades ? I show everything. That brings me credibility. And in a world that, frankly, fake like social media, credibility matters.

Jaime:	Big time. Where?s the line though of saying everything, right? Because that?s the thing ? it?s like, okay, well, typically when you?re a teacher, you teach after you?ve learned the lesson instead of going I am in the middle of crap right now! Look at me! Right? Because that trust is lost a little, right?

Timothy:	So, when you said like, oh, like sometimes like you?re in the middle of lesson and it brought up one specific webinar where I was losing like $18,000.00 on a trade. Everyone could see it on my screen ?

Jaime:	On the webinar?

Timothy:	? and I was just like, ahh, this is terrible. But I?m live ? I?m not going to cut it off and be like technical difficulties like this podcast just did.

Jaime:	[laughs]

Timothy:	And I was like, okay, here?s what I?m doing. I broke this rule ? this rule ? but now it?s too late. I can?t go back. So, I try to dig myself out of the trade. I actually did. I only ended up losing like $600.00, but that webinar is archived. It?s one of my most popular archives because I?m like here?s when I stupidly broke my rules. Fortunately, it wasn?t a total disaster, but you can learn from my mindset. I saw a good trade. I was trying to be the hero.

	Often times, when we go for our biggest win ? our biggest thing ? we go like all in. I didn?t go all in, but I was really pushing it. I was aggressively trading this stock and I think that we can all relate no matter our industry where we see an opportunity and we want to cease it. And then it?s like, oh, wait, you can?t back up. You?ve already committed. And that was kind of like this trade. So, shit happens. Oh! Did I swear?

Jaime:	Oh, we?ll bleep it.

Timothy:	I don?t know if I can say that.

Jaime:	Yeah.

Timothy:	Stuff happens. Life happens and you just have to be real about it. If you are livestreaming or making a video, like don?t hide from it ? like that?s life. You have to be as realistic as possible. And if you are an expert ? if you?ve been doing something for years and had success ? like you don?t have to be perfect. Perfection is not real. So, if you do try to be perfect, you?re actually like making yourself look bad.

	I know it?s counter-intuitive, but a lot of the best things that work on social media ? a lot of the best things that work in the stock market ? it?s counter-intuitive. The more real ? the more honest ? you can be with yourself and your audience, the better.

Jaime:	See, where does that line happen on the personal side though? Because you share like your car and your travels ? because it seems ? like I?ve got kids, but I don?t show anything like Pat Flynn shows his kids, right?

Timothy:	Yeah.

Jaime:	Where is the line of personal versus professional?

Timothy:	No, that?s a great question. So, I used to be engaged to be married and I?m not anymore. I?m single right now, but my ex and I would go very all in on the transparent side. Now, like I really don?t even talk. I don?t show off like my parents. I?ve had a few stalkers. Like, I don?t even post in real time. This is the downside.

Jaime:	This is what I want to know.

Timothy:	[Cross talking] [Inaudible] [00:19:53].

Jaime:	Yes, there?s crazies out there unfortunately, yes.

Timothy:	Honesty is great, but ? so, in the past, I used to post in real time. I go to some crazy countries. I?m like ? I said it off the cuff one time ? I was like, hey, I?ll see you guys in Paris tomorrow. Au revoir. And at the airport, there was a guy holding up my sign. Actually, this was when I was ? I don?t know if this was the time that I went with you. It was probably the time after because I would have talked about it.

	But he was holding up a sign with my name ? Tim Sykes. I thought it was my driver. It was not my driver. I started talking to him and like he doesn?t like talk like a driver. I?m like how far is the hotel? And he?s like asking me other stuff and I?m like what?s going on? He was a nice guy, but I was like how did you know what flight I was going to be on? He was just a random guy. And he was like I didn?t. I was like, well, but how did you find me? I was like it?s 10:00 PM. He was like, I know, I?ve been here 14 hours.

	And I?m thinking to myself ? like the mindset of somebody waiting at an airport, holding up a sign with my name on it for 14 hours ? waiting there until 10:00 PM ? 

Jaime:	Dedication.

Timothy:	? like I would give up at like 4:00 PM. I?d be like, all right, screw it. Right? But he stuck it out and he was a nice stalker ? like I bought him a cup of coffee.

Jaime:	Nice stalker? [Laughs]

Timothy:	He just wanted to know about the stock market. I was fortunate, but it opened my eyes up. So, now I don?t post like necessarily in real time. Like right now on social media as we?re filming this, I?m just leaving the Seychelles ? this was like a week ago.

Jaime:	Okay. Give me more tips on that then too. And that?s the thing that?s tough is that you don?t want to have your whole life ruled by other people, but it is ? I?ve had people show up at coffee shops where I was like, oh, shoot, I had no idea. Like yeah ? you know what I mean?

Timothy:	Yeah. I mean ?

Jaime:	But 14 hours ?

Timothy:	? everyone?s different. You have to judge. When I?m in Tokyo, everyone knows I love sushi. If you see the background on my phone, it?s sushi. Like I love it, right? So, I posted this one time at Sushi Dai which is at the Tsukiji Fish Market ? this amazing sushi restaurant. And I went there one day and I?m like posting about it. And if you go one day, you?re most likely to go the next day, which I did. And then there was a whole little group and I was like just let me eat my sushi and it ruined everything.

	So, you have to judge. Sometimes like in real time, if I?m like doing my annual conference ? I have nearly 1,000 traders on real time ? if I?m watching like a big sporting event on real time ? but you do have to draw that line and everyone?s different. So, don?t feel bad ? like Tim Sykes told me to share everything. Keep your kids safe. Keep your family safe. Like keep yourself safe.

	We also live in a crazy world where we want to help, but when you show off like my watch is like $30,000.00, if I go to a third-world country, this watch is more money than they make like in several years. So, you need to keep things like in the right perspective.

Jaime:	Do you have any other tips on some of that stuff too? Like when to block and when not? Because it feels like a weird ?

Timothy:	Oh, I just block ? if anybody says any signs of weirdness ? I just block them. I?m zero tolerance. Like even negativity ? I put up polls on Instagram. Here?s a little tip for you. I?m like how bad-ass is this little beach bar that I was showing in the Seychelles? And it?s this awesome little beach bar. And some people would just like ? because they?re just like negative people ? and they would put zero. And I?d block them. I had like 5,000 people who vote in my polls. Like 99 percent are positive, but I just block like 36 people because I?m just like screw you ? like I don?t want your negativity in my feed.

	Some people were like joking ? they made a second account and they were like, oh, I was just kidding. I?m like sorry ? I don?t have time for that. And the fact that they?re making a second account ?

Jaime:	Right?

Timothy:	? so, they?re probably like some weird spammer. Like you have so many people online ? there are so many people to connect with ? you get to choose. That?s the beauty of all these social networks. You just click the little block button. I have some students who pay me and I block them. I?m like I?ll teach you, but you?re not paying me enough to deal with your BS, okay? I?m not afraid of that. Like I?m going to be totally real.

	If someone is entering my feed all the time and they?re leaving these comments that I just don?t like ? because I look at all my comments ? I look at all my DMs. You?re just out.

Jaime:	That?s smart.

Timothy:	You get to choose the people and personalities that you interact with. That?s the beauty of being real.

Jaime:	Yeah. And I was reading through some of your comments on like the scammer one and everyone?s like he?s not a scammer. Like everyone was supportive of you and I was like that?s not typical for YouTube. Like I had one YouTube video ? my very first video I ever made online that got tons of [inaudible] [00:24:10] or whatever. And the comments were so mean and I?m like a little girl from Maine going people hate me! It was so scarring. That?s the reason why I?m asking you so many questions about it.

Timothy:	I mean I attack back at anyone who?s negative, but YouTube ? again ? like first of all, it?s free. So, it?s very tough. Like again, if you watch my thousand video lessons ? like my Rule No. 1is cut losses quickly. So, some of my haters are like you?re going to lose all your money with Tim Sykes. And I?m like how do you do that when Rule No. 1 is cut losses quickly? Like my haters don?t hate me based on my strategy. 

Jaime:	Totally.

Timothy:	They hate me based on my personality ? that I?m like in their face or that I?m showing this stuff off or saying that anyone can do it. Like they don?t like my arguments, right? But they?re not actually arguing with what I teach. They?re arguing like my hat, my shirt ? like all sorts of stuff ? but, if you actually focus on the information that I give, it?s actually pretty good.

Jaime:	Yeah.

Timothy:	But they don?t want to argue ? they don?t want to debate those points because they?ll lose.

Jaime:	Yeah.

Timothy:	So, it?s good to be real. It?s good to provide value. If you have a free channel, I don?t know where the scam is. Like I love hearing the conspiracy theories ? like, oh, you work with all these brokers. I don?t work with any brokers. So, I?m like, yo, give me the conspiracy theories. And then I highlight them in my stories too.

Jaime:	Where?s that line though?

Timothy:	Again, being real on the internet is the best offense that you can have.

Jaime:	Well, because you convinced your first hater to trade with you. So, like you used to go down the path, I guess, of chatting with haters and now you just block them? Is that better?

Timothy:	Well, no, I mean I always give everybody a chance.

Jaime:	Oh.

Timothy:	I don?t just block them immediately except on the polls because that was just my fun thing. But if someone like is commenting, I?m like, all right, my first millionaire used to hate me so I?ll give you a chance. Here?s a link to like a free video ? like you could be a homeless man ? you?re using a library?s free Wi-Fi and still watches it free. And then, if they don?t do that, then it?s like I can?t help you. If you?re not willing to spend a little time to actually study a free resource, like you don?t want to learn. You?re just not worth it.

Jaime:	That?s awesome.

Timothy:	I?m in a good position where I get to choose my students. I know when you?re first beginning like a business, like you want as many customers as possible. Eventually, you get overwhelmed. Like, after I?m doing this interview with you, I?m going to answer like a thousand DMs. The DMs disappear after 30 days. Instagram is not made for like marketing. My DMs ? like I?m going up like the limit every day.

Jaime:	Wow.

Timothy:	So, it?s good to have this booming business, but it?s also tough to keep up. So, once you get that booming, you have to kind of whittle it down.

Jaime:	Yeah. Well, let me ask you this, because in your industry, there are a lot of people popping up, right? You?ve been in the game for a very long time.

Timothy:	Yeah.

Jaime:	How do you deal with all the competition with everybody going ? I know you?ve got tons of resources ? so, don?t get me wrong ? you?ve had the longevity of that ?

Timothy:	Yeah.

Jaime:	? but marketing tactics and all this new stuff ? there?s tons of people being able to reach and you?re sort of the old guy ? not the old guy ?

Timothy:	Yeah.

Jaime:	? that?s horrible.

Timothy:	I am the old guy.

Jaime:	[laughs]

Timothy:	I mean it?s okay. I don?t mind competition as long as it?s real. There?s a lot of newbies popping up and they don?t really have the experience ? like they made money in bitcoin. So, for me, I have to kind of warn against the competition. I have to warn against newbies. I?m not like, oh, I?m so worried. I just keep doing my thing. And then I also hire people. I have 45 employees. I don?t know how much I had the last time we talked, but I have a lot of people helping me with different networks.

	I just focus on teaching. I focus on teaching the stock market, trading the stock market, doing videos, doing interviews ? I?m only in control of <p data-wpview-marker="%5Baudio%20cuts%20out%5D">.</p> [inaudible] [00:27:42] and I don?t really worry about the rest. There?s such a big world out there. Like I don?t need a monopoly ? like I said, I?m already overwhelmed. So, some people ? like I probably could make more money if I really wanted to, but it?s not just about money.

	Like I found my happiness ? like I?m traveling all over the world. My whole dream is just to travel and I?m doing that <p data-wpview-marker="%5Baudio%20cuts%20out%5D">.</p> [inaudible] [00:28:03] and now building schools everywhere. So, like there?s only so much you can do. You shouldn?t want the whole world. You shouldn?t want a whole industry. It doesn?t matter if I make six million this year or 50 million or 100 million.

	I gave a TED talk last year where I said I will never be a billionaire because, if I ever get that much, I?m going to just donate. Like, I donated five and half million dollars now in the past four years now as we?re doing this interview. So, would my life be better if I had that in my possession? I could probably buy this mansion instead of just renting it on Airbnb, but I don?t care. Then I would have to be in this mansion and it doesn?t even have good Wi-Fi.

Jaime:	[laughs]

Timothy:	So, I like to travel. I?ll go back to Africa for good Wi-Fi. Seche in Seychelles ? a little island a thousand miles off the coast of Africa ? has better Wi-Fi than this freaking big mansion here in Miami. What can you do?

Jaime:	[laughs] It?s always something ? even when you?re in a mansion. What the hell?

Timothy:	I?m glad I can make you laugh. Like I?m just telling you the truth and I?m making you laugh. This is reality. You just have to laugh.

Jaime:	Yeah.

Timothy:	Like I was worried when I was in the Seychelles for a week. I was like, oh, my God, how am I going to give like my live webinars? It?s fantastic and I was shocked. I had never been to the Seychelles before. This was my first time. I highly recommend you go.

Jaime:	Now I want to go and we?ll show pictures or something like that later.

Timothy:	You really should.

Jaime:	[Inaudible] [00:29:20] good Wi-Fi.

Timothy:	I love Seychelles ? like they?re not paying me. I?m not like their rep. I just went there because they?re environmentally friendly. So, they?re plastic-free. The massages are amazing. The food is amazing and the Wi-Fi is amazing. And I?m like what else do I need?

Jaime:	Better than Miami in a mansion ? I don?t know ? just saying.

Timothy:	Exactly. But I?m in Miami for Art Basel. I have a whole bunch of meetings this week. So, it will be fun.

Jaime:	Awesome. And I know we have to start wrapping up, so that way, we don?t have to worry about the Wi-Fi at all anymore. But for my last question, what is one action listeners can take this week to help move them forward towards their goal of a million?

Timothy:	I would put aside at least one hour per week for just study. Just use YouTube, use your website, and just study and see where your studying takes you. If you can put aside two hours per week, fantastic ? if you can put aside an hour a day, even better ? but at the minimum, do one hour per week. And if you institute this kind of policy right now, think about how much wiser you?re going to be six months from now, a year from now, five years from now ? and it?s not even on any one sector or any one industry.

	Like let your mind wander. That?s the beauty of the internet. Like you click a link ? you?re like, oh! This is an interesting topic. Let me learn about that. And then it brings you to something else. And that?s the worldwide web and it?s so beautiful. Most people still don?t realize this is the most important technological innovation I would say in centuries since the printing press. And we?re just at the beginning. Most people use the internet ? some of them take pictures of their lunch ? put little cheetah ears on their heads with these filters ? we?re like at caveman levels of advancement.

Jaime:	Right, good point.

Timothy:	We?re writing on the walls. Think about what happens in the years coming up. So, start studying. Start getting into that habit ? being like, okay, 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM every Sunday night ? this is my time to study. And it adds up. Most people overestimate how easy that something is going to be and they?re like, oh, I?ll master this so quickly. But they underestimate what they?re capable of with exponential compounded gains year after year after year.

	Like if you study ? let?s say two hours every Sunday night for the next 10 years and you look back at what you accomplished over those 10 years ? it?s going to be mind-blowing. And in just that little amount of time ? instead of watching Netflix, instead of going out with your friends, instead of like going to something where you?re not expanding your brain ? this is a game where you have to expand your brain. You have to get enough knowledge ? enough skillset ? to basically win in whatever industry it is.

	And this is one giant world competing. The good news is most people don?t have the work ethic. They don?t have the patience. They don?t have the dedication. So, if you have those three things, you have better odds of success as long as you love it. Okay? Don?t work for somebody else. Don?t just learn something because your parents want you to learn it. Learn it because you love it. And then it doesn?t matter how many hours you put in. It?s not a struggle. It?s not something where you?re like, oh, I?ve got to put in the hour. Like you actually want to put in more time. So, start with one hour per week and go from there.

Jaime:	I love your excitement on all this. Oh, my goodness! My face is hurting from smiling so much. Where can we find out more?

Timothy:	This is really fun. More people need to realize it. Okay? That?s like there?s one thing that you can do right now. Get up, wherever you are, and just start jumping. Just do this ? just jump! Yeah! Yeah!

Jaime:	[laughing]

Timothy:	Wait, let me tilt it up so you can see. All right! Yeah! You?re alive! [Inaudible] [00:32:50]. Woo! Do that ? get excited right now. Like every single one of you should be so excited to be alive right now and have this tool at your fingertips. And utilize it! It blows my mind that more people don?t. And you?re using it for the wrong reasons. This tool can make your life better. It?s freaking free! All you have to do is have the right perspective.

Jaime:	And if anybody wants more of that energy, check out his YouTube channel because, oh, my gosh ? all the videos are like this, right?

Timothy:	I rarely ? I?m in this mansion ? look at this ? I?ll show you this. So, I have all these supplies. Normally, I drink my Celsius pre-workout drink, but this thing has two fridges. And this whole fridge is a freezer and I didn?t even know it and my Celsius froze.

Jaime:	Frozen? [Laughs]

Timothy:	So, I didn?t even have my energy drink today. I just have natural energy right now.

Jaime:	[Inaudible] [00:33:39] one problems.

Timothy:	I don?t even know what is a fridge or a freezer. My Wi-Fi doesn?t work. My Pez heads are falling off. But we have the internet. So, it?s exciting! Yeah!

Jaime:	[laughing]

Timothy:	Yeah!

Jaime:	Thank you, thank you, thank you so much for coming on the show. Where does everybody connect with you because now they?re going to DM you random stuff on Instagram. So, tell us where we can find more.

Timothy:	Just go to timothysykes.com. Look up Timothy Sykes and you?ll see if I?m a scammer or not. Debate me in my comments and we?ll go from there, but put in one hour per week studying whatever it is that you love and thank me in 10 years.

Jaime:	Thank you so much for coming on the show today. I so appreciate it.

Timothy:	My pleasure ? thanks for having me.

Tags: dealing with bashers, entrepreneur podcast, eventual millionaire, how to deal with online haters, jaime masters, millionaire entrepreneurs, penny stock, philanthropy, podcast, start-ups / startups, startup entrepreneur, stock market investing, Timothy Sykes, top entrepreneurs

Categories: All, Business, Equity, Featured Millionaire Interview, Finance, Lifestyle, Millionaire Interviews, Wealth Building

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