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SHOW NOTES FOR EPISODE 161: 69 YR OLD SIT-UP WORLD RECORD HOLDER & WALL STREET CEO SHARES FORMULA FOR SUCCESS
He is not a real estate investor but he is a fellow old dawg (69 years old) who has an incredible background in business and an approach to life that is inspiring to say the least. In this episode, Bill Morris a former Wall Street Executive, Author, Professor and World Record holder for Sit-Ups (20,100 sit-ups in 11 hours and 32 minutes), shares his passion for a challenge and his formula for success.
What You Will Learn
- It doesn’t matter what age you are, you can accomplish MORE than you think you can
- What the “three-legged stool” is for success
- Are you living or are you surviving?
- What Bill’s philosophy of “Learn, Earn & Return” means
- The value of viewing mistakes as learning lessons
- How to benefit from “set-backs” (mistakes)
- The difference between dreams and goals
- Why 95% of people are not successful
About Our Guest
Bill Morris
- Bill graduated with honors from Boston College (BS) and Manhattan College (MBA in International Finance)
- Was recruited out of grad school by Exxon Corporation, where he earned 4 promotions in 5 years
- Bill has lived and worked in over a dozen countries including Japan, China, United Kingdom, Canada, Mexico, France, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, and Luxembourg
- Became a Wall Street executive at age 30, heading International Finance and Operations for investment bank Kidder Peabody in London, Paris, Geneva, Zurich, Hong Kong and Tokyo
- Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Media Arts Group (NYSE Company)
- Headed Citigroup’s Middle Market Group in New York City
- Worked for Shearson Lehman Brothers dealing with stock exchanges in London (Stock Exchange Automated Quote) and Tokyo (Ministry of Finance)
- Senior Vice President of Geneva Capital Markets
- Middle Market Mergers and Acquisitions work includes over 1,000 valuations, consulting with over 600 CEOs, and over 100 closed transactions—as well as being a national speaker on Middle Market issues, sharing the stage with Mario Gabelli, among others
- CEO of Morris & Company, consulting on Mergers and Acquisitions
- Currently serves on the board of directors for three companies
Giving Back…
- Bill raised over $150,000 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation (an organization that grants terminally ill children their last wish) with his annual Wall Street “Sit-Up-Athon”
- Later served on the Board of Directors for the Make-A-Wish Foundation
- Founder of the Success4Teens company, which produces a 6-part DVD program teaching teens how to set their goals, how to deal with setbacks, how to create a positive mental attitude, and how to build self-esteem and self-confidence
- Partner at SmartGameMakers.com, creating games for financial literacy for kids
- Professor of at the University of California at Irvine’s Paul Merage School of Business
- Speaker on business strategy, sales, motivation, success, and leadership
And perhaps the most amazing accomplishment
- In the mid-1980s, he set the world record for consecutive sit-ups with 20,100 sit-ups in 11 hours and 32 minutes (acknowledged by Guinness, and covered at the time by ABC, NBC, and CBS)
More About Bill
- According to Bill’s mother, he came from heaven
- New York born and bred
- Went to grad school in NYC
- Lived up on 5th Avenue
- Worked on Wall Street
- Started out in International Finance
- Headed up everything in London, Paris, and Tokyo
- Travelled the world
- Came to California in 2000 to be CFO of New York Stock Exchange company
- Did Mergers and Acquisition work
- Currently teaches at the University of California at Irvine
- Parlayed fitness achievements into other things
- When he set the sit-up world record, he was asked to speak many places
- Spoke to a group of inner-city kids
- Were mesmerized by his story
- Also saw him as a father figure
- It prompted him to start an organization called Success 4 Teens
Success 4 Teens
- Bill founded this non-profit organization to show kids how to get it together mentally, physically and spiritually, for success
- His motto is “Learn, Earn & Return” and this organization was his way of returning
- It’s all about giving it back to help others
His Book
- The Formula for Success – his new book
- It talks about the 3-legged stool – getting in balance mentally, spiritually and spiritually
- Under $10
- Under 100 pages
How he Deals With Failure
- Sees mistakes as learning lessons
- Are you living or are you surviving? He wants to live
- The way to success is through the door of failure
- When people reach 50, they start to take an analysis to see “What is the way to happiness?”
- You can create a Positive Mental Attitude (PMA)
- Can reach two different faucets – hot or cold
- It’s up to you which you will reach for
- Instead of failures, he uses the word “set-backs”
- When he faces a set-back
- He knows it’s coming
- He’s encouraged by it
- I learn from it
- Creates a platform to go from that platform up to the next one
His Definition for Success: Setting a Moral or Ethical Goal and Achieving it
- He asks his audiences, “How many of you have dreams?” Most raise their hands. He answers, “Dreams are BS!”
- Dreams and goals are identical except for one thing — goals have target dates for completion
- Has a 10-step process in his book on how to set goals and you must write them down
- He posts his goals on his lamp so it’s the first thing he sees when he gets up and the last thing he sees before he goes to sleep
- You also need to reward yourself in this process
- 95% of the people are not successful and 5% are
- The 5% lack the right attitude, tenacity, and motivation
Advice for Old Dawg’s Looking at “Getting Through Their Retirement”
- He personally is nowhere near retirement. For him, he doesn’t understand it and sees it as “just surviving.”
- He’s a candidate for the Next American Ninja Warrior TV show – part of that is because he wants to show what someone can do, even someone who is almost 70
- Many people don’t try to do challenging things in retirement because of fear
- He sees real estate as a great space to be in, given its track record. He sees it as better than the stock market and he’s a “stock market kind of guy.” But there are ups and downs, just like life.
- If you operate on a fear-based formula you are going to be destined to in a stress level – which is not good
- It’s how you set up mentally
What are the Things Are Really Exciting for You Right Now?
- His current book, “The Formula for Success”
- He’s writing another called, “So You Want to be an Entrepreneur”
- New American Ninja Warrior
At this part of the interview, Bill shared details about his about his 20,100 World Rerecord sit-ups record-setting event.
Rap-It-Up
- Favorite book: All the books by Nelson DeMille
- Favorite app: Waze and Pandora
- Favorite quote: “We can’t do great things in this world. We can only do small things with great love” by Mother Theresa
- If you had to start all over, knowing what you know, and you only had $1,000, what would you do to launch your real estate investing business? Divide it in thirds and use part for survival. Go to friends for help.
How to Contact Bill
- BillMorrisSpeaker.com
- Email: wcmorris@UCI.edu
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/billmorris1/
- His Book: The Formula for Success
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