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Cody Bjugan | Just Because You Believe Doesn’t Mean You Have Faith

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Hosted by
Mike Ayala

On this episode of Investing for Freedom, Mike talks to Cody Bjugan about his life, his faith and some valuable lessons he has learned so far. Cody tells us about the course he has up for offer and gives you all of the info you need to become a part of it.

FIND CODY:

Join Cody’s Land Wholesaler’s Academy: https://cq705.isrefer.com/go/laaevg/fourpeaks/
Twitter: @VestRight
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/vestright
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/cody-bjugan
LinkedIn Company Page: http://linkedin.com/company/vestright
Real Estate Coaching: https://vestright.com
Land Development: https://discoverallieddevelopment.com
Home Building: https://discoveralliedhomes.com/

ABOUT CODY’S PROGRAMS:

Land Deals Revealed – Mentoring program teaching people how to get involved in the residential land development sector, making 5 to 7-figure returns, but avoiding the big risks of purchasing land and taking out multi-million dollar subdivision construction loans.
Price Points: $16k, $10k, $9k. View the webinar.

Land Acquisition Academy – Same course material and Land Deals Revealed, but does not include the mentoring. This program is a less expensive version of Land Deals Revealed.
Price Point: $1995. Note: the funnel for this program is 4 days. It starts with 3 days of free training videos, with a webinar on the 4th day.

HIGHLIGHTS:

0:00 – Intro and brief background on Cody
2:45 – Cody explains that Jesus has had the biggest impact on his life, but in terms of people walking the earth today, it’s Brian Di Ambrosio
8:57 – Mike talks about how Cody showed action with Brian and how that proved crucial
9:35 – Cody explains how he has spent the last 2 years of his life on personal development
11:56 – Mike asks Cody what thing has had the greatest impact on his life as he explains he doesn’t do well with the victim mentality
16:10 – Cody is learning how not to apologize for being awesome
19:13 – Cody talks about limiting beliefs and why many people stop dreaming
23:07 – Cody talks about one of his courses and how they make you sign a contract which puts the blame on you if it doesn’t work
25:22 – Cody talks about his 2 biggest pet peeves
27:15 – Cody has been strategic with his circle after he moved from Oregon to Arizona
29:40 – Mike asks what Cody’s greatest setback was and what he learned from it
40:35 – Cody caught himself not living in peace last week and decided that his priority was to get it back
46:16 – Cody’s piece of advice he finds himself sharing the most is make everyday matter or to understand what you’re sacrificing
52:59 – Cody talks about VestRight, a coaching platform which he has built
57:37 – If you text the word LAND to (480)-531-7519, Cody has a program that is affordable
1:00:53 – It’s still a great time to get into real estate

FULL TRANSCRIPTION:

Mike Ayala: Thank you for joining me on the Investing for Freedom podcast. Today, I have a special guest and I know I say that every week, but this guy is one of my favorite people in the world. He’s one of my greatest friends and actually, I have a weekly meeting with Cody on the golf course, which is super cool. Yeah, so I’m really excited to have Cody Bjugan on the show today and stick with us through this because not only is his story amazing. He has just got one of the most brilliant business models that I’ve ever seen and every time I’m with him, I just learned something more about it. And if you’re really interested in being able to not only make passive income, because we spend a lot of time talking about passive income in real estate and all that, but Cody has a business model where you can really make some serious money if you get it right. And Cody, you know, through all of his years of experience has pulled together an amazing team that has just an amazing coaching program and they can teach you how to do exactly what he does in different markets, all across the United States. Basically anywhere you live, you can apply this. So stick with us to the end. But Cody, thank you for being on the show, man. Happy to have you.

Cody Bjugan: Oh, absolutely. My pleasure, Mike, and you’re right. I enjoy our weekly meetings on the course. And I just want to thank you. Just being totally open to everyone. You know, I’ve spent the last 20 years of my life kind of hiding under a rock flying under the radar. I’m officially going to put myself out there more than I ever have. And you know, this is my first podcast. So man, I love you and appreciate our friendship. And there was no better person than I’d rather kind of come out with the new and just, you know, you kind of guide me through this and this is new for me, so I appreciate your time.

Mike Ayala: Yeah. And you guys, I mean, if Cody hadn’t said it, you would never probably know that this is going to be his first podcast because you know, he’s just got such a background in learning and experience and everything else. And I’ve actually been trying to get him on the show from the beginning, but you know, Cody and his team are very methodical about what they do, and they wanted to make sure that the program that they’ve built was ready for you guys out there listening to this right now and guess what it’s finally ready. And so, you know, a few weeks ago Cody said, hey, my team has finally released me to do podcasts and I’m going to come on yours first. And so I’m honored, and I think our audience is going to be honored to have you, so it’s going to be fun.

Cody Bjugan: Well, I’m excited to be here, man. I really appreciate it. And I look forward to golfing with you this week.

Mike Ayala: That’s tomorrow. So we got to get this over with. I’m just kidding. All right. So let’s get into the four questions. So Cody who’s had the greatest impact on your life?

Cody Bjugan: You know, I would say my first instinct, absolute answer, but I’m going to give you a second part to this. So it would be Jesus. That’s just the first thought that came to my mind. My second and my third and my fourth. I mean, Jesus, my beliefs, my faith is really the foundation of how I live my life. It’s the foundation of who I am. He’s the one that’s taken me out of time to turmoil and brought me peace. There is no question. I would not be where I am today if it wasn’t for Jesus. But let’s talk about someone that’s walking the earth today. And I thought about this and there there’s a list of people that have had different impacts on me for different reasons. But if I was to say number one guy, and I’ve never publicly said this, cause here again, I’ve been hiding under a rock is a, would definitely be a gentleman by the name of Brian De Ambrosio. And I’ll tell you a little bit of a story about Brian and why I put him at the top of that list. So this goes clear back to 2000, 2001. And I was running a business in the floor and counter industry and it was just kind of a young go-getter. Let’s see. So I was probably 22, 23 years old and doing well and getting after it. But I wanted more, you know, I wasn’t satisfied. I was kind of at this point in my career where I knew I either needed to kind of open my own store or I needed to go do something different. So anyway, but I’m doing well, you know, kind of rolling and there’s this big-name guy in my local market and his name’s Brian De Ambrosio and he’s like, he’s the man.

And I’m looking for, I want to start getting into real estate. I want to start buying land. And so one day I decided, you know what, I’m going to call this guy up. And so I call him up and, you know, we talk and whatever, and I told him, I want to first piece of land I want to buy is to build my own personal house. And I had mentioned this piece to him that I drive by all the time. It’s not for sale. It’s not on the open market, it is off-market. And I mentioned to him, I said, hey, what are you, because he lived in the same town. What do you think that piece I’m sure you know about it. And he’s like, Hey Cody, that’s a great piece. If you can get that one, you should definitely get it. I’m like, okay, well, thanks, Brian. Well, let me see how that goes. And I’ll report back to you. Well, I call him like, I don’t know. I think two weeks later, three weeks later, and I said, so Brian, I bought that one. You got another one I should look at. And he stopped right there and he’s like, yeah, I don’t remember exactly what he said, but it’s basically like, hey kid, I want to meet you. And so I connect with him. And the first thing he says is, hey, you know, that piece you bought. He said I didn’t really take you seriously. He said, I actually was considering to buying that from my own personal house. And so anyway, one thing led to another, the guy saw my drive in me, my excitement, you know, my energy and one thing led to another and he asked me if I’d come and be his partner. And so he was a real estate broker at the time, owned a real estate brokerage. And he was a, you know, a dynamo of a realtor. That’s why everybody knew him. And so he and I ended up starting a development home building business together. And you know, the reason he had the biggest impact on me is one, he was a big part of what allowed me to go from W2 to self-employment right. Two is that I met amazing people through him. As far as his network, his contacts. We didn’t have the way to connect the way we do today, 20 years ago. And so that was huge. And also, I mean, even though he didn’t know the ins and outs of development, right. And land acquisition and how to get deals through the political approval process and how development works, even though he didn’t know the ins and outs of how it all went down, he knew enough for us to get our foot in the door, our foot in the game.

And you know, I’m not here to pitch you, but, you know, because there wasn’t anything around like what me and my team have put together today. So his little bit of knowledge is what allowed me to learn from, and then expand upon and get me in the game of what I’m still doing today, 20 years later. And our partnership, by the way, I love the guy. I still stay in contact with him. You know, our partnership only lasted a couple of years. Just because we had some foundational differences. We weren’t quite equally yoked. But it definitely served a great purpose in his eyes, both our lives. And I mean, even during that time, we built a company that was awarded the fastest-growing privately held company in the state of Oregon. So you know, so we did some cool stuff together. But anyway, that guy is just definitely the man as far as the biggest impact.

Mike Ayala: That’s cool. And it’s interesting too. One of my mentors always says, if two partners have the same strength, one of them is not needed. And for you to recognize that is pretty cool too. And there’s another theme there that I constantly hear with guests through this, you know, and the entire process. And it’s always like finding that mentor. And sometimes, you know, so many times I’ve been asked the question like, hey, how do you find a mentor? How do you know it’s the right mentor? And what I just heard you really say, I mean, you went and identified someone that was already doing what you really wanted to get into, break into, etc., and just ask them, but then went and showed value too. And that’s the thing that most people miss. You showed him that you were taking action and he thought you were kidding. And he’s like, hey kid, like, I didn’t think you were actually going to go do that. And that’s the one thing that I really key in on there. When you say that so many times people are looking for a mentor and they want to know how Cody did it, well go show that person that you’re going to take action and that you’re serious. And even today, like you said, you said not pitching, but invest in your knowledge and experience. I mean, there’s so much information out there, like your program, there’s no excuse today to not, they don’t even have to do what you did. You had to go prove yourself. All they have to do nowadays is just buy your course. It’s crazy.

Cody Bjugan: I have plenty of battle scars. I learned a lot of things the hard way. But in complete vulnerability with you, I’ve really spent like the last two years of my life really focused on personal development and growth and getting educated and getting the right people in my circle, in my life, the right influences. And you know, I don’t really, I don’t live my life through regrets. Like I’m thankful for all that I’ve experienced, the good and the bad, it’s all served its purpose. But man, if I would have embraced the idea of personal development for the last 20 years instead of the last two years, who knows where I would be man like you know, and so, but regardless, I’ve had more growth in my life in the last two years ever since I’ve stepped outside my comfort zone and started being with mentors and mastermind groups and in the books and cause here’s the thing, man, you know, Brian De Ambrosia that named my dropped, you know, I was, when I partnered with him, I was 22, 23 years old. And here again, this isn’t my identity. It’s only for illustration, but I was 28 years old and worth $20 million. But guess what? I thought I was the man, the reality is I was a snot-nosed punk kid that the money came way too easy. And I didn’t appreciate it the way I should because I wasn’t focused on what that money meant. And that really all it was a tool because I wasn’t focused on becoming the best I could be, and so I’m learning more in my forties than I did the whole rest of my life.

Mike Ayala: There’s such a huge lesson in that. And I’m sure we’re going to unpack more of this, but so if you could narrow it down to one thing that’s had the greatest impact on your success, what would that be? And there’s a thread going on here. So I wanted to ask the question, maybe it’s, you know, ties into that, I don’t know, but would that be?

Cody Bjugan: So, I don’t want anybody to take this the wrong way. There’s plenty of people out there that have been mistreated or have been unfortunate or things haven’t gone as they would hope to in their lives. What I’m going to go to is that the victim mentality is a struggle for me, even though I know there’s victims. I don’t do well with the victim mentality. The biggest thing that has separated me from those that are say running next to me, or separates me from the pack is, is that where there’s a will, there’s a way. I will always find a way. I just recently did a deal here again. Yeah. I’m going to celebrate it with you guys.

Mike Ayala: Yeah. This is Investing for Freedom. My people want to be inspired by your story.

Cody Bjugan: Yeah. So I’ll just tell you, like I have a deal that just closed recently. Where I did what I illustrate in my program and I made seven figures. On that deal, on that one deal, I made a 1.2 Million. Yeah, this feels good. I don’t know of another guy in the state of Oregon that could have got that deal done. I went through 15 public meetings or hearings to get that deal done. Anybody else probably would have given up after the second or third, but I was committed to where there was a will. There’s a way. And I got the will. And so I’m going to get with the city and figure out how we can work out a win-win where it’s good for the city. And it’s good for me because, and so, you know, I willed my way through that deal and it was painful. I mean, my land use attorneys, one of the best land use attorneys in the state and he went through more public meetings or hearings on that deal than he had ever done in his whole career. And he’s a veteran. But I wasn’t giving up. I wasn’t stopping. And so no question, where there’s a will, there’s a way, and I got the will.

Mike Ayala: Listen, if we’re going to bring out the genius in Cody, which we’re going to, I know the ins and outs here because you know, we’ve become good friends. So I obviously don’t know everything about Cody, but one of our mutual friends and mentors Rock Thomas always says we don’t apologize for being awesome. And what he’s really saying by that, like, so here’s the thing. I mean, we’re taught not to brag, right? And this isn’t about bragging. It’s about your experience and wisdom. And the whole reason that I started investing for freedom was because I wake and I’m like, man, I am surrounded by the best people in the world. Like you know, you were talking about the last couple of years of your life and you know, we’re always talking about GoBundance. I met Cody through GoBundance, and you know, honestly, it took me one, two, maybe three different events to really figure out like what the hell Cody even did. Cause he doesn’t talk about it. He doesn’t open up. But you know, after, you know, a couple of evenings at the bar and having, you know, one or two drinks, because we never have more than one or two drinks. You know, we really start talking about it. And I find out that this guy is a freaking genius and what he does is amazing, just like he was just talking about in Oregon. So we do need to celebrate those wins. And here’s the thing that I talk about all the time. If you want something different than what you currently have, you have to apply something different in your life. And that could be time. That could be money that could be leveraging talent. It could be other people, it could be experience. It’s like what you talked about with De Ambrosia, right? Is that his name? So, yeah. And listening, you know, for our audience that’s listening to Cody, if they’re wanting something different, which I would assume that most of them do, I do it doesn’t, you know, we were just talking about this on the golf course, lastly, like when’s enough and where do you, that’s such a personal decision, but at the same time, I want so much more out of life than what I’m currently achieving, and your story is inspirational and what you do and how you do it. You shouldn’t apologize for being awesome. So let’s keep going.

Cody Bjugan: I’m learning that. And in all honesty, I’m learning that that hasn’t been, that’s not easy for me. And I’m just, I’m going to talk openly here. You know, I see some of these influencers, gurus, and a lot of times, you know, that’s exactly what they do. And a lot of times I would call it the douchebag factor, right? But one of those guys that I often felt is very douchey in the way he presents himself. I’ve recently had some interactions with him in a room. Actually and I’m just going to say it in Clubhouse, right. Which is a newer social media platform. And my respect for this individual has skyrocketed because he’s actually a great down to earth solid guy that wants to make a difference. And the reality is, you know, he might be offended that I call it the douchebag factor, but the douchebag factor is what gets the followers. It’s brilliant marketing. And so, you know, if you want the, and so anyways, I’m learning, I’m learning and I need to be able to celebrate my wins and talk more about that I’m a badass, so you’re right. I do.

Mike Ayala: Well. And I’ll tell you like some of the people that have taught me the most in life that I’m, you know, whether they’re mentors are dear friends or whatever, the way they got my attention, they literally slapped me across the face somehow, whether it was on social media, whether it was something they said or whether it was literally in person, like I’ll never forget when we went to Pinehurst in September a mutual again, friend and mentor of mine, Chris Harder, were sitting out on the little putting green one night and I don’t know if you were in this circle or not that night, but you know, everybody’s talking about Elon Musk and how amazing it is. And I made this comment. I said, well, you know, it must be nice to not have to worry about profitability. And Chris Harder looked at me and he said, you know what? That sounds like a limiting belief that’s going to stop you from achieving your full potential. And I was for a second, you know, I’m a little, you know, I mean, none of that feels good ever, but the more I thought about that, the more he’s right. And you know, we’re constantly looking around at other people and we don’t like necessarily what they do or how they do it or whatever. But what I really hear you saying with this particular, somehow, they have to get your attention before they can get you to listen and whatever that methodology is. I mean, everybody’s different in the way they, I’m more subtle. You know, I’m more of a long game guy, but I think all that’s kind of irrelevant. Some people are born with the ability to not apologize for being awesome. And then some of us like Cody, we’ve got to pull it out a little further and, but Cody has so much to offer that I just want to make sure that we really get into that.

Cody Bjugan: Your limiting belief, I don’t mean to interrupt you, but when you mentioned limiting belief, there’s a couple of statements that I’ve heard made recently. And one was basically the biggest, one of the biggest things that’s challenging people right now is that they stopped dreaming and that hit hard for me because sky’s the limit, right? Like, and so I’m trying to force myself to dream more. Two, is how often we settle, right? Like there’s some people out there that feel they might’ve settled with who they’re married to. Or they might’ve settled for who their executive assistant is, or they might’ve settled for what their company’s goals are for the year, or they might’ve settled for what their W2 job is, or they might’ve settled for, you know, whatever it may be, what their body looks like. They’ve accepted their body the way it looks versus what they really want. Whatever it is. There’s things you’ve settled on in your life. And here’s the thing, that’s not the way to get to the next level. Quit settling.

Mike Ayala: That’s so good. You know, and what you’re talking about right now, too, like just on that, I love that you brought that up. And by the way, I don’t have a preset agenda getting through this. So interrupt me anytime. And we can go wherever you want to go. You said something there on the limiting and people being stuck. And one of my favorite scriptures, since, you know, you brought up the man, the myth, the legend himself, Mr. Jesus, Proverbs 13, and it says, hope deferred may, it’s in Proverbs 13. I think it’s verse 12. It says hope deferred makes the heart sick. And to me, that is like, when you said that that was the first thing that rings in my brain because we’re living in such a time. There’s so much turmoil and people are so frustrated, and you see all the hate and the country’s divided. And I was having this conversation with Kara. I don’t know, probably four or six months ago. I think the bigger issue that’s really going on right now is there’s such an inequality piece. And by the way, what you’re doing in your business and in coaching is so amazing because people can literally invest. It’s not a small amount of money, but at the same time, it’s not something I often say this. You know, I get asked all the time on Instagram, like hey, if I’ve got $500 or $1,000 or $2,000 or $5,000 to invest, where should I invest it? In yourself. Like at, at $1000 or $2000 or $5,000, invest in a mentor, invest it in a program, invest it in something like that, because the difference of who you are today and where you need to go is exactly what you were talking about at the beginning of the show. It’s who you know, it’s the books you’re going to read. It’s the programs you’re going to buy, back to hope deferred makes the heart sick. There’s so much struggle in the world right now. And people are hopeless. Hope deferred makes the heart sick. Our hearts are literally sick because we’ve lost our purpose and our passion. And that’s really what I, when I hear you say that the limiting beliefs and people are on their couch and they just go to bed frustrated and they have no hope, their hearts are literally sick because they don’t know a better way. But like you said whether it’s losing weight or the assistant you’ve settled for, I love that because who’s going to make the change. Who’s going to do that for you. Is it Cody? You know, Cody can put the best course together in the world, but if you don’t get your ass off the couch, and by the way, you don’t even have to get your off the couch, just log into the fricking computer program and take the damn course. At some point in time, you got to take action on what you learn. So what you got to say about that?

Cody Bjugan: Yeah. I would say that, you know, our mentoring course, we have a few different courses, right. But one of our you know, mid-level courses, we actually make you sign a contract, if you join our program. And that contract basically says, our content is badass. If you don’t succeed, it’s 100% on you. We say in our contract, a gazillion different ways. It’s you, the only way you are going to fail is you. It’s not our content. It’s not our course. It’s nothing to do with us. It’s because you didn’t execute. It’s because you weren’t intentional. It’s because you weren’t decisive or resourceful or whatever. At the end of the day, no one’s doing it for you. I can teach what I’ve learned over the last 20 years. And what has absolutely been a huge part of turning my life into what it is today, but I’m not going to execute for you. I’m not going to hold your hand. I mean, I’m going to give you the tools, but I’ll give you the hammer, but you got to swing it, I’m not going to swing the hammer for you.

Mike Ayala: No, and there’s no excuse either because what you’ve learned over 20 years, you’ve compressed into a timeframe that just expands that. And you know, we live in the information age and we’re actually moving way past that, the digital age and who knows where we’re going, but nobody has an excuse. And everybody’s pissed. So back to the hope deferred makes the heart sick. Everybody, the real thing that’s wrong with the world today is excuses. Everything you’re talking about. Like people, if you want to do something different out of life, you have to, you got to weld that up. You got to do something different than what you’re currently doing. And so many people are like, I want to quit my job. I want to. Do you really? Like, what are you going to do to replace that? And so this whole concept of, you know, inequality and people are like, well, the 1% and the 10% and the wealthy and by the way, we’re preaching the choir with my audience, because I think most of our audience would agree with everything we’re saying, but at the same time, it’s those action steps, right?

Cody Bjugan: Yeah. My two biggest pet peeves, my circle of influence right now is positive. Positive energy. I don’t want negative energy in my life. It’s a drain. I want nothing to do with it. If you are negative energy, I probably bumped you out of my circle. Sorry. But that’s why. My two biggest pet peeves victim mentality, and you talk it instead of walking it. Like just do me a favor, just go do it. Like just the proof’s in the pudding. Like just go make it happen, quit talking about it. And man, execute, execute, execute, execute.

Mike Ayala: Cody, if people want to go to work for you, just kidding. Just kidding. So I’m thinking about this as you’re saying this, and there’s a sticky note that Kara, I just want to share this because it’s such a powerful, it’s been on my mirror for probably two months, maybe three months. And it says, if the energy exchange isn’t equal, I don’t have time for it. And that’s such a reminder for me every morning of what you’re saying. And I would just say this since you’re talking about it, just encourage the audience that, you know, sometimes even from an ego standpoint, I’ve found that I tend to stay in that. And I try to pull people along with me, because it makes me feel better about myself. But what I really hear Cody saying, you know, you can only save people that want saved, right. And so making sure that you protect, we only have so much time. We only have so much energy. And so just like the sticky note that Kara put on my bathroom mirror, when I brush my teeth every morning, if the energy exchanges isn’t equal, you only so much time and energy in any of the above. And so what Cody just said, I think is huge wisdom. You know, just be really careful about your circle and especially who’s influencing you. So did we answer the question?

Cody Bjugan: In my defense, it’s got a little easier this year, because I recently relocated from Oregon to down here in Arizona. So there’s been this opportunity where I’ve been very strategic about my circle of influence because there’s certain people that it gets a little harder if you were raised with them or, you know, because I was born and raised up there in Oregon. And so there’s people that have strings to you and attachments to you based upon historical reasons that it is kind of hard to cut that string, right? Like, because you don’t want to hurt their feelings or whatever. And so, you know, it’s just, it’s been a lot of fun moving down here to Arizona. Cause I’m just, I’m building this phenomenal circle of influence and it’s just, it’s been a real blessing.

One more word I want to throw out Mike is, intentional. I’m in the season of being intentional, anything and everything I’m doing with my time or my thoughts. I’m trying to be very, very intentional. I have four things I’ve been doing that I’m doing every day now and I’m going to eight. And I’m being very intentional and none of those have to do with me working in my business. It’s all things I’m doing outside my business that make me the best man I can be, which then allows me to be the, to build the best business I can build. Be the best businessman I can be. Be the best husband, be the best, you know, dad, friend, you know, a follower of Christ. So on and so forth. So intentional, intentional, intentional. Don’t just cruise through things. Just go with the flow. Be intentional with all your moves.

Mike Ayala: I like it. I like it. I don’t know. So as a side note, now you guys know why Cody hangs outs and golfs with me because he doesn’t have enough friends in Arizona yet. So he’s stuck with me. Just kidding.

Cody Bjugan: No Mike, you’re intentionally in my life brother.

Mike Ayala: I appreciate it. Did we answer the questions? So if you could narrow it down to one thing, that’s had the greatest impact on your success, what would that be?

Cody Bjugan: That’d be where there’s a will, there’s a way.

Mike Ayala: Okay. Got it. Cool. What was your greatest setback and what did you learn from it?

Cody Bjugan: Giminee Christmas. And I thought about this and it’s a very, very long list. You know, I recently got remarried in 2017 and You know, me and my wife are getting to know each other better every day. I had someone recently say it was actually my pastor and when he was, I’m getting off, but I’ll come back to the question in a second. He said to his wife during their vows, one of my goal, my main goal in this relationship is that I, no questions asked, know you better than anybody else that’s ever walked this earth. And so, you know, it’s all about, so that’s a sight, but I love that. It spoke to me like I want to know my wife in and out. Like I want to know everything about her. Well, she wants to know stuff about me too. But I tell her some of the storms I’ve been through, not because I’m a victim because I share those stories, those storms. And I talk more about what I learned from it. Like when I lost 90% of my net worth in 2007. I just told someone today, I don’t regret it. I learned so much losing that money that I do not take it back. It turned me into who I am today. And I’m going to end up being worth 10x, 20x what I was worth then.

Mike Ayala: That’s why I hang out with him guy. That’s why I hang out with him. I’m just kidding.

Cody Bjugan: So I’ve been through many storms. So I was trying to think through, you know, I’ve had different ones that have affected, Maybe my family. I’ve had ones that have affected my finances. I’ve had ones that have affected you know, my spiritual life. There’s all different challenges I’ve been through. But the one I’m going to share with you today is the one that I feel like allows me to be the most vulnerable as I come out to the public and help people get to know who I am. So it’s a story that I’m beyond not proud of, But I learned so much going through it more on the other side of it, I should say. And that is, I went through what I call my loser phase. In 2012, I must tell you right now. I got my high school girlfriend pregnant, got married a month after I graduated high school. I’m 42 years old and I have a 23-year-old, amazing son, a 19-year-old amazing daughter and a one-year-old amazing daughter. There’s a whole another story there. That’s an amazing thing. But when you’re at 19 and Mike, I know you got married when you were a young too, but when I was 19, I didn’t know. I, let alone know anybody, know the woman on the other side. I also was getting married because I had a child, not necessarily for the right reasons. Bless that woman’s soul. She’s no longer with us. She passed away a year after our divorce. On very unfortunate situation. And like I said, bless her soul and she was a believer by the way, so she’s up with Jesus, just living it up, loving life. But we made it 20 years in that marriage, but it was a tough 20 years. Like it was totally out of the loyal gene, not out of anything else. So we made it to a point where our kids were like, okay, we can see you guys are not in love. Like this is not, like, it just, I don’t really believe in divorce, but yet I don’t regret mine. Which doesn’t really make sense, but whatever. Well, I went through this loser stage and I set that all up. I tell you that story. I just told you to set you up a why I went into a loser stage. In 2012, I got to a point I hit the ceiling. And as much as I don’t like the victim mentality, I was living as a victim. I was feeling sorry for myself. I was miserable. So what did I do? Instead of deal with it and buck up and plow through it and fix the problem and make the best out of it. What do I do? I grab the bottle. And I start, I didn’t get into snort or anything like that. I mean, I was just all about the booze, but I mean I was putting down the booze, tying one on three, four nights a week for like three and a half years. To escape reality and feel sorry for my sorry ass. Like, and guess what? Like how my businesses survived is beyond me because I was not a good business owner. I was not a good employer. I was a little baby in the corner feeling sorry for myself, drinking myself to then make beyond stupid decisions when I’m hammered. But I snapped out of that loser stage. And I snapped out of that loop was your stage in 2016 and what got me out of that loser stage, And I was worried, man. I was worried. I thought I was an alcoholic. I was worried that this is now an addiction in my life and I’m forever going to deal with this challenge. I hear a sermon in 2016. We’ll get to in a minute, what I learned from all this. So understand this loser stage screwed up my relationship with the Lord, this screwed up my finances. Because in that three and a half years, I should’ve made a gazillion dollars. And I didn’t. It affected my relationship with my family, affected my relationship with my friends, affected the relationship with my health. Everything affected every aspect of my life, that’s why I’m sharing it. Well, I hear a sermon 2016, a sermon I’d never heard before I grew up in the church. Says, just because you believe doesn’t mean you have faith. Let me say that again. Just because you believe, doesn’t mean you have faith. I had never heard that before. I always kind of link the two together. Aha Moment. Light bulb goes on and I realize I’m a control freak. I realize. That me exercising my faith, is me giving up control. I realized that. That I just need to hold my feel, do my part. And I’ll leave the vegetation up to the Lord. Forever changed my life. Instantly I had this peace come over me and here and there over the last several years, I’ll lose that piece. And I know right where to go. I know right where to go. Am I massaging or am I working that faith muscle. Or am I just trying to take back some control and don’t get me wrong. A lot of people, I think use their faith as a crutch, as a reason why not. Or if it’s meant to be, it’ll be. Like, no! You get up, you bust your ass, you be intentional, you hold your field and let the Lord do the rest. So yeah, I mean, so I went through that loser stage and what that loser stage really made me realize is when I snapped out of that, I realized that the world just passed me by in a lot of ways. That I just blew three and a half years of my life. And I’m now instead of leading the pack, I’m chasing the pack. And so I’ve spent now a little time catching back up, and now I’m getting ready to pass everybody again. Lord willing, of course. But like the world is not stopping for you. The world could give two shits about you, right. Like it’s going to go a million miles an hour, whether you’re on the track or not. So I definitely realize too, I think it’s okay to catch your rest here and there, but just I mean, for me, I need to keep my eye on the ball.

Mike Ayala: I love that. Just because you believe doesn’t mean you have faith. And when you said that, like one of the things that’s anchored me for a long time, you know, everybody talks about you know, whether it’s the secret or just all these different things like, you know, the way we visualize, seeing things, all that, but there’s a scripture. I think it’s Hebrews 11, 1, I think it’s in Hebrews 11. And it says faith is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things unseen. And I’ve stuck on like, to me, that’s the translation of everything simple in life, even though it’s complex, faith is the substance. Like, just because you believe in something, this is what I really, you know, when you said that, like, just because I believe something is true, doesn’t mean it’s going to apply to me. It doesn’t mean it’s going to happen in my life. Faith is substance, just like Hebrew says, faith is the substance of things hoped for, it’s the evidence of things unseen. And you know, I don’t want to go into this a lot right now, but I’ve been studying like quantum physics and the quantum realm and Joe Dispenza and all that stuff. And there’s a lot of power. And I mean, there’s a ton that we can unpack in what you just said, but I’m going to let people unpackage it for themselves.

Cody Bjugan: I’m telling you it’s a real man. Like just even last week I caught myself not living in peace. I felt it, I felt this weight. And I started, you know, I started one of my four things is journaling now. Like, so I’m journaling like I’m journaling away. And I’m journaling about one of my top priorities is to get this in check that I need to get my piece back. And I need to make sure I’m in tune with my faith and that I got things prioritized correctly and that there are certain things out of my control. And guess what? This week, boom, I’m back in my peace. Like I am focused, and I don’t have anything weighing me down. I don’t have anything screwing me up mentally and I’m on my game. And so my brings a peace to my life that is untouchable.

Mike Ayala: I love it. So good. It wasn’t because I told you, you need a jet, right?

Cody Bjugan: Well, I’ve been doing, it’s funny, I’m doing some interviews right now for a CEO position. And I’ve now brought the jet into kind of the vision and how I’ve never been all to justify the reasoning for a jet, justify that type of expense. And, but with now my dream, my vision, my seven-year plan, Jet’s going to fit perfectly into that model. So when we were golfing last week and we had those jets flying over, I was starting to make it that more and more real and a part of my vision. So whether it’s net jets or whatever, but if I’m doing deals across the country, I’m not going to go sit in the airport every week for however many hours in Security, I’m going to jump on the company jet and fly in and close that deal and get it done or getting off, off subject here. But guess what? I’m not going to let myself stop dreaming, right? I’m going to keep dreaming.

Mike Ayala: Well, and that’s the beauty, I mean, it’s your dream, right? And that’s the thing where even listening to other people’s voices, like it’s your dream. And so as you’re listening to this, I mean we were literally, it doesn’t really matter about the jet or anything else, but it doesn’t matter what you’re doing in life or what level you’re at. Somebody is going to be hating on you. Like somebody is going to be tell why do you want that? It doesn’t matter to anybody, it’s your life, it’s your vision. And you said, like, we’re such a small blip on the radar of time and the impact that we make, this is your life. You’ve got one shot at it, and you’ve got to make sure it’s so much of what you’ve said today has just really re-centered me on this. And I love this conversation. We’re going to get into your business and your land development so that people understand exactly how you can help them. But you’ve brought so much value to us already of just getting re-centered and guys, you’ve got one life and it’s nobody else’s life. At the end of your life, you’re the one that’s lived it. And nobody else can…

Cody Bjugan: What are you doing to make a difference? What are you doing to have an impact? What’s your legacy? What are you doing to give back? What are you doing to, I mean, put your stamp. Like what are you doing? That’s what my Avery girl, my number one, you know, one year old, she’s not my number one, by the way. I love all my kids equally. I meant to say one year old. But like I had this visual painting of my life of 40 and free. And there was this crazy painting. And with my now beautiful wife and beautiful baby girl, Avery, I totally repainted that visual painting of my life. Did I realize that old painting was selfish? Self-Absorbed, no impact, no making a difference, No legacy, no nothing. It was me to screwing off. And that’s not what I want. The new painting is now a legacy, making a difference, have an impact, give back, right? Like all this crazy amazing stuff that gets me passionate. The way you can hear my voice right now, like this painting is why the Lord brought me this beautiful Avery girl who is one year old. Because she’s allowed me to scratch that old painting that was bullshit. And now have this painting of impact of legacy. And it’s just, I’m stoked, man. And I’m going to make this shit happen.

Mike Ayala: Yeah. So cool. I’m excited. I’m honored to be able to watch it from close, you know, and you’re talking about the victim mentality and everything. What I’m hearing you say right now is like, nobody out there has an excuse. Nobody’s going to do it for you. You can live in that victim mentality or you can get your off the couch and again, there’s no excuse nowadays because there’s so many people and programs and processes that can help you. We have so much at our fingertips today that we didn’t have 20 years ago when Cody got started. So yeah, I mean, you’ve already given us so much value, but what’s the piece of advice you find yourself sharing the most, the single most important piece of advice.

Cody Bjugan: So I’ll tell you that, just to wrap the last one, make everyday matter, make everyday matter, don’t piss away your days. You’re a little bleep on the radar here on earth. Like make the days matter, right? Whether it’s with your wife or with your business or with your love of the Lord or whatever, make sure you’re doing something intentional each day that makes that day impactful. So, okay. I’ll get off that, but that’s what I’m living in right now. The biggest piece of advice, I would say, I give more than anything that I bring up more often than not or compared to other things that I like to talk about would be understanding what you’re sacrificing. That one of the other lessons I learned is that when I had two very young children at home, I was a workaholic. I was gone before they woke up and I was home after they went to bed and I missed out on a lot of their lives. They’re really impactful. They’re very, you know, they’re so moldable. Here, again, I don’t believe in regrets, but a lesson I learned from that is understanding what you’re is sacrificing. And if I was to do that deal again, I wouldn’t have done it the way I did it. I wouldn’t have sacrificed my children for my career ambitions. So you need to make sure that whatever phase you are in life. Whether you’re the guy in the young twenties that you don’t have a family to sacrifice, right. Or whether you’re a guy that’s 42 and has a one-year-old, that is one of the top priorities in my life. I am not going to sacrifice my impact, my influence on Avery’s life to go chase a dollar. I won’t do it. Yeah. So that young guy that’s in his twenties that doesn’t have the Avery girl to sacrifice, take that opportunity or that phase in your life to grind it, to get after it. Because you need to understand when you get into another phase of your life, that your priorities need to shift just a bit. And hopefully, you took advantage of the times where you wouldn’t have to sacrifice a relationship with your child. Lastly, make sure your goals line up with the phase of life you’re in or the resources that you have available to you. Perfect example, what do I mean by that? I’m in a phase in life where I’m dreaming bigger, I’m going bigger than I’ve ever dreamed or thought I was going before. No questions asked. I have higher ambitions for my businesses than I ever have in my career. But Cody, well you have a one-year-old at home that you’re not going to sacrifice? Yes, that is correct. But I also have resources. So I’m going to use my resources in a way that I can still go accomplish the vision for the business, but still have an untouchable, amazing, phenomenal relationship with my Avery girl. Understand the phases you’re are in life and what sacrifices you’re making.

Mike Ayala: Yeah. And I’ll add on to what he just said too. Because you know, I could hear maybe somebody saying, well, yeah, Cody, you’ve got resources, you know, you’re 20 years and you’ve learned all this and you’re successful, but resources are not necessarily just money or, you know, experience. I mean, it could be a partner, you know, if you don’t have enough money to invest, you know, Cody’s investing in some amazing team members and I’m hoping they hear this so that they can send me some chocolates or something. But Cody’s in some amazing team members, he’s building out his business, but it doesn’t always have to be through monetary. You could, you know, you could align with someone that needs your skillset. Resources are so many different things. And so I just wanted to throw that out there because if you found yourself thinking, well, yeah, Cody, that’s easy for you to say you got all this resource already. Well, no. I mean, Cody’s built a ton on his back and he’s bootstrapped it for 20 years and what he wants to accomplish in the next 20 years, he doesn’t already have the blank check to be able to do that.

Cody Bjugan: When you say that to me and I’d say, you know what, you know what? Do you want me to feel sorry for you. Because I don’t. Because what I don’t mean is money. What I mean is there’s a million tools and resources out there. It could be you going and buying a course, or you go on and get a mentor or you go in and doing whatever and you pick and choose in the hours you do work. What are the most productive and financially beneficial hours that you can, you know what I mean? So it’s not as, it could be just how you are spending your time.

Mike Ayala: That’s huge right there. Cause so many times people, I don’t have time for that. That’s such a bullshit lie because we waste so much time every single day. Cody, you’ve brought so much value to the audience and man, I just, it’s crazy guys because no matter how much time you spend with someone you can just like, one of my mentors always says, always be learning. There’s that old always be selling. That’s, always be learning. And I’ve learned so much today just being here and, in your presence, and just getting to know you deeper. So I really appreciate your time and energy. I think our audience is just going to be blown away by this, but I want to make sure that the audience understands the value that you bring to them too. And this is one of the main, I mean, obviously again, I want to share Cody with you, but he’s got a program and a coaching platform and a company that he’s built. That’s just amazing. So tell us about vest. Like why did you start it? What is it? How can they take advantage of it, etc.

Cody Bjugan: All right. So I’ll try and make this quick. So we all know now I’ve been doing land deals, off-market land acquisition. I don’t wait for my phone to ring. I don’t wait for something to go up for sale. I go out and find the deals I put them together. And then I take them through the approval process and then either sell my approval, or sell finished lots. And you know, a lot of my clients are publicly traded national companies. That’s what I’ve been doing. I’ve been doing it for 20 years. No textbook given to me. There’s no information, it is not out there in an eBook. It’s not out there on YouTube. Like this is a niche blue ocean, crazy opportunity. And it’s why I’m building my company for a nine-figure exit within the next five years. Because of the exact thing that me and my team have put into a phenomenal course, that if I can sell for a half a million dollars, I would sell it like that and be able to sleep at night and have a clear conscience because that’s how much value it does. Because what I have in this course is the reason, I make seven-figure paydays on deals.

Mike Ayala: Like that 1.2 million that you were saying, that’s exactly what you did.

Cody Bjugan: And what I tell you about it, so that the point is that I have taken what I have learned the hard knocks way over the last 20 years plus David Hill who’s been my COO kind of my right-hand guy for 15 years. He’s now the COO of best drive. He’s not even in my development business anymore. And we put together this phenomenal course that teaches how we do this and how we do it. And this is not, there’s no BS here. This is the truth. What dawned me in 2007 or 2008 where I lost 90% of my net worth is not what I teach in this course. What I teach is how I made the 1.2 million payday or 1.8 million payday or these different cheques that we show you on Facebook. It’s a strategy where you’re not taking the risk that’s going to whoop on you. Like I got whooped in 2007 if the market crashes, it’s a limited risk model, limited cash. And you can do it from home. We’re a virtual company. We, everybody works from home. So that’s not BS. Don’t get me wrong, this is not a get-rich-quick scheme. This is not hey, go get Cody’s course, you can become a millionaire tomorrow. This is go get Cody’s course, he’s going to give you some phenomenal tools and you can start being intentional, pounding the pavement, fill in your funnel. And then eventually if you put in the, you put in the work, you’ll have those big paydays funneling out the other side. If you’re looking to become a millionaire overnight, go buy someone else’s course, because I’m not going to promise you that. But this is my 20 years of experience teaching you exactly how we do what we do. When we take deals. And we go in and find them, we put them together and we either bring in a developer right after we get the deal inked. Or we bring in a developer after we do the due diligence, or we bring in a developer after we get the deals approved. And we do this in a way where you’re not taking on the developer risk, but yet you’re getting phenomenal returns, developer returns because you’re taking a piece of land that all it is farmland and, but it has development potential. That’s what separates me from the land man or whoever, right? They’re going to go teach you how to flip a farm or a piece of rural land or whatever. I’m teaching you how to take land that is worth, I’ll take where I came from farmlands worth 8, 10, an acre, developable lands were 300 an acre. I’m taking, I’m teaching you how to get involved in the deals that are the multimillion-dollar returns. And you’re getting rewarded for putting those deals together and structuring them correctly and pricing them correctly. And you’re delivering that to a developer on a silver platter. And guess what? They’re loving you because it’s off-market. And if it wasn’t for you, they wouldn’t have that deal. And because you went through my course, you know, what the hell you’re doing, and so you structured the deal correctly.

Cody Bjugan: Yeah. And guys, I can speak just from, I’ve never been through Cody’s course, but I’ve spent time with him, and you know, this isn’t something that you learned in a course last year and then created your own course, which is a lot of what’s happening today. Cody said this already, but this is 20 years of experience and he’s done the thing over and over and over and over and over. Man, super, super exciting. So guys, I want to tell you, if you text the word LAND to (480) 531-7519. Cody’s got a, you know, he’s got a program as he already talked about, that set up, it’s going to take you from start to finish. And as he said, guys, this isn’t a $500,000 program. Cody has some higher-level programs, but anybody can afford to do this program. I’m not saying it wouldn’t be a stretch, but the pricing that this particular program, just text the word LAND to (480) 531-7519. Anybody can afford to get off the couch and figure out how to scrape this together and get this program going. And again, there is higher-level packages. If you’re more advanced and you really want to get into Cody’s world and there’s ways to do that too. So Cody, where should people find, like where can they find you?

Cody Bjugan: I mean, VestRight. VestRight, V-E-S-T-R-I-G-H-T. I mean go to www.vestright.com or, you know, we put out tons of content on Facebook. So I would suggest go to facebook.com/vestright. And go there and hang on our page, follow us, like us. And we’re just constantly kicking out phenomenal content. And yeah, I mean, and just as far as the price tag on the course this is going to sound the wrong way. You know, I have people come to me and say, Cody, you know, why’d you start VestRight? Well, the reason I started VestRight is to give back, to make a difference, right. To take my 20 years and build an impact to people’s lives. Well Cody why don’t you to just give away yourself then? Well, because then you’re not vested, right? Like you’re going to go make it happen if I just give you the course, right? Like you need to meet me somewhere, not just have me just jump onto yours like, you got to vest yourself a little bit, but here’s the reality of the type of money that we’re offering, I mean, if it was any cheaper, I’d almost be insulting myself. And the reality is, is, is that if you can’t, I don’t want to come across the wrong way, but I’m going to speak bold. If you can’t figure out a way to come up with the money needed for you to get in this course, then that means you don’t believe in yourself. And you need to go back and check on yourself a little more. You need to work on yourself a little more if you’re not willing to make that kind of investment in your education.

Cody Bjugan: Yep. Makes a ton of sense. It’s not that much guys. And like I said, there’s different levels, but the thing that we’re, if you just text land to that number, the program that he’s talking about it’s going to be a little bit of a stretch, but it’s going to be a win for you. It’s going to be nothing compared to what you would make if you really did the course and got into what Cody’s talking about. One last thing that I want to say, because everybody’s up in the air on real estate, but I’ve really just, I heard some statistics this last week, where two and a half million houses short, constructions at an all-time high, interest rates are at an all-time low. The demand for housing is as high as it’s ever been. So I don’t care what, you know, realm of the real estate world. I keep saying, it’s not a great time to buy real estate because I’m a real estate investor. But it’s a great time for real estate when it comes to, you know, people’s houses, their residents, development. I can look out, I can walk literally, you know, five miles any direction from my house. And there is houses going up everywhere, and we’re still on a shortage of two and a half million homes. And so from a development standpoint, it’s still a great time to get in. And like Cody said, there’s not a lot of risk in his model. Because I want to paraphrase this from layman’s terms. You know, Cody you’re the guru. But what I hear Cody talk about constantly when he’s sharing with me over the last year or two years, since I’ve known him Cody’s not putting out, you’re not going to have to take his course and then have 2 or 3 or 5 or $10 million of development risk. You’re literally, you’re out finding deals and you’re getting them ready. And you’re partnering with developers that are going to take on all the risks. So guys, I just wanted to make that clear. This is not overly complex if you’ve got the right mentor and teacher, and Cody’s got that in a program. So Cody, any final words?

Cody Bjugan: Yeah, no, I think that’s great. Yeah, please understand. Just cause I’m a developer, that’s not what we’re teaching here. We’re teaching you know how to make the developer returns without the developer risks. So no, I just, Mike, I want to thank you again for allowing me on, allowing me to kind of come out from underneath the rock and it’s just a pleasure being here.

Mike Ayala: I mean, I wonder what he’s going to be like when he actually gets comfortable on podcasts. It’s going to be scary. Yeah. Guys text the word LAND to (480) 531-7519. Or you can find Cody on Facebook/vestright. Cody, appreciate your wisdom, knowledge, and just being so open and transparent with everything you are man. That’s what I love about you. You’re amazing. And appreciate you being here.

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Episode 97