The Daily Habits Behind Endless Income - Garrett Gunderson

Episode of Proven Podcast · June 3, 2026 · 60 min

Charles Schwartz and Garrett Gunderson discuss money myths, focused investing, self-investment, relationships, daily habits, health routines, and recommended books.

Summary

Garrett Gunderson described growing up in a Utah coal mining town, winning a young entrepreneur award, and making a poor early investment in a variable universal life insurance policy that led him to question conventional financial advice. He outlined three myths from his book Killing Sacred Cows: that it takes money to make money, that high risk equals high return, and that people should invest for the long haul. He argued that institutions promote these ideas for their own benefit and advocated instead investing in oneself, plugging financial leaks, prioritizing cash flow and financial independence, and focusing on one's own 'investor DNA'.

Gunderson said he had moved from investing in everything in his twenties, including over 100 real estate doors, to a simple portfolio centered on his business, with gold, silver and Bitcoin as hedges. Charles Schwartz shared advice from mall developer Melvin Simon about not investing in things one does not understand, and recounted an early deal selling security cameras. Both emphasized adding value to others, mentorship, coaching and accountability.

The conversation turned to personal life: Gunderson described applying a 'success formula' to his marriage and fitness after a 2008 business downturn, weekly date nights, and the view that entrepreneurship can be a trauma response. He detailed daily habits including a 'love, accept, forgive' journaling exercise, the Five Minute Journal, a productivity planner with the Pomodoro method, and a diet designed by specialists and prepared by a hired cook. Schwartz discussed nightly gratitude practice and keeping screens out of the bedroom.

Gunderson predicted that AI would increase the value of human connection and community, and recommended books on money, relationships and health. He closed by promoting a tax checklist, claiming the average business owner overpays taxes by about $11,000 per $250,000 of revenue.

Chapters

  1. 0:42

    Gunderson's background

    Gunderson recounted his coal-town upbringing, early award, and a bad life insurance investment that sparked his financial education.

  2. 2:52

    The three money myths

    Gunderson explained the myths that it takes money to make money, high risk equals high return, and investing for the long haul.

  3. 7:13

    A better wealth formula

    Gunderson described investor DNA, plugging financial leaks, velocity over accumulation, and three-dimensional assets.

  4. 10:21

    Focused investing and saying no

    The two discussed simplifying portfolios, investing only in what one understands, and avoiding distractions disguised as opportunities.

  5. 17:09

    Investing in yourself

    Gunderson outlined education, mentors, coaches, systems and accountability, and recommended The War of Art.

  6. 27:21

    The success formula and building relationships

    Gunderson described applying lessons from successful areas to his marriage and fitness and how he built a relationship with Dan Sullivan by adding value.

  7. 34:24

    Marriage, entrepreneurship and self-worth

    The pair discussed date nights, entrepreneurship as a trauma response, and the broken equation linking achievement to worthiness of love.

  8. 37:49

    Daily habits and journaling

    Gunderson detailed his journaling, planning and recovery routines while Schwartz described nightly gratitude and screen-free bedrooms.

  9. 43:10

    Diet, fitness and blood work

    Gunderson explained his specialist-designed diet and hired cook, and Schwartz discussed the ROI of outsourcing and biomarker testing.

  10. 48:01

    AI and the future of connection

    Gunderson predicted AI would make human connection and community more valuable.

  11. 50:13

    Recommended books

    Gunderson recommended books on finance, relationships and health.

  12. 56:13

    Chiropractic, health basics and tax tips

    The two discussed chiropractic care, and Gunderson shared where to find him and his tax checklist.

Key points

What was said, by whom, with the exact words. Timestamps jump to the moment.

  • Garrett Gunderson

    Gunderson argues that it does not take money to make money, but relationships, ideas and value exchange.

    “Well, it doesn't take money to make money. It takes relationships and ideas. It takes value and exchange”

    Listen from 3:17 · Personal finance

  • Garrett Gunderson

    Gunderson argues the wealthiest people manage and mitigate risk rather than take it, appearing risky only because they act.

    “Actually, the wealthiest people are amazing at mitigating and managing risk, not taking it. It just looks like someone's taking risk because they're taking action”

    Listen from 3:17 · Personal finance

  • Garrett Gunderson

    Gunderson claims financial institutions preach these myths so they can profit from others' money while telling them to wait decades.

    “it's just what institutions like to preach to people because then they get to take someone else's money and make money on it”

    Listen from 4:28 · Cash flow versus capital accumulation

  • Garrett Gunderson

    Gunderson argues most people diversify prematurely and that risk lies in the investor rather than the investment.

    “most people prematurely diversify. It's about focus with investor DNA. So risk is in the investor, not the investment”

    Listen from 7:35 · Investor DNA and focused investing

  • Charles Schwartz

    Schwartz says the billionaires he knows focus on cash flow rather than capital.

    “Everybody I know that's a billionaire talks about cashflow. They do not talk about capital”

    Listen from 9:44 · Cash flow versus capital accumulation

  • Garrett Gunderson

    Gunderson says he is not an index fund investor because he does not want his money outside his own influence.

    “I'm not an index fund guy. I think that most of the stock market are companies that I don't really care about and don't necessarily want to support”

    Listen from 10:31 · Investor DNA and focused investing

  • Garrett Gunderson

    Gunderson recounts that early lucky real estate wins led him to overexpand because he confused luck with skill.

    “I just started doing deal after deal after deal without being selective enough because I confused lucky with good”

    Listen from 15:07 · Investor DNA and focused investing

  • Garrett Gunderson

    Gunderson recommends starting each day by investing in oneself through exercise, education and enlightenment.

    “my suggestion is people start their day with investing in themselves in at least three ways. Exercise, education, and enlightenment”

    Listen from 18:33 · Self-improvement

  • Charles Schwartz

    Schwartz argues health, not time, is a person's most valuable resource.

    “understanding time is not your most valuable resource. It is not. Your health is”

    Listen from 21:40 · Self-improvement

  • Garrett Gunderson

    Gunderson describes his acceleration path of co-creating, eliminating escapism, delegating roles and collaborating.

    “And so it's co-create, eliminate, delegate, and collaborate. That's the acceleration path”

    Listen from 29:32 · Self-improvement

  • Garrett Gunderson

    Gunderson argues entrepreneurs often falsely tell spouses they work for them, calling entrepreneurship a kind of trauma response.

    “Entrepreneurship is kind of like a trauma response. And we're trying to fill this void of like, are we good enough yet?”

    Listen from 35:49 · Entrepreneurship

  • Charles Schwartz

    Schwartz contends that the belief that achievement makes one worthy of love is a broken equation.

    “There's everyone has been taught this equation that if I do this, I'll be enough. And if I'm enough, I'll be worthy of love”

    Listen from 36:33 · Self-improvement

  • Garrett Gunderson

    Gunderson says hiring a cook at $35 an hour is financially affordable for an entrepreneur because it frees hours of his time.

    “It seems extravagant for people. A lot of times I think about hiring a cook, but it's actually mentally extravagant, but it's financially pretty affordable”

    Listen from 44:27 · Nutrition and diet

  • Garrett Gunderson

    Gunderson predicts that as AI spreads, human interaction and intimacy will be valued much more highly.

    “people want more one-on-one interaction or human interaction with people. So, intimacy is going to be valued at a whole different level”

    Listen from 48:37 · Artificial intelligence

  • Garrett Gunderson

    Gunderson argues that a person's business is the solution to inflation, tax hikes and interest rate changes, and that gold-and-dollar-collapse talk is a distraction.

    “The reality is your business is a solution to solve inflation. Your business is a solution to solve tax hikes”

    Listen from 51:04 · Personal finance

  • Garrett Gunderson

    Gunderson claims the average business owner overpays taxes by about $11,000 per $250,000 of revenue.

    “the average business owner overpays taxes by about $11,000 per quarter million dollars of revenue”

    Listen from 58:46 · Small business tax strategy

People

In the conversation

Discussed

  • Warren BuffettAmerican investor and chairman of Berkshire Hathaway
  • Melvin SimonAmerican shopping mall developer and founder of Simon Property Group
  • Steven PressfieldAmerican author of books on creativity including The Artist's Journey
  • Dan SullivanFounder of Strategic Coach
  • Andrew HubermanAmerican neuroscientist, professor at Stanford School of Medicine and host of the Huberman Lab podcast
  • John StocktonFormer NBA point guard for the Utah Jazz
  • Rob WolfHealth author and friend of Gunderson
  • Dan MartellEntrepreneur and author of Buy Back Your Time

Topics

More from Proven Podcast

From the publisher

Garrett Gunderson grew up in a coal mining town, made his first bad investment at 18, and spent the next two decades figuring out why almost everything people believe about money is wrong. Now he's written the books, built the business, and works with the entrepreneurs and high earners who are tired of being told to just wait it out. Charles and Garrett get into the real problems with how most people handle money, from the three myths that keep even hard workers broke, to why the wealthy spend their time managing risk instead of chasing it, to the tax moves that the average business owner never hears about until it's too late. Garrett breaks down why cash flow beats the long game, how relationships and ideas build more wealth than capital, and why the financial industry is designed to work for itself first. They also go deeper on what it actually looks like to build a life you don't have to escape from, why waiting until retirement to enjoy your money is a losing trade, and how the right environment, the right people, and a few unconventional reads can change the way you think about all of it. This is not a lecture on saving more. It is a straight conversation about why the rules most people follow are keeping them stuck. KEY TAKEAWAYS: Why hard work with the wrong philosophy still leads to broke, and what needs to change before the work pays off How the three biggest money myths were built to benefit institutions, not the people following them Why the wealthy focus on mitigating risk while everyone else is told to take more of it How cash flow and enterprise value beat the long-haul savings model for anyone who wants financial independence before old age Why the average business owner overpays taxes by $11,000 per quarter million in revenue, and what to do about it KEY POINTS: 03:53 The first bad investment: Garrett walks through the decision that cost him money at 18 and turned him into someone who questions everything, while Charles connects it to the moment mos…

Summary, chapters and key points were generated from the episode transcript on September 29, 2026. Quotes are checked word for word against the transcript.

Categories: Investing·Entrepreneurship·Self-Improvement