He also stresses to them that money isn’t what makes a person rich - and he’s speaking from experience.
From humble beginnings that saw his wealthy parents divorce when he was a child in elementary school, he watched his mother struggle to care for him and his three siblings.
From this came a determination that money would never come first in his life. Instead, he would make money work for him.
And that is the focus of his first book, “Rich by Choice: Take Back Control, Master Your Money, and Design the Life of Your Dreams.” Only recently released, it is already a best seller at Amazon (No. 1), Barnes & Noble, and in USA Today.
Michels, co-owner of Michels Family Financial with his wife Chelsea, learned from watching his mother that it is love and devotion that should drive a person first. Doing what you love with those you love simply makes life a better place.
Using this philosophy, basketball became his passion. Michels set the career scoring record for Granbury High School, where he graduated in 2004. He followed that with a sterling career at Weatherford College from 2004 to 2006, where he was an NJCAA Academic All-American and was named Mr. Weatherford College in 2006.
From there, he became a two-time first-team All-American and Academic All-American at Dallas Baptist University and was DBU’s 2008 Male Athlete of the Year.
Following college, Michels had a short stint playing for Athletes In Action, a Christian-based organization that uses sports as its platform.
“This was a very special experience. A stop along the tour was to play a game against inmates at Indiana State’s maximum-security prison,” he said.
He also achieved his dream of playing professionally with several successful seasons in Europe.
Michels’ has dual degrees in finance and psychology from DBU, along with a graduate degree in finance from SMU, and a PhD from Harvard in Business Administration.
But these are not what makes him an expert in what he does. It’s the application of life lessons, his dedication to positivity and simply enjoying his blessings - big and small - that, combined with his financial knowledge, is making his life all he dreamed of.
CN: What prompted you to write the book?
NM: When I was young, I grew up in a well-to-do family. My father owned several businesses. My mom was a stay-at-home mom. I didn’t even know what money was. I just knew that life was pretty good.
And then all of a sudden, it happened. My mom said, “Your dad and I are getting divorced.”
Those words shattered my childhood. Literally overnight, my mom went from a stay-at-home mom of four to a single mom of four working three jobs. It was at a very early age I quickly realized how much money greatly influences all of our lives, both for good or for bad.
It really wasn’t the stuff, but it was just seeing the emotional and physical toll it took on my mom and brothers. I just never personally wanted to go through that ever again, and I never wanted anybody else to have to go through that.
I think that lit a fire underneath me to search out answers and learn everything I can know about money, about business, about life.
Then, when I got older, my life came full circle because I realized that money was not everything. As our money started to grow, my happiness did not grow with it. I was still missing things, and this book helps with that as well.
I love helping people become rich with money, yes, and helping them align that money with what matters most. Because money alone will not make you happy. True joy comes from having peace, security, confidence, and protecting what matters most to you.
CN: What separates your book from other financial books?
NM: This is not all about, hey, how much money do you need in an emergency fund or percentages or algorithms, even though that stuff is important.
This book is unique because it takes the reader on a journey, and that journey first starts with understanding what’s important to the reader, who’s important to the reader, what specific life do they want to live that’s going to bring them the most joy. It gives the reader simple strategies and exercises to really take a look at their life and when they have been most happy, who has made them the happiest, and also understanding themselves, their own strengths and weaknesses.
And then - only then - the next part of the book teaches the reader how to align your money and financial strategies to give you that life, because when it’s all said and done, when we’re 120 years old looking back, it’s not the money we’re going to think about. It’s the life that’s well-lived. The legacy and positive impact we had.
CN: Can you comment on someone in your own life who inspired you?
NM: In Granbury, there used to be a golf course called Hidden Oaks, and I worked there when I was 16 years old. The owner was named Rex, and for whatever reason he taught me about compound interest. Super nice guy. He taught me and showed me that just by taking a little bit of my paycheck and putting it away, by the time I was in my 30s, I could have had a lot of money saved up.
And it was at that point in time that I felt empowered, that you don’t have to be rich to start investing, that anybody can become rich and gain wealth. I just felt a sense of hope that my future could be brighter than my past.
I want that same empowerment, that same sense of hope to be spread across all who read this book, because everybody has a choice. I want to help them make the right choices that give them the life that they’ve always wanted.
CN: How did your experience playing professional basketball shape your life today and has it had any significance on your financial career?
NM: As I get older, reflecting back, the opportunity and blessing to play basketball at the professional level was just remarkable. And it was a fun journey. I think when you’re young and you get to travel the world, you realize how great this world is, and there’s a lot of really good people with a lot of really great, beautiful places to see.
Traveling, living overseas gives you perspective on the life that you want, because you get introduced to so many different cultures and people and lifestyles. It really helps you become grounded in what you want and what’s important to you.
Also, when you’re a professional athlete, just the consistent discipline that it takes is very similar to business and money. You also have to find a purpose and cause greater than yourself.
CN: Can you tell us about your family?
NM: I’ve got a great family. My wife is incredible. Not only is she my wife, and we’re going through this journey of life together, but she’s also my business partner. We own companies together, which is a lot of fun. And then we’ve got four kids. Dagan is 19, our oldest son. Then we have our little girl, Kinsley Blake, who is 9, Brooks is 5, and Everly, our baby girl, is one and a half.
We have a real active family. They love being outside. They love extracurricular activities from gymnastics to swimming to baseball.
We’ve got big gaps in our ages - our kids - which is actually a blessing because as the kids get older, we get to do all the fun stuff with the older kids. But then we have younger kids who still love to snuggle and hug and kiss mom and dad. So it’s a great mixture of both.
CN: Can you comment on the closing section of each chapter where you apply what you’ve written to your own family?
NM: This was fun. I wanted the book to be different in the sense I wanted (it) to come alive. I wanted to give people an opportunity to know more about Chelsea and me and our life.
At the end of each chapter, we have a QR code where we have additional information, not only videos, activities, but also more writing about that specific chapter and how it relates to our life. Not only success stories in our life, but overcoming challenges, mistakes that we make. We’ve learned a lot along the way.
I told Chelsea before the book came out, even if the book doesn’t do well, it’s like we’re talking to our kids. Many years down the road, if something ever happens to us, it’s great life advice.
CN: What are you hoping the book accomplishes for people?
NM: This book is not written just for people who are struggling from paycheck to paycheck, but I’ve met a lot of people who have a lot of money, who have a sense of emptiness - people who have worked a long time to get to a certain milestone when it comes to money, and they get there, and it’s not what they thought it would be.
This book is geared for many different people and many different walks and chapters of life. Their future can be brighter than their past.
And also, we live in a world now where, with technology - which is wonderful - it’s almost like paralysis by analysis. There’s so much information out there. What works?
People want to do the right thing. They’re trying to do the right thing. They just don’t know what to do. That’s what I want to show them, that this is a proven way that will help them not only become rich with money, but rich in a lot of areas of their life.
That’s the main goal, to help people. Throughout my life, I’ve had so many people help me and help us. I’ve stumbled upon all this information and what works, and I just want to pass it on.
CN: Do you have plans for a follow-up?
NM: I haven’t really thought about plans for a follow-up, to be honest with you. The book’s quick success and rise to multiple bestseller lists has been such a blessing.
Yes, the accolades are nice with all the awards and the spotlight or notoriety of the book, but you know what’s really been amazing is not that. It’s the overflow of success stories and testimonials and people leaving reviews, whether it’s on Amazon.com or they’re emailing us directly, people telling us how much this book has helped them, how much this book has brought joy and inspiration and started to improve their life.
It’s not just a book. It’s something that’s a tool, a guide that can help people live a better life.
We’re doing a bunch of speaking engagements to talk about the book - at churches, business groups, membership clubs, masterminds, radio and TV shows, retirement groups. That’s fun because I really love doing that and getting to talk with people.
CN: Any additional thoughts/comments?
NM: We’re so grateful for all the support and encouragement.
We want to give you a free gift, even if you don’t buy the book. Go to www.richbychoicebook.com www.richbychoicebook.com.
There, in the home page you’ll see a big green square that says (“Get Your Free Gift Here”) free gift. Click on it. Put in your email address and click one of the chapters.
It’ll email you a PDF. I like the compounding chapter, the faith chapter, all these chapters are really good - and what I love about them is they’re short. Then, at the end there are simple activities and exercises and strategies that you can use that will greatly improve your life.
It’s our gift to you. Take advantage of it.
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