An Introduction

Over the last two years, I’ve been posting daily market charts to our Facebook group, writing Borrow Smart blog posts, sending information to industry thought leaders, and sharing best practices with our group of students, all while expanding marketing content to realtors and financial advisors. It’s a lot!

I’m realizing what almost everyone wants is the biggest impact in the simplest way possible. You don’t have time to scour multiple locations, so after much consideration, I’m consolidating my favorite weekly posts into a newsletter called The Borrow Smart Chronicles.

Who?

I’m Todd Ballenger, a lifelong student and teacher. I’m a serial entrepreneur, starting over nine companies with four exits that include taking one public as a NASDAQ IPO, selling one to a Fortune 500 company, and selling two more to private equity groups.

I’ve written books and developed mortgage lending strategies, content, training, and tools used by some of the largest financial services companies in the world. That said, I love being a student, and I love teaching more than any other vocation; it’s where work stops being work for me. I’m now a professor and have the privilege to lead a group of 2,000 college students at the world’s largest research university, while also leading adult students through a variety of courses I’ve created at Borrow Smart University.

What?

This is an experiment for me. Why would you want to be a part of my experiment? Maybe you share my goal to make more money, to be healthier, to have better relationships, to make a bigger impact on the world within and around you, or to simply be.

These are some of the many goals that have been central to my time at the Earth School, and I’ve had the incredible good fortune to meet mentors and teachers who have had a profound impact on my development.

My intent here is to organize expressions of this particularized mind in such a way that you can eat what you like. My aspirations are simply that you receive some nutrition here with each release and that I’m also fed by learning more about myself along the way.

These musings will likely span new thoughts (originating with me) and new to me (thoughts originating with others). They’ll largely revolve around the 3-Sided Balance Sheet (Liabilites, Real Estate, and Assets), and the work I’m doing to elevate this bag of water named Todd into a better human being.

These thoughts may be shared with or without commentary, and I’ll provide attribution if it is not obvious in the post; otherwise, assume these are my thoughts and do with them what you will.

When?

My expectation is that I take all the key moments across various inquiries I’m involved with and share them with you weekly in this newsletter/journal.

Where?

I post in many places, but I’ll synthesize it within this newsletter that will come to your inbox so you don’t have to search for it. I chose beehiiv as a newsletter service because our metaphor for learning is the hive and the bee. In our Hives we waggle as a group and share what’s working now; a hive mind can learn faster than any individual, and we are all dependent on each other.

Why?

I realized that writing and speaking and coaching and teaching are all forms of gratitude—ways to give back and share through a variety of mediums. I enjoy sharing what I’ve learned and what I’m learning—to be a fountain and not a drain, and this seemed like an interesting format to begin.

I have had two great mental fascinations since childhood: money and spirit.

I estimate that I have invested about 35,000 hours exploring money, finance, and wealth creation through the lens of real estate and borrowing.

I estimate that I have booked about 9,000 hours inquiring into the nature of god, spirit, reality, meditation, personal development, and Zen practices through the lens of Who Am I?

Much of what is shared will be through the lens of these two primary fascinations. Food is not nutrition. The food is here for you to eat, but as Yoda would say “engage it you must’ as that’s the only way this food becomes nutrition for you.

Yours to count on,

Todd

PS — Some information in this newsletter will be gated for premium members who are part of our CLA Designation Course, FAST Certification Course, or our HIVE Coaching program. I hope you understand that their support helps make this possible… and I promise you will find something in every newsletter that you find actionable in some way.The