"I Got RICH When I Understood THIS..." (Principles For Success & Money) | Wallstreet Trapper

He describes growing up in an environment where violence and survival “protocols” were normalized (e.g., knowing what to do when gunshots happen), and says that kind of trauma becomes learned behavior that gets repeated and taught forward.

He says he entered prison at 16 with a 10-year sentence for attempted murder after being robbed, and explains that in his environment you’re taught that failing to retaliate makes you “fair game,” which reinforced a cycle of violence and incarceration.

He says a cellmate who had been imprisoned for embezzlement told him to stop trading time for money, learn to make money work for him, and learn to give value to people; hearing this reframed how he viewed the “game” he’d been playing.

He describes teaching himself investing by reading (including Rich Dad, Poor Dad), watching CNBC, and using analogies from the streets (product, profit, and “moat”) to understand stocks and business fundamentals.

After release, he says he initially returned to the streets because legal work felt too slow, but later committed to quitting after near-death experiences and years of fighting cases, eventually building stable income through iron work while continuing to invest.