Utkarsh Narang (00:02.669) here there's some background noise coming from... Utkarsh Narang (00:08.321) Welcome to another episode of the IgnitedNeurons podcast. Today is a very different one. You don't see me in a black jacket and the person on the other side is 16 years old. So as I was preparing for this conversation, I was thinking to myself, if I were to ask Jia, Jia, what would that eight year old self come and talk to you about? I will be intrigued for that answer. But before we get to that, if you're someone who is in your teenage years and is wanting to achieve financial freedom, then this episode is for you. Jia Rastogi (00:09.474) you Thank you. Utkarsh Narang (00:36.899) If you're a parent who wants to influence your teenager to put them on a path of writing a book, of going from class clown to wealth wizard, and want to have them buy their first property at about 18 or 19 years old in Australia, then this episode is for you. Hi Jia, how are you today? I'm very well. I'm looking forward to this conversation. I was thinking through what... So you're 16 years old. Jia Rastogi (00:39.596) Thank you. Jia Rastogi (00:50.766) you Jia Rastogi (00:57.494) I'm good, thank you. How are you? Jia Rastogi (01:06.168) Yeah. Utkarsh Narang (01:06.369) My eldest son is 14. And for me, it's a very unique experience to be interviewing someone who's in that age group. And I'd love for you to use, if there is a lingo that I don't understand, use that lingo that you would use as your within your peer group, because that'll be a learning for me. Does that, does that work? Awesome. Let's go for it. Let's go for it. So the first question here that we typically ask is that if that eight year old self were to come and meet you right now, Jia Rastogi (01:15.138) Mm-hmm. Jia Rastogi (01:25.39) Yeah awesome I'm so excited. Jia Rastogi (01:35.778) Mm-hmm. Utkarsh Narang (01:36.139) What kind of a conversation will emerge between you and that eight-year-old Jia Jia Rastogi (01:40.684) I think probably just like the wow factor. I think since yet I was eight years old, I'm now 16. So over that last eight years, I think I've done and achieved so many things that my eight year old self would just be like, wow, like just keep going. And it's just amazing what you're doing and just keep pushing through. Utkarsh Narang (02:01.891) Hmm. Did as an as an eight year old, did you ever imagine to be writing books or to be going down that path? Like picture this for like like make us make us really visualize this because at eight years old you're playing with your dolls, you're playing maybe footy, you're playing basketball, you're just growing up as a little almost baby, right? Eight years, eight years is very young. So yeah, what what happened between eight and 16 that this happened? Jia Rastogi (02:24.365) Yeah. Jia Rastogi (02:28.91) honestly it's probably the influence from my parents like because of how much they've been able like the knowledge and the mindset that they've been able to put into me it's that's what's motivated me to keep going especially because obviously I didn't expect me to be doing all of this when I was eight years old it was I didn't know much about property or financial freedom or financial literacy it was all very new topics and honestly if she saw me now then it'd be very very different. Utkarsh Narang (03:01.379) And so we will divide this conversation into different parts, right? I want to find out first understand that when your parents were speaking to your eight year old self and your 10 year old self and your 12 year old self, how did that conversation kind of open up? Because my understanding is that if a parent is trying to convince a 10 year old or a 12 year old to do something that might have a long-term gratification, right? To attach to it. It's not like, I want a chocolate right now. Let me go to Kohl's and buy one. It's more like, can you start saving right now for it to compound and for you to be able to buy a property? So how did how did this idea settle in for you as a a 10, 12 year old? Jia Rastogi (03:45.272) I think it was more about how hardworking I already was. When I was eight years old, I was willing to put myself out there. I did a lot of swimming, netball. I still do netball, but just putting myself out there and having that hard working-ness. I also did the selective test, which is in New South Wales in year six. I'm not sure what age that was, but I had to work a lot and put a lot of my energy and time into that. And then I'm able to see the benefits I've gotten out of that, like having the awesome school community now. I'm able to have that, like those benefits and like be grateful for those. Utkarsh Narang (04:28.387) So, so I'm understanding that you were already a hardworking kid who when given the right kind of environment for the right kind of nudges was able to stay on the path is what I'm understanding. Jia Rastogi (04:39.214) 100%. But I think it wasn't just me coming, like not just me from within, it was also my influences. Like the support community I had, my friends, my parents, they were all able to like influence me in the right way and then like empower me to do even more. Utkarsh Narang (05:00.835) Where are these these kids? Because you know how and I'll be very honest. I want to have like a candid conversation with you as as a parent to two kids who are 14 and 11. Part of me is always worried for them that they're surrounded by a lot of technology, a lot of tiktock, a lot of YouTube, a lot of so much that they might lose their edge. Does that does that does that like so? So how how did how did that play out for you between 10 and now? Jia Rastogi (05:06.926) Mm-hmm. Jia Rastogi (05:29.356) Definitely. So when I was 12, I think, in year seven, that's when COVID hit. So that's when we were able to have the technology and all of that. We were very exposed to that. But I think definitely I've been a victim of social media, TikTok, all of that, the endless scrolling. But it's more about having the motivation on the side of that and then knowing what your why is and then focusing your energy on that. Utkarsh Narang (05:58.915) Hmm. Jia Rastogi (05:58.976) rather than just wasting time on social media. Utkarsh Narang (06:02.307) So for a 40 year old, this makes sense that you have to know your why and I understand where this is coming from. But how does your brain function for it? And help me understand through your peer group, right? Because not everyone in your peer group might have a why and it's not wrong for them to not have a why, but it's better for you to have a why, right? So how does that dynamic play out for you? Jia Rastogi (06:07.49) Yeah. Jia Rastogi (06:29.09) Yeah, I think for my peer group now, we're very like academic focused because it is a selective school. So we're all working towards our HSC. And so we do have that like motivation or that like the reason why we need to be hardworking. So then it was just like, for me, it was more just changing the direction of the energy that I was putting in. So focusing more on the long term rather than just getting it. Utkarsh Narang (06:36.099) Mm. Jia Rastogi (06:59.32) good ATAR, a good uni degree and then get a good job after that. Utkarsh Narang (07:04.643) Hmm. And so you're saying that even as a 16 year old right now, you're thinking more long term than that's just the eight hours quarter, just the uni degree is, is that what are you saying? Jia Rastogi (07:15.328) Yeah, exactly. And because now with the modern age, there's just so many more opportunities, there's so many more ways to make money, you know, like even Shark Tank, you're looking at all these like business ideas, how people have actually done it. And so then using that and knowing that that's also a pathway to go rather than just getting a job and being stuck in the nine to five. Utkarsh Narang (07:38.989) Mm-hmm. Utkarsh Narang (07:43.171) How does one nudge a 16 year old who does not have this clarity, who does not know what their why is, who does not care about Shark tank or financial freedom? These are big terms, right? So how would you help someone and let's maybe go through that journey and help me understand. How does one influence a 16 year old who does not want to invest themselves in understanding a why? Jia Rastogi (07:54.008) Yeah. Jia Rastogi (08:07.576) Definitely. I think for me, it wasn't just, it didn't just come up when I was 16 and say, now you're 16, start doing all these things, you know? It was more like over the years, I was taught this like mindset and like all this knowledge, I was taught it. And like even seeing it myself, I was able to witness the impacts of this, the benefits of it. And even like the... cost of not doing it, you know, the opportunity cost if I wasn't like putting my direction, like my energy into one direction. So I think it was more about like over the years, it wasn't just something that I learned when I was 16 and now I'm doing it. It's something that has been taught to me from day one. Utkarsh Narang (08:53.133) Hmm. Hmm. Utkarsh Narang (08:57.923) So give me a few examples, Jia, because I'm really interested if say we're about 10 minutes into the conversation and if the parents who are listening or teenagers who are listening, they're still with us here and they feel this is a conversation that they can listen to till the end of the next whatever time we spend. What do you think are some real time behaviors you saw, some actions you saw, some things that you were influenced by, maybe stories, books? I don't know what that might look like. So can you share a little bit more on that? Jia Rastogi (09:28.844) Yeah, so for me, like one of the main things was, you know, learning risk and reward. So all the energy and like time I put into studying for selective, I was able to see what I had gotten from that by getting into the admission of the school. Or even just a very simple, simple example, when I was eight years old, actually, that's when Utkarsh Narang (09:46.317) Mm. Jia Rastogi (09:53.036) my dad was renovating one of his investment properties and my family went to go see his project and he said like if you help paint this door then I'll give you a cupcake. So obviously I wanted the cupcake so I went and did whatever I had to to get the cupcake. So just like that those are just some small learnings that helped put me into the mindset of risk and reward or like you have to be hard working. you need to know why you're doing it. Like if my dad said help me paint this door like more hands the merrier I maybe would have done it but I don't know if I would have but knowing that there's the reward of having the cupcake that's what motivated me to keep going and actually help. Utkarsh Narang (10:43.179) I love that idea. you, you saw that by putting in the hard work, by putting in some effort, whether it was to paint in the door, whether it was to study for your exams really well, the selective exams, there was a reward at the end of the tunnel. And that's what prompted and motivated you to do that. What else did, did they influence you with some stories? Were, was, was the content that you were watching, was that, supporting you in any, any, any way? Jia Rastogi (10:57.272) Mm-hmm. Jia Rastogi (11:10.446) Yeah, so firstly, the content thing, I have a younger sister. So with her, I was still watching movies, you know, doing what an eight year old would do. But my parents, started a business in 2020. And that's when I was first really getting exposed to the idea of owning a business or the idea of making multiple streams of income. So that's when I first learned like Utkarsh Narang (11:19.725) Glad to hear that. Utkarsh Narang (11:34.947) Hmm. Jia Rastogi (11:38.378) the other opportunities that you have rather than just being employed and working under a boss. Utkarsh Narang (11:46.47) Got it, got it. And so you're doing all the things that the eight to 16 year old Jia would do, having fun with your younger sister, said, and then still understanding these nuances of what does owning a business look like and things like that. Now, this idea that risk reward and the reward will kind of prompt you to do something. I'm seeing a shift in you and this could be just an observation and you can dismiss it on the podcast. We feel very comfortable having this open conversation. The shift is that maybe the nine or 10 year old Jia would have painted a door just because she would get a cupcake. But now the 16 year old Jia is self-driven. She reached out to me twice or thrice. I think we had multiple conversations, email exchanges that I want to be on the podcast and Utkarsh how can we make this happen? So that is something, there's no cupcake here, right? I'm not sending you a cupcake at the end of this conversation. So what shifted that that extrinsic motivation Jia Rastogi (12:38.222) Yeah. Utkarsh Narang (12:44.279) And these are, these are big concepts of psychology, which you would have played through, but maybe we'll yeah. So what helped you shift from the extrinsic motivation of the cupcake to the intrinsic motivation that I need this. Jia Rastogi (12:58.84) I think it's maybe about the like having the trust. I know that it's just like for the example you said being on the podcast, I know that would be a good thing for me. It will be a learning experience, confidence booster. It'll help your audience as well. So then I have the trust in what I'm doing and the actions I'm taking to say like, yes, it'll be a good thing in the future. Do you know what I mean? Like it's more about having, cause obviously I don't. Utkarsh Narang (13:23.245) Mm-hmm. Yeah. Jia Rastogi (13:28.406) always come up with like all the things that I do. Like I've had my parents tell me like this would be a cool thing but then like a cool thing to do. So I'm the one who's trusting them in saying yes I should do it because I have that trust in them again. Utkarsh Narang (13:44.547) Fascinating. I love where this conversation is going. So we spoke about reward, then we're speaking about this idea that now from going from that extrinsic motivation, you've reached a place where you understand that how an action of yours could lead to a reward at the end. And the reward might not be a cupcake, but it would be something else. I appreciate that. Awesome. Jia Rastogi (14:05.634) Yeah, yeah, definitely. Utkarsh Narang (14:10.273) The title of the book, whenever I, and thank you for sending the copy. Whenever I look at it, I feel intrigued. What made you write about being a class clown, if I remember the name correctly, to a wealth wizard? What, what played through that? Jia Rastogi (14:21.89) Yeah. Yeah, so obviously the story isn't about me myself, but it is a nonfiction fiction book. So it's about that transformation that the main character Sam had from high school until his high school reunion 20 years later. So then it was more about showing that transformation that even if you are a class clown, you can still make something even better version of yourself. And like showing that as well, like it's a regular Aussie who's just trying to do something good for themselves and they're able to do it because of the actions they've taken and the mindset that they've instilled in themselves. Utkarsh Narang (15:04.343) You're again, again, very, very seamlessly and very easily using this word mindset. But again, for a 16 year old, it's a big word. So my mind is like, again, taking me back to this idea that Jia is just 16 years old, which is a young age. This whole idea about building the mindset, what kind of mindset do you operate with if you were to define your own mindset? Jia Rastogi (15:09.42) Mm. Jia Rastogi (15:28.834) That's a good question. I don't think I've ever been asked that one specifically. But I think more about the law of attraction. I'm sure you might have heard of or read the book The Secret or it's on Netflix as well. But it's basically about what you think about like positive thinking will lead to positive outcomes. So having those positive thoughts always, not always, but like as much as you can. Utkarsh Narang (15:32.941) Mm-hmm. Utkarsh Narang (15:41.538) Yes. Jia Rastogi (15:56.428) more than your negative thoughts and then that's what will be attracted to you in the universe. Utkarsh Narang (16:02.115) Yeah, for listeners who are listening, we're actually being honest here. Jia is 16 years old. She just has this beautiful view of the world, which I truly appreciate Jia. So thank you for sharing that. I want to have us go to this idea of financial freedom. I don't think there's a human being on the planet who does not desire / dream of financial freedom. Some are comfortable speaking about it and some... Jia Rastogi (16:08.558) Okay. Jia Rastogi (16:19.074) Mm-hmm. Utkarsh Narang (16:31.107) have it hidden in their heart's desire to reach that state. If you were to really simplify it, what does financial freedom really mean, Jia Rastogi (16:40.814) That's an awesome question. think there is a bit of a... People don't really know what the meaning of financial freedom is. People, when they think of that, it's basically them retiring from their job and just sitting around on the beach, having drinks, doing whatever they want to do. they're just not working. And that's what they envision financial freedom to do. That's what it is. But I want to change that definition. I think financial freedom is what gives you the opportunities. It's what is actually allowing you to do whatever you want it to do. Like say for example, I want to be like a painter, but I might know that I don't have, like I can't make enough income from being a painter for it to work for me. So I might just leave that aside and just not do anything with it. But the point of financial freedom is having those streams of income so then that's making you money and then it allows you to do whatever you want to do so then I can finally be a painter because that's what I actually want to do rather than doing whatever I have to just to make the money to make myself a living. Utkarsh Narang (18:02.145) Interesting. So what you're saying is if someone's educated themselves to be an engineer and they are a product manager, they've done their MBA and they're 28, 30 years old, they do their work. They spend 12 hours a day on work. mean, Australia has rules around work-life balance, but the other parts of the world don't. And they love to travel, but they have to end up Jia Rastogi (18:09.43) Mm-hmm. Jia Rastogi (18:27.459) Mm-hmm. Utkarsh Narang (18:29.089) being product managers because they have to support a family, buy a house or whatever that might look like for them. But what are you saying? Financial freedom to that person, Jamie maybe. What financial freedom to Jamie would be is that they have enough money so that they can choose to do whatever they want to choose, which is to travel or not. Is that correct? Jia Rastogi (18:50.516) Yeah, that's exactly what I mean. Like even for me that example relates because I want to be able to travel in the future. So for me, I need to be able to make money elsewhere, have that passive income, so I can do what I want to do, like traveling around the world. Utkarsh Narang (19:07.715) Okay, so we've understood this idea of financial freedom. Let's go one step. So the next step to me, the next question that arises in my mind is, why should a 16 year old or a 20 year old be worried about financial freedom? you have, and I'm playing the devil's advocate, I understand the concept, but I want to play the devil's advocate here and say, let me get to 35 and then I'll think of financial freedom. What's the harm with that, Jia? Jia Rastogi (19:32.706) Mm-hmm. I think the important thing is starting earlier. And it's not just about when you want to, that's when you start. I think even for me or like anyone of my friends or anyone my age, they might not know what they want to do with the future yet, but they know that they definitely want to do something in the future. So then, and for that, you have to have the money and it's not just about money. You also want to invest in your knowledge, your mindset and If you don't invest in it now, then it's not going to be able to compound into something even better. And I mentioned compounding because it's basically like a plant. So if I plant a seed into the ground and I say, and I water that plant every single day for the first month or two, I might not see a single sprout or a leaf or anything. I'm just... practically watering some dirt. But then after like in two months, you might see that there's so much coming out of it or maybe even like further down the track, like a year, two years, you'll see so much coming out of it. And then like 10 years, 20 years later, you might see a tree and that's giving you fruits. So it's like getting that back. So even though right now you're watering some dirt in the future, you'll be receiving those fruits from your hard work from now. Utkarsh Narang (21:07.149) Yeah, sorry, that example is very, very beautifully shared. recently, not recently, four months ago, put some eggplant seeds in our backyard. The first, I think, eight weeks, there was nothing there. And then the next two weeks, four weeks, there was a plant, but it was just a plant and you would feel like, there's never gonna be an eggplant out of this. And the last six weeks, we've had about two to three eggplants a week. Jia Rastogi (21:17.431) Mm-hmm. Jia Rastogi (21:28.664) Yeah. Utkarsh Narang (21:33.379) And now we try and figure out like, what do we do with so many accounts? But I agree with what you're saying. So we've understood this idea of compounding. And what you're saying is that the younger you start this idea of compounding, the larger will be the outcome that you'll be able to build through that. But how does one start? Because say, okay, let me take my son's example. He gets some pocket money each month, maybe $100, $200, whatever that might look like. He has Jia Rastogi (21:33.428) You Jia Rastogi (21:49.272) Definitely. Utkarsh Narang (22:01.983) some savings that he has been able to build say $3,000. Now with just that amount of money it'll feel overwhelming that what can what can $50 or $200 a month do so give me like a real example let's think of another person let's call them Lauren I don't know why these names are emerging in my head let's look at Lauren she's 16 years old she gets a pocket money and you decide the amount how does she look at compounding Jia Rastogi (22:23.702) No. Jia Rastogi (22:31.886) Okay, so let's say it's like $50 that she's getting every month, let's say. so basically she'll like... The importance is to save the money, right? Because of course you're still gonna want to spend the money because if you're getting $50 I'm sure there's not a single 16 year old who will save the entire $50 and I wouldn't say to do that either. Utkarsh Narang (22:55.331) Correct. Utkarsh Narang (23:00.821) Mm. Mm. Jia Rastogi (23:00.914) I don't personally either. And I think the main part is just having that consistency. Say every month I'll save like out of the 50 dollars I'll save 20 dollars. That's 40 percent and I'll put that aside and in the future I can use that to invest even if that's investing in my knowledge or if it's investing like with money. So then having Utkarsh Narang (23:14.659) Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Utkarsh Narang (23:24.856) Hmm. Hmm. Jia Rastogi (23:29.994) Even if you don't know what you're doing with it now, I think the consistency and the amount of times that you put that money aside, the bigger it's going to grow. And then when you do know, if you don't know now, then when you do know, then you have a lot of money to put into that outcome, if that makes sense. Utkarsh Narang (23:50.563) It absolutely does. So what you're saying is that build a habit young, which is to save some amount and the number that you chose was 40%. But do you find that and save that money so that a it builds habit and then over a period of say two to three years by the time you're 18, you'd have saved enough to start investing in whatever that might look like. And I love what you shared here, which is that it at times it's okay to also invest in your knowledge because that might have a 10x or 100x Jia Rastogi (23:55.352) Mm-hmm. Jia Rastogi (24:11.086) Yeah. Utkarsh Narang (24:20.501) output if you invest in the right skill. What has worked for you? Because it still feels like almost unbelievable that someone at the age of say between 18 and 20 years would be on their way to buying a property. So what worked for Jia? Jia Rastogi (24:23.768) Mm-hmm. Jia Rastogi (24:38.818) I think for me it was more about, again, having that trust. Like my parents were the one who were saying, it'd be better if you're saving and putting that money aside. At first, of course, I didn't really know what they were saying. I wanted to spend the money. But having that trust in the concept, the concept of compounding and saving, and then using that to keep on saving. So for example, my friends, A lot of them have jobs and we actually have a patrol pump across the road. So I see a lot of my friends who are always, you know, going across the street during our breaks and then, you know, buying a coffee or buying a hot chocolate or buying like some lollies. And I obviously don't say it out loud, but I begin to question like where exactly, like how do you have the capacity to be spending that much every single day? And of course, I'm not saying that I never go across the street to buy food. I do as well, but it's more about having that habit and having the motivation to just keep putting aside that money and having that number. Like maybe every week I'll spend $10 at the servo and then having that resistance because you know that the rest of the money is going to a good place. Utkarsh Narang (25:57.655) Yeah. Utkarsh Narang (26:04.963) Yeah, yeah, it's a great example, Jian. I often question and I know I'd read it somewhere, but it's been stuck in my head for the longest that instead of going out and buying a cup of coffee for $6, if I start investing that $6 into Bitcoin, and I'm not promoting cryptocurrency, that's a personal choice. But if you were to do something like that over 10 years, that coffee is gone to dust, right? But that investment would make something out of it. And as you pointed out, it's not that you never enjoy a cup of coffee outside in the cafe, but it's where do you find your balance? I think that's what's challenging. Jia Rastogi (26:41.184) Exactly. Yeah, and I think mentioning balance as well, it's about mentioning the short-term satisfaction and the long-term satisfaction. So how much do you want to put into each one and focusing on keeping that balance to make sure that everything is still going in the right direction? Utkarsh Narang (26:50.306) Yeah. Utkarsh Narang (27:00.587) I did not imagine having this conversation with a 16 year old, but I often wonder where is the limit of your kind of contentment, right? It can come from not spending much and it can come from spending $100 a day and still feel like I don't get to spend enough. So it's a, yeah, it's a balance that I think lies for each one for their own, but everyone should at least aim to achieve that balance at the earliest. Jia Rastogi (27:25.326) Mm-hmm. Jia Rastogi (27:30.936) Definitely. Utkarsh Narang (27:32.003) Beautiful. This idea of buying a property to our listeners in Australia, it might make sense, but I moved to Australia only two years ago. So moving from India to Australia, it was always questioned that do you really need to invest in a property because the property, the depreciation or the increase or the maintenance costs, there's so many if then scenarios there, but what's your perspective? How do you find investing in properties? valuable and how do you approach this? Jia Rastogi (28:03.884) Yeah, so I think it comes back to what we mentioned before, the financial freedom. So I'm like you mentioned, everyone wants financial freedom. And I think property is just one of the ways that you can achieve that. I'm not saying it's the best way and the only way. It's just the way that I personally believe is the right path for me, but I'm not saying it's the right path for you. So it's more about taking the property is what's making the money alongside. Like I don't have a property but I wouldn't have to touch or like do anything to that property to keep making money. I don't need to you know ring the tenant every single day saying is my property fine but like in that sense it's not something that you're doing every single second of the day to keep getting that money. It's more about putting that investment in and getting the fruits from that investment without having to like water the plant every day. So especially having the right team around you, even though you have to pay a bit more to get a mortgage broker or like a property manager, they're the ones who manage it for you. And then they can do the work for you while you make the profits. Utkarsh Narang (29:17.271) Right. Yeah. Yeah, it's interesting. So one way you're saying is investing in properties. What other ways would you recommend our listeners, Jia, they were to achieve and try and achieve and go as broad and as wide as you want to or as narrow up to you. But if someone were to be listening right now and thinking, I want to be financially free. What are some of the paths that they can look at? Jia Rastogi (29:44.652) Yeah, so of course this isn't financial advice, but there's also like shares that is often talked about or cryptocurrency, even starting your own business, even though that does take a bit more effort. Having those like those first two years where you scale up the business and then make it pass it down to other people to manage, then that also counts as an investment. But there's also a bunch of other ways like, you know, Like my dad's done this before when he was younger, he bought some comic books from a store and then he used to rent it to his friends for like 10 cents per day and then he was able to make money. Of course, that's a very simple example and people probably don't use comic books anymore. Yeah. Utkarsh Narang (30:29.347) Yeah, but you could find something else that is in that domain. I agree with that. And yeah, absolutely. This is not financial advice. are not, we don't know who is listening and what their current state is. So they should not take this on as going in and doing what you and I speaking about. As you now go through this journey, how do your peers feel about this? Because I'm pretty sure you opened up to them in a certain way. And so what Jia Rastogi (30:49.038) Mm-hmm. Utkarsh Narang (30:55.861) What do you see? Like, do they get inspired? Do feel like, let Jia do her thing? We're not interested. Jia Rastogi (31:01.592) Yeah, I think it was more at the start. So I only published my book last year in October, so in year 11. And before then, not a lot of people knew about what I was doing outside of school or what I'd been working towards. Like writing the book was a big, big task. And so I think it came with a lot of shock when people did find out. And then also encouragement. Like I had told my closest friends, Utkarsh Narang (31:06.465) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Jia Rastogi (31:31.224) But it wasn't something that I had, you know, gone around and blurted out to everyone because honestly, I wasn't, I was still doubtful about myself. Like, I wasn't too sure if that was something that I wanted to do until I kept doing it, if that makes sense. Like, I knew people wouldn't really trust me at the time. So it was more about like making my own thing and then showing it to people, like what I've done. So not just shock. and not, but also like encouragement. And there was of course some people who, well, seemingly to me that they were jealous as well. Like, wow, she's doing so much. I wish I could do that. Utkarsh Narang (32:11.555) Yeah. How do you manage at 16 years old to be writing a book, to be thinking about your investments / your property, to be maybe supporting your parents in their business, to be then being in a selective school, to be then think of what you need, do you want to and what not want to go? How do you, what keeps you sane through all of this? Jia Rastogi (32:33.742) Probably my parents and my sister. think my sister always brings out the more childish aspect of me. I'm always eager to have fun with her. But then my parents also help keep my direction. So they're the ones guiding me through what I should and should not be doing. If I was to make a decision, then they're there to help me. Like what are the pros and cons of you doing this and what are the pros and cons of you not doing this? Utkarsh Narang (33:06.275) Okay, so that's that's more more of emotional support and you should clip this part and send it to your sister so that she feels that she got a shout out on the on the podcast. it's amazing. So we'll absolutely try and do that. But what beyond that? Like, do you build some systems? Do you use some productivity hacks? What what keeps you on track? Jia Rastogi (33:11.182) She always loves that. Jia Rastogi (33:26.294) Yeah, so I definitely have a to-do list and I think it's the most fun thing ever when I get to tick off my to-do list. I know a lot of people say it and it's probably cliche but there is a lot of joy in that. Sometimes I do something that's not on my to-do list so I write it down just for me to tick it off despite me already doing it. But yeah, I think having that to-do list is very important and then focusing and also the main part is keeping the priority as well. So if I have 10 things on my to-do list, I'll try to focus on the things that is most important, if that makes sense. Utkarsh Narang (34:04.131) Hmm. Yeah, it does. It does. So, so the to-do list is really helpful. And I agree striking through or cutting when you get things done is, is, is, is pure bliss. It's, it's joy. And then, then you spoke about your parents and your sister, they keep you on track, which is great to hear. Is your sister on a similar path or is she a very different person from who you are? Jia Rastogi (34:25.838) I think, well she's in year eight, so just starting out, and she's very, very hardworking. She used to do gymnastics where she did like almost 20 hours per week, so very, hardworking. But definitely I think she's still yet to find something to really put her niche into and then focus on that completely. But definitely there's a bright future for her. Utkarsh Narang (34:52.835) She has a good role model walking along the path with her. So I'm pretty sure that she'll also find something that's beautiful and meaningful at the right time. If not, Jia we've spoken about financial literacy, compounding. We spoke about all that one needs to do, how to differentiate between the short term / the long term gratification. But say a few years from now, typically when I have guests in their 30s and 40s and maybe 50s and sometimes even in 80s, But for a 16 year old, it might be a very difficult question. So I'm going to modify it. What I typically ask is if the 80 year old Jia, eight zero, which is in about 64 years, if my math tells me right, 64 years from now, instead of asking you that, if your future self, say a few decades from now, were to come back and give you one piece of advice on how to lead the next few decades, what would that Jia say to you? Jia Rastogi (35:46.786) I think maybe, honestly, no one's ever asked me this question, but I think it's a very meaningful question. But probably just take it easy and keep going. Because I'm like, I don't know for certain right now, but I do believe that I'm leading myself on the right path, especially towards success because and financial freedom, because I do want to. you know, travel around the world in the future, maybe even run my own business, support a family. So all those things and with all the actions that I'm taking now, I'm very hopeful and grateful for what's going to come and hopefully it all works out. Utkarsh Narang (36:31.203) Amazing. So to our listeners, based on the wisdom that we've heard over the last few minutes, I think take that elder Jia's advice. Take it easy. Keep going. The journey is worth it. wherever you're trying to get to, you have, Jia, you spoke about this, if you have the right actions and the mindset, then you shall get there. Amazing. Jia Rastogi (36:53.624) Exactly. Utkarsh Narang (36:55.757) For listeners who are listening on a podcast platform, do like, share, and comment. We'll put all the links that you can find Jia on, her book, everything else in the show notes so you can access that. And if you're on YouTube, we have to appease to the algorithm gods. That's the way a channel grows. So do like, share, and subscribe, and it'll mean the world to you, to us, and to you as well, maybe. Jia, any parting words before we close our conversation? Jia Rastogi (37:20.536) I think definitely financial freedom is accessible and available for everyone. You know, in my book, even the class clown was able to achieve financial freedom. So definitely, if you have the right mindset, the actions and the knowledge, and the team around you, if you have that support community around you to help you keep going, then financial freedom is definitely something you can achieve as well. Utkarsh Narang (37:44.269) Beautiful cheering you on Jia and always looking at all that you will be doing over the next few weeks, months and years. And till we meet again, thank you so much. Jia Rastogi (37:53.602) Thank you. Utkarsh Narang (37:57.494) Amazing