"You are who you hang out with"

Greetings from a coffee shop somewhere in the mountains of New Mexico.

This morning I received and email that took me back a few years ago.  I  was quickly reminded of my old blog “WealthLifelines.”  A few years ago I had a blog that focused on building relationships in order to build “wealth” in all areas of life.  I still believe that is the most important success factor.

I continue to tell my students, “being successful in whatever you do depends on your ability to build relationships.  Not just ‘business card’ relationships but deep, meaningful relationships.”

I think there are two people spreading the “relationship” gospel best…..Keith Ferrazzi and Tim Sanders.

If you are not familiar with Tim Sanders…..I would encourage you to start now.

I first learned about Tim Sanders when I picked up his book Likability Factor which I highly recommend.  Then I read Love is the Killer App.  Another excellent book.  I have not read his new book Saving the World at Work….but that is next.

Tim spreads the word about how crucial relationships are to our success in business…but most of all, in life.  We take “relationships” for granted and I see it as a dying art form….of course only used by those who are truly wealthy….and I am not talking about money.  It is not a secret….but we try to substitute what is truly worth our time with “gimmicks” and “goofy myths” hoping to avoid meeting people and hoping to be successful while living in a closet.

When I hear someone call themselves “A self-made millionaire”….I whisper to myself….”what a liar.”  And if….there is a very slim chance that is true….”how sad.”

Until next time….rob

Below, I have some interesting links regarding 1) the impact of the economy on commercial real estate 2) Real Estate investing vs. stocks 3) Job growth or lack of. We are coming up on interesting times…..opportunities abound!

Anyway….

I was going through my email tonight and read an email from my business partner, Emily Cressey. She is giving away a free audio interview with yours truly on building wealth by investing in commercial real estate. I did this interview a few months back for The Real Wealth Company and I have always wondered what happened to it. I was worried she thought I was a crappy interview. That may still be the case but, none-the-less, she is making the interview available for free HERE. The interview spans several topics such as the passive investing, active investing, keys to being successful in commercial real estate, residential investing vs. commercial investing, and other commercial real estate topics.

Hope you enjoy!

Here are some interesting reads:

• Real Estate Market Blog: Commercial real estate buyers, a bit like home shoppers, may have pushed prices up too fast
• Businomics Blog: Banks have calmed, Bonds have worsened
  
• Moolanomy: Real Estate Investing: Return on Investment and Leverage
• The Big Picture Blog: Jobless vs. Unemployed

Until next time……rob

There is so much media and talk about our economy….that it is difficult not to doubt one’s investing strategy…especially as a real estate investor. There are so many opinions out there (….from parents, friends, media, and the party “loud mouth” not to mention the party “know-it-all” (usually one in the same)…) that it is difficult to see straight. BUT, I have to remember one thing….opinions are free. I also have to question where these opinions are coming from. So….I thought I would share with you my strategy in processing advice and or opinions from others.

The process goes like this. When I am talking to someone on the phone or in person who is giving me advice or telling me why things are the way they are (or reading someone’s article), I ask myself (in my mind of course), “What type of person is this? A non-thinker? A blamer? A doer? or a mentor? The I ask myself, “How much experience does this person have?” The last question I ask myself, “Is this person of integrity?

I know this process seems pretty simple but there is a lot of meat in each of the questions.

I will explain below the three questions I ask myself (in my mind) while I am listening or reading someone’s advice/opinion regarding real estate investing (or anything for that matter):

1) What type of person am I listening to?

I categorize people into four types. Yes…..if you and I have had a conversation on the phone or in person, I categorized you (Don’t give me that….you do the same thing….but maybe not as methodical). Now….as a disclaimer, people can change types….so, the label is a current “state of being.” I got the premise of “people types” from Dan Sullivan. Dan calls these types A, B, C and D. I label them a little different:

i) The Non-thinkers: Non-thinkers are people that will choose to not think for themselves. Usually out of fear, most non-thinkers do not have any experience and usually use other people’s experience to form an opinion. We all start out here as kids (adults know more than we do as kids so we rely on our parents for how we think)…but we usually grow out of it (cognitive cycle). Some never do. So, the result of a non-thinker is usually a person full of fear and lives vicariously through others. A good example of this; I recently had a conversation with a relative of mine who told me that he does not invest in real estate because of his father’s experience with real estate. Obviously, he saw his father have bad experiences with real estate. So….when I am listening to a non-thinker, I know I am listening to someone who’s thoughts are the thoughts or experiences of someone else.

ii) The Blamers: Blamers are people that think for themselves but blame everyone they can for the way the world is. Imagine a fifteen year old who thinks they know more than their parents? What happens when the fifteen year old does not grow up? Well….they blame society, parents, and everyone else. You also hear a lot of excuses. As a real estate investment coach, I talk to a lot of blamers. When I hear a person or a student blame another coach, guru, their boss, their spouse, etc…..I know I am talking to a “blamer.” Usually, they are angry and hate their situation. So…when I am talking to someone who does not take responsibility for where they are at and are making excuses and or blaming….I know that the advice or opinion that I am listening to is the advice/opinion of someone with a victim mentality.

iii) The Doer: It is not a coincidence that most entrepreneurs fall into the “Doer Type.” This is not to say that only entrepreneurs can be “Doers.” I know many corporate people that are Doers. Now, Doers are people that take responsibility and do not blame others for their circumstances. More importantly, Doers think differently, develop products, make money within the system. The Blamers criticize and blame others for why they cannot get ahead….while Doers create and maximize their abilities within the confines of what is available to them. Doers are great at workarounds. On my coaching calls, especially with The Ultimate Challenge, I know when I am talking to a doer. There is something special about them because you never hear an excuse and they never blame. They take on full responsibility, they think differently, and they use failure and fear to move forward.

iiii) The Mentor: The mentor is not only a doer….but a teacher. They take their life experiences and help others to move from “the non-thinker” and “the blamer” to the doer. They teach others how to get from point A to point B and they make financial gain from it.

Now, like I said, the “types” are based on “state of being.” For instance, I know a very successful business man who is a “doer” and he sometimes creeps up into the category of being a “mentor” but then also falls into the “blamer” type too.

So….whenever I am listening to someone or even reading an article by a particular person, I try to figure out what “type” of person that they are so I can process their advice/opinion accordingly.

2) How much experience does this person have?

When reading someone’s article or listening to advice, I am always looking for clues on their experience on the topic they are speaking about. I remember listening to a so-called real estate guru on stage talk about how stock investing was as stupid as gambling. So, I was able to talk to the stock hating guru later that evening. I asked him what had happened to him with regards to investing in stocks that drove him to tell the audience that stock investing was almost as stupid as gambling? He said he had a lot of friends lose their life savings in stocks. Is that experience talking? NO! Now…. I do not invest in stocks but I know a lot of people who do well investing in stocks. So, I immediately knew not to take his advice on stock investing. But that happens a lot….and I am guilty of it. I used to say that investing in residential real estate via short-sales was a waste of time and energy based on a few short-sales I had done. Then my friend Phil took the real estate investing arena by storm with his short-sale process and his web-enabled software. I realized how much I did not know.

3) Is the person I am listening to a person of integrity

You may be asking yourself “why would it matter if I am listening to a person of integrity or not when it come to reading or listening to advice or an opinion?” That is a good question! Let me put it another way. If you know a person’s value system, you will have a good perspective of where this person is coming from when he or she is giving out advice. For instance, when I speak at real estate investment events, I like to listen to other speakers to see what other investor mentors are doing. There is always one speaker at these events that will give advice that is down right unethical. So….when I hear someone speak of unethical practices and try to teach others how to do the same, I tend to discredit any advice he or she may give.

Well….I hope this was helpful….until next time….rob

Why Risk Is Important

Entrepreneurs, like ice climbers, are often said to risk their necks. But there are ways to cut danger to sane levels—and good reasons to try

In a recent conversation with my friend and colleague, Roger Martin, dean of the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, he mentioned that a student had asked him: “What is it about entrepreneurs that enables them to live so far on the edge? Do they thrive on the adrenaline of risk-taking?” This made me think of another question that I frequently encounter when people find out that I love ice climbing: “How can you live with the risk? Do you actually enjoy flirting with death?”

I think that these are all the same question, founded on the same implicit but ill-founded assumption: that risk equates to danger. Now, I am not going to try and convince you that there aren’t people who do love the rush of throwing the dice—with their life or their bank account. But just because someone won a multimillion-dollar windfall by buying lottery tickets with their retirement fund, or survived running a treacherous river without any training, the fact is not altered that what they were doing was gambling, not investing. The end result is as unrepeatable as it can be inadvisable.

Calculated Risks

So if it’s not the thrill of gambling, what does distinguish the serial entrepreneur and the ice climber from the population at large? For a start, they understand the very clear distinction between risk and danger. Second, and—perhaps most importantly—they know that there are ways to approach an otherwise dangerous task in such a way that the risk is reduced to an acceptable level.

In fact virtually everyone knows this, at least in some domain. For example, driving in good weather on a 12-lane freeway in a well-maintained car is something that a trained driver would not hesitate to do. Yet it could be near suicide (or murder) for someone who had never been behind the wheel of a car, or who was driving a vehicle without brakes. What is curious about human nature is that we sometimes seem unable to translate knowledge from such everyday examples into our workaday life.

Why do entrepreneurs and ice climbers repeatedly prompt questions of flirting with death and disaster? My best guess is that a lack of familiarity prevents nonpractitioners from seeing what lies behind the surface: the serious and conscientious preparation that such people bring to their respective activities. To illustrate this, let me tell you a bit about ice climbing.

Essential Requirements

Anyone who has ever walked on a frozen lake, gone ice skating or tried curling knows that ice is slippery and that it takes practice to move with any kind of confidence. Now imagine that the ice sheet is vertical rather than horizontal. This should give you some sense of the challenge of ice-climbing. But then remember there are four things that the prepared ice-climber brings to the base of any climb: training, tools, fitness, and partner(s)

The need for training is pretty obvious. One has to know what one is doing. Just as you have to learn the rules of the road in order to drive on the freeway, the ice climber has to be educated about technique, the appropriate use of tools and procedures, reading the ice, and the evaluation of objective hazards.

Tools have improved significantly over the past decades. Strapped to one’s feet, in a manner not unlike roller-skates (but much more secure) are crampons. These have one or more long, sharp, surrogate toes that you can kick into the ice, thereby giving purchase to your feet. In each hand one has a short, curved, ice axe that is designed to enable one to smoothly drive the pick into the frozen water, thereby giving you something to hold onto. In the event that someone above knocks off some ice, one wears a helmet to protect the head. For protection in the event of a fall, one has a rope firmly tied to a harness around the waist. While ascending, the climber regularly sets a hollow titanium screw into the ice. This forms part of a system of running anchors.

read more 

As I am writing this, I am sitting in my comfy couch in my bedroom with one leg propped up on a table with a laptop in hand sipping my favorite beverage watching my favorite show, The Big Idea hosted by Donny Deutsch.

I am a big fan of this show. I love watching the entrepreneurs Johnny
brings on to discuss how they have taken an idea and made it into a
multi-million dollar business. There are tons of “golden nuggets” on this one show that makes it worth watching.

Just by watching the Big Idea, I have received confirmation of several key principles that I think are very common with successful business owners. One of them is passion. Over and over again, I have heard that the foundation of taking a business to the big time is based on “Doing what you love and love what you do.” In other words….find your passion then take action on it. That easy right?

I think it is deeper than that….

I am a big believer that our individual purpose is as unique are our fingerprints. In other words, I believe that every human being has a unique purpose…not everyone’s purpose is the same (of course…my opinion)….can you grasp that…even if you do not believe it? I also believe that our unique purpose is strongly aligned with our passion…if not one in the same. One more thing, I believe that working in one’s true purpose is what separates the 1% from the 99% of the population. The question you should be asking is “what 1% are you talking about, Rob?”

Well…glad you asked. There is a small percentage of the population that is going after a dream that is aligned with their purpose/passion. In other words, they have made a personal discovery that is almost rebellious….they have discovered that there is a life that is meant to be lived. They have discovered “real wealth.” “Real Wealth” has little to do with money and has everything to do with freedom….it is no coincidence that most entrepreneurs and those that are entrepreneurial at heart understand this.

On the other hand…there is the rest of the population (99%). Everyone else, me included at times, is doing what everyone else is doing (Lemmings). We are using most of the God-given time we have to work for money. We become lemmings and listen to what the world says to do….”work hard, save some money, retire with a nice pension, and live in entitlement.”…then, if you are lucky enough…you have a few years to travel and live a self absorbed life before your days become scheduled with doctor appointments…then you die.” No regrets there right?

The 1% live in freedom and never retire from their purpose. The 1% build wealth by pursing their passion. To the 1%, living in their purpose is as natural as breathing. The 1% wake up with gratitude in their heart for the opportunity to live a life meant to be lived. 1% are not waiting for retirement to live….they are living now.

A few questions to ponder:

Do you know what your passion is? Are you living with purpose? Are you the 99% or the 1%? Are you living now….or waiting to live (retirement)? Do you wake up in the morning grateful for the adventure awaiting you? Last one….are you living the life you were meant to live?

Until next time…..rob