From Triathlon to Investing in Real Estate

[Brian Hyla]

I never imagined that stretching every fiber of my will, determination, physical/mental strength and pushing my body to its limits would have catapulted me into investing in real estate.  You see I am a triathlete and there is nothing I would not do to shave a single second off my swim, bike or run times.  I spend endless hours in the pool, pedaling hundreds of miles, pounding my feet into the pavement more than any human should.  Minute after minute, hour after hour, all starting hours before most are rolling over to hit the snooze.

My morning starts at 4am every day, except Sunday(a promise to my wife), when my eyes pop open before the alarm.  I shake off the night, grab some water and get ready to start my work-out.  During the week my workout is limited to 1-2hours, but on the weekend I can hit about 4-5hours.  I am sure to be done with training prior to my family waking up, so I do not miss  moment of our time together.

As you can imagine, training hours on end leaves you a little bored and searching for things to focus your attention on, other those thought lingering in your head. They can be very scary! I have watched TV, movies, listened to music, books on tape and then finally found podcasts. I started listening to podcasts about triathlon, then personal success, to learning languages, and then stumbled upon one about real estate investing. Something grabbed a hold go me and I was actually looking forward to my next workout to study more about what people are doing in real estate. I could not get enough. I subscribed to every REI podcast that I could find. Each was extremely valuable in the content the provided, but I truly connected with Bigger Pockets.

BP drew me in. I downloaded every episode, read all the blogs, scoured the forums, used all the free tools and anything else I could leverage from this amazing site. BP became my "University of the World" with a Masters in REI. I told everyone I could about this site, met others in my area that were using it and eventually became a "Pro" member.

BP and the work of REI has hooked me to my core and I became addicted to learning everything I can about Investing in Real Estate. I spend all of my free time, reading forums, analyzing deals, connecting with other investors, building networks, developing lists, funding sources, making offers........

I still train every morning @ 4am, but actually use that time more to train my investing brain, while killing my body. I listen to every podcast over and over again, read blogs, posts, forums, etc. (when on a treadmill or Trainer Bike). I actually took a year off of competing and racing this year to focus on investing in Real Estate. I am hooked. I still love triathlon, but I know REI is my future.

Thanks BP!