What I learned about REI While Running the Turkey Trot

[Shiloh Lundahl]

First of all, HAPPY THANKSGIVING to everyone.  Secondly, I wanted to share an insight I had this morning while running and thinking about real estate success.

A friend of mine told me he would be running the 10k (about 6 miles) Turkey Trot and invited me to run it with him.  Now, I am not really a runner, but I have been running over the past 4 months trying to get into shape.  But to be honest, I stopped running around the beginning of October when I went on a vacation with my daughter and I hadn't gone back to it yet.  

Anyway, I told my friend I would run it with him.  He then told me he was going to try to keep a 10 to 10 1/2 minute pace.  My best pace was about an 11 to 11 1/2 minute pace when I was running in September.  But I wanted to do it with him so I went anyway.  

I was able to keep up with him for the first 4 miles at a 10 minute 15 second pace and then I noticed that I was starting to slow down so I told him to go ahead.  To be honest, I slowed way down and I was feeling it.  While I was running, I had been listening to an audiobook on my phone so I decided to call my wife on my earphones and tell her that I was getting tired and I needed motivation.  My wife answered the phone and told me that she and my daughter and her cousin had come to the race to watch me finish.  I didn't know that she was going to drive the 20 minutes to the race to see me finish so I was really surprised and really happy.  

Around the 5th mile, I saw people who had started out strong but then started walking towards the end.  I cheered them on while I passed them telling them that they could do it.  Then they started running again, quickly passing me again on their way to the finish line.

As I went towards the end of the race I saw my family cheering for me and my 8-year-old and her cousin jumped into the race and started running beside me all the way to end of the race with me.   I finished the 10k in about 1 hour and 10 minutes at about an 11 minute 18 second pace which was faster than my time when I was running back in September.

Here are the important points of the story

1. I had a mentor - someone who was better at running than me, faster than me, who could push me to do better than I have done in the past or thought I could do.

2. When I got tired, I just had to keep moving forward, one step after another and not get discouraged.

3. My goal was to finish the race and do my best regardless of where I was compared to the other runners.

4. As I passed by runners who had slowed down and I gave them encouragement, they started to run again and passed me and got better times than me.  

5. I got to see my family at the end of the race cheering for me.

6. My daughter started to run with me.

Now for the application to Real Estate Investing

1. Mentors are so important to learning how to invest in real estate wisely.  People can do it on their own, but having a mentor can help keep someone on track, push them to excel quicker, and help them avoid the pitfalls. 

2. Sometimes investing can be discouraging, especially after a setback, and when that happens, sometime you just got to keep moving forward, taking one step at a time.

3. My goals in real estate are different than the goals that other people have and I don't need to compare myself to others.  Just as we all have different body types that may effect running, each of us have different circumstances that effect our investing.  I just need to keep my own goals in mind and keep my focus on my goals without comparing to others.

4. Rather than getting happy that I was passing others and I would get a better time or a higher ranking in the race than them, I wanted others to do their best.  In real estate there is enough to go around.  Being excited for the success of other investors rather than jealous creates a synergy of success that comes back to encourage me.  What you put out comes back to you.

5. Keeping in mind the things in life that are really important, such as my family, keeps me motivated, and helps me remember my "Why" of real estate investing.

6. My example of success and doing hard things gives my children an example to follow and I can lead them along that path.

Thanks for reading everyone.  Have a happy Thanksgiving.

[Shiloh Lundahl]

Here is what I saw when I got to the end of the race before my daughter and her cousin joined me.

My daughter is on the right.