You Need A Successful Mindset

Over the last few weeks you've learned all types of awesome details on the 'numbers' when it comes to investing in apartment/commercial properties. I taught you about Gross Potential Rental Income, different types of vacancy and how to calculate them, all the different expenses that make up TIMMUR, and how these 3 things combined determine the Net Operating Income (NOI) for your property. We used all of these details last week, along with finding out the Cap Rate for this type of property in the market to calculate the value of your property. This week I want to digress a little from the 'numbers' and talk about Mindset. Why? Because, quick frankly, I don't care how many boot camps or workshops you've attended or how many Home Study Courses you've purchase, or your highest level of education, if you don't have the right mindset, you are probably just wasting your time and money!

I want to share with you some information from a book I've read several times that has seriously influenced my life. It was written over 100 years ago, but it's still one of the most recommended books in the Self Improvement and Business Development genres. What do you think if says about the quality of this book considering it's been on recommended reading lists for over 100 years? Do you think there might be some valuable lessons in it? How would you like to write a book one day that lasts for over 100 years as a best seller? Just ask any RE Investor which top 5 books they recommend you read as you begin or expand your RE Investing career and I guarantee it will be on 95% of the lists. The author was commissioned by a multi-millionaire (multi-billionaire in today's dollars) to venture out into the world and interview the 500 wealthiest people at the time. He wanted to find out how all of these wealthy people became wealthy. Did they inherit their money? Were they born with some wealth gene? Were they all in the same type of business? What made these people tick? Why were they wealthy when most everyone else was not?

Over the next 20 years the author traveled the world and interviewed these 500 wealthiest people to answer these questions and he made some startling observations that I'd like to share with you. First off, if you haven't guessed by now, the author is Napoleon Hill and the book is "Think and Grow Rich". Over this 20 year span, Mr. Hill noted in the book that all 500 of these people shared 19 traits in common. He also noticed that none of these people were born with any of these traits, but they all learned how to master them. Of these 19 traits I'd like to share with you what I believe to be the top 5. By the way, if you'd like a f'ree eBook download of "Think and Grow Rich", just reply to this post with your name and email address. I'll be more than happy to send you one. That way, you can read it anytime you'd like. It comes in handy especially with all of the traveling I do!

The 5 traits I will be sharing with you today in no particular order are; Burning Desire, Specialized Knowledge, Decisive in Nature, Goal Oriented and Masterminding.

Burning Desire: This first trait is very powerful. Mr. Hill realized that it didn't matter what obstacles got in the way of these wealthy people. Nothing would stop them. Every one of them had a Burning Desire to succeed. No matter what happened they would find a way over, around, under or through any obstacle that threatened their success. This burning desire fueled their need to succeed.

I met a woman a few years ago that had a tremendous burning desire. She had been fired from Denny's. Come on! Really? How bad of an employee do you have to be to get fired from Denny's? Anyway, she found herself living in her car for three weeks before a person she knew realized her plight and offered her a room in her home until she could get back on her feet. As if living in her car wasn't bad enough, the worst part was that she was living in her car with her young daughter! Her burning desire took hold shortly thereafter and she started to invest in Real Estate using none of her own money. She is now a multi-millionaire!! Her burning desire: to never have her little girl live in a car ever again!!! She found a way to succeed and didn't let anything stop her. Not even the fact that she had no money. In hindsight, getting fired from Denny's was probably the best thing that ever happened to her.

Specialized Knowledge: Another thing Mr. Hill learned from his interviews was that none of these wealthy people knew everything. But what they did know was where to get the knowledge/support they needed to be successful. In the book, Mr. Hill describes a situation in which Henry Ford was put on trial because some people thought Mr. Ford was incompetent and they were trying to remove him as the CEO of the company. The plaintiffs' attorney asked Mr. Ford to explain a few things, and I'm paraphrasing here, "Do you know how a transmission works? Do you know how a combustion engine works? Do you know the financial status of Ford Motor Company?" To which Mr. Ford replied, "No". The attorney then seized the opportunity and stated to the court, "See, he is incompetent. How can someone in his position not know these answers?"

Then, it was Mr. Ford's turn to reply. Mr. Ford stated matter of factly, "In my office on my desk is a box. And on that box are many buttons. You see, I don't need to personally know all of the answers. I just need to know which button to push. If you want to know how a transmission works, I just push a button and a team of engineers will come in and teach you everything you want to know about transmissions. If you want to know how a combustion engine works, I just push a different button and another team of engineers will come in and teach you everything you want to know about engines. If you want to know the financial status of Ford Motor Company, I push yet another button and a team of accountants will come into my office and show you all the books and figures, and answer any questions you have regarding the financial well-being of Ford Motor Company!!" Mr. Ford won his case! As you can see, Mr. Ford didn't need to have the Specialized Knowledge himself, he just needed to know where to find it when he needed it.

Decisive in Nature: The next item I want to share with you is being Decisive in Nature. What Mr. Hill observed with regards to this topic is that the wealthiest people in the world have an 'I'll take it' attitude. In other words, if they think something sounds like a good opportunity, they 'take it', subject to working out the details. What does this mean? Let's look at this from a RE perspective. If you hear of a deal, let's say a 50 unit apartment building that's on the market for what appears to be 1/2 price, wealthy people 'take it'. They put in an offer and get it under contract to tie it up. Then, they work out the details! Details such as; confirming that the information they have been presented is true and accurate, and/or how they are going to finance the deal. They do their Due Diligence later, not before they 'take it'. i.e. put it under contract.

Furthermore, what Mr. Hill noticed about non-wealthy people is that they seemed to have the exact opposite philosophy. In other words, non-wealthy people say, "If I can work out the details (do all of the due diligence and find the financing first), then I'll take it". Only problem with this philosophy is that if it really is a good deal, you'll never get it, because some wealthy person just snatched it up ahead of you!

Goal Oriented: Mr. Hill also noted that every one of the world's wealthiest people had a written road map detailing where they were going, how they would get there and when. By having their goals written out and reading them at least twice a day, they were extremely likely to reach their goals faster than they originally projected. Not only did they have their goals planned for the year, but many had them written out for 5 to 10 to even 20 years!

Another thing I personally recommend is not only reading your goals twice a day, but to read them out loud 'with joyful passion' at least twice a day. What does this mean? When you read them, read them while you're smiling and acting as if you've already achieved your goal. I'm a big believer in the 'You get what you think about' philosophy. If you think about how happy reaching your goals will make you, then you will be happier as you endeavor to complete your goals and you will draw more happiness and more people to you that are aligned with your goals which in turn will help you reach your goals sooner and happier along the way!

Masterminding: The last item I want to share with you today from Think and Grow Rich is that of Masterminding. Until you read TAGR, you might have thought every one of the individuals listed in the book was born wealthy, which they were not. They didn't become overnight successes. It took them many years to reach their level of wealth. During this process many of the wealthiest people of that time spent hours with each other. Even though they weren't in the same businesses or trying to reach the same goals and objectives, this process of Masterminding allowed them to share ideas. Can you imagine what happens when millionaires/billionaires sit around and talk about money or business? Can you hear their Net Worth growing?

One of my mentors told me that my net worth was directly proportional to my Network. He explained that I needed to hang out with and be influenced by people who have a net worth greater than my own. The more time I spent with these people, the more my net worth would grow. Who are you spending your time with? Is their net worth greater than yours? If not, you may need to find some new 'friends' to spend time with so you can mastermind your way to success!

I hope you enjoyed this week's little diversion. I know I enjoyed writing this article and reliving my memories of TAGR. Let me know your thoughts on the subject too. Just reply to this post and tell me how TAGR has influenced your life. You can also reply with your name and email address to request a PDF copy of TAGR for you to download onto your own computer.

Until next week, have an awesome week!