Hola!! I'm practicing my Spanish, haha, I plan to head back to South America before we get some snow fall!!!
This is a conversation that I'm starting to have on a regular basis, and it's one that we should all take serious. I wrote a short blog a few days ago if any of you wanted to read it, the title was, Why you need to plan to fire yourself before you even start a business; If you want to give it a read you can find it on FB @flip4freedom. One of the biggest mistake business owners make, including myself, is that most of us never create a plan to fire ourselves, in fact, this never crossed my mind once in the ten years working for myself. The whole reason we start a business is for freedom, right, because after all, time is more valuable than money. Now, I may be challenging some of you here, because, for me it was the other way around, I was working for money, and THAT, is a trap in itself!!!! Our plan goes something like this, I want to start a business, I will work hard in hopes that one day I will have the time to do the things I love, and the money to buy the things I want, not the things I need, so we work work work, we do more more more, we get bigger bigger bigger, and the very thing we started this business for, our family, for time, suffers as a result of our drive to do more. Keep in mind that I said, we hope to one day, that doesn't sound too reassuring to me!!!
Many of us lie to ourselves and say too those that suffer as a result of our ambition, well, I'm doing it for you. I really want to challenge some of you to think about this, more is not better, better is better, and the truth is that many of us have what we need to live our dreams now, but we sacrifice that for wanting more and more. Let me give you an example, I use to think I needed 60-100 homes to live the life I wanted, when in fact I only need 12, mind blown right? The truth is that 12 homes owned free and clear would cash flow around $10,000 a month, that's my net, who can't live off that!!?? On top of that, I have no debt, I have 100% of my time, and the ability to make significantly more money if I chose too. I've been working in real estate industry for about 13 years, but my big break through happened little over two years ago. I'm already planning what my winters look like because I want to spend them traveling to other countries, I'm fairly close to having my business automated to the point where I can choose to shut it off, and turn it back on. How am I able to do that in such a short period of time, well, I have a very small portfolio that makes enough money to live a modest life, if I worked 5-6 months out of the year with a handful of wholesales I'd hit six figures pretty easy, and I have no debt other than some of my mortgages. Instead of buying the big house, I house hacked over and over, instead of buying things, I paid down my student loans, and all of my credit card debt. The biggest investment that I did make was hiring a coach, most of my salary pays for my coaching and travel, both of which are written out in my vision. I realized that my personal life directly correlated with the success of my business, and that if I wanted to live my dreams, I would need to create a vision around my life, not my business. So when I'm making a business decision I ask myself, how will this affect my life, and if it takes away what I love most, then I don't do it, even if there is a sizable dollar amount attached to it. Some of you may think that's crazy, but remember, I don't need anymore money to be happy, that decision would only steal my joy. I'm also sold on the concept of your net worth is your equal to your network, investing in myself is the best decision I've ever made. A few months ago I was in Dallas at my mastermind retreat, after those 3 days I came home and within the first month back I had 5 properties locked up under contract to wholesale, netting me $36,000, talk about a huge roi!!
I had a conversation with a friend the other day about a client of his, he has a sales team of 4-5 people, the guy has the big home, all the toys, you name it, he doesn't spend too much time working. On the outside we would all envy his life in one way or another, this is in fact the perfect picture of the American Dream, but there's a catch. I asked my buddy a question, what would happen if his business was shut down, would this man still be able to live the same life, and his answer was, NO. So as all of you start building wealth, don't fall into the same trap, more is not better, live within your means, live off a modest salary, be smarter, be patient, wait for better deals, pay down your mortgages, build a savings, don't waste your money on things, sack away money in a Roth IRA. When you find success, don't increase your salary, take your time back and spend it creating experiences doing the things you love, rather than spending your money on things, this is the true meaning of wealth. I recently had the opportunity to spend 9 days in Guatemala on a missions trip with Steve Cook, who happens to be my coach, wohooo, it's been a dream of mine for quit a long time. I think one of the biggest game changers for me in my career has been understanding the importance of adding value, reputation or relationships before revenue, serving others, asking how I can help is what really changed my life and my business. In Guatemala the love and experiences that were cultivated have no dollar amount, there is no monetary value to those relationships, they are priceless, so I hope that all of you understand what I mean when I say to invest in experiences, not things that rust and fade away. I love this quote by Jim Carey,
I think everybody should get rich and famous and do everything they ever dreamed of so they can see that it's not the answer."
Thanks for listening to me, this is something near and dear to my heart. I see so many business owners make sacrifices they think they need to make, and brush it off as, this is the cost of owning a business, and I'm telling you all, it doesn't have to be that way.
