Later the American dream 40 acres and a large house.  

That is probably a good start to setting the goals you need to achieve to make the dream happen.

One of our favorite discoveries is that IT'S TRUE, dream opportunities DO land in your lap, the longer you're in business! 

In my heart I had felt a strength because I truly believe in pursuing the American dream and in the pursuit of happiness.

Since then I have focused on finding good deals and getting great financing to get stellar cash on cash returns.I have clearly written out levels of of my dream life I want to achieve.

I totally understand the excitement learning and dreaming of becoming rich one day, and you are left to regret that you would have been on top, if you never did the investment. 

Not so much ;)So now investors are feeling the weight of dog properties…be it higher interest rates, non paying tenants, property values falling, government intervention (especially in CA), etc.

I'm weighted towards RE but I have been buying in the public markets recently (stocks, index funds, bonds, REITs, Master Limited Partnerships, Business Development Companies).

And personally I put way more weight on buying the right location as a buy and hold investor than saving some dollars on the front end. 

Unfortunately the people who promote them do a great job of selling the dream of high returns for zero effort.