One Moment Can Change Your Life
Anyone who watches TV or reads the newspaper knows who Joe the plumber is (I don't watch TV, but I'm on the Internet and read the newspaper). Think about Joe's situation. A few months ago, Joe is a regular plumber in Anytown, USA. Then because he was at a campaign rally and asked Barack Obama a simple question his life changed forever. He's an instant celebrity and I'm sure his life will never be the same (even if the election is over). Throughout my investing career I've had many of those defining moments. The first was in college when I was looking to start my own business. I would go to the library weekly and check out books on investing, starting your own business and franchises (many of you know that I hired a franchise consultant and thought about opening a dry cleaning franchise, carpet cleaning franchise and lawn care franchise). Then one day I came across a real estate investing book and I knew that this business was for me. I'm a simple guy and real estate investing just made too much sense not to do it (97 out of 100 millionaires can thank real estate for their fortunes).
Another of those moments was when I decided to get my first mentor. I didn't have much money, but when I looked around at all successful people and when I read their biographies they all had a mentor. I searched online (I really had no clue what I was doing) found a mentor who seemed like he knew what he was doing and took a GIANT leap of faith and put the several thousand dollar program on my credit card…..I believed in myself and have been rewarded ever since. And of course, I never stop believing in my abilities.
A third moment comes to mind when I got one of those "million dollar calls" from a motivated seller. A tired landlord who owned multiple properties and was willing to let me do lease options and other creative things and make a killing. In this business a lot of the time you just chug along. You make $5,000 here, $10,000 here, $30,000 here, but every once in a while you get a $70,000 deal or $80,000 deal that makes your year.
There are several other moments that come to mind. Such as choosing to go to a boot camp, or a networking event, or partnering with another investor. The most important thing about the "defining" moment is that YOU put yourself in that position. I discovered real estate because I went to the library week after week after week. I got my first mentor because I went looking for one. I got the tired landlord who owned multiple properties because I was sending out several thousand pieces of direct mail every month.
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