Reason #4: If you hang around losers too much - you become a loser!
Reason #4: You hang around losers too much - you become a loser! (Donald Trump, Apprentice Episode Last night talking to Alex who just lost the contest because of his two partners who have lost 6 times in a row).
Just came back from the my own Foreclosure Invesetor Apprentice 2005 dinner. Jeff and Lynn, my fearless Apprentice members from sunny California were missed!
Two and a half hours of intense mastermind session and one thing kept going on through my minds - i am privileged to be sitting with a group of future heavy hitters in real estate. I am sitting with winners because looking back on the last 5 years one thing is so evident to me know : you hang around losers - you become a loser.
I never got it right in the beginning. I mean who better to share your ambition then the people you know around you? Bad move buddy! The alternative truth is that your associations, the people who you hang around with all day will pretty much determine your future in all the terms possible and not just in money terms.
I was hanging around some pretty nice people. But the problem was they were all very laid back. Our conversations pretty much focused on complaining and moaning about our bosses, weekly struggles to pay our bills and overall discussing the bad news in the newspapers - layoffs, crime, the dour economy.
Yup! we were one happy bunch. Looking back I am astonished that i made out of that swamp of misery with my head intact. I am telling you very frankly - be very careful who you spend your time with. Now if you are not serious about really bringing in some serious money in real estate and you are happy in what you are making - then by all means continue what you are doing - apparently it is working out for you.
But for those of us out there who wont to make it in this world - the ones who surround us will determine our bank account. Think about it if all you hear all day is that real estate investment does not work, it is hard to find deals, it is impossible for somebody to just lend you money, there s no way you can deal this foreclosure in 30 days and so on, pretty soon you start doubting yourself. One month into this these doubts pretty much become your whole belief system.
Think I am kidding? Go grab a piece of paper and write down how many times when you expressed your desire to make it in buying and selling foreclosures in front of other people - somebody actually came up to you and admired you and gave you a pat on the back???
If you you really want to be success in this real estate investment business - find yourself couple of investors who are successful, call them up and take them to a cup of coffee at your neighborhood Starbucks!
Take them out - ask them what makes them tick? what is their typical day i like? what do they do on weekends? how many hours they work? what is their life ambitions? at what age do they see themselves retiring? do they see any big trends happening in real estate?
A Venti White Caramel Macchiato in Starbuck costs around $5. The return on your $5 is infinite. I spend two hours in Chicago in the company of a remarkable man who went from zero to $1.65 million take home in 8 years. Let me tell you that those minutes were priceless.
We are in it together - all of us and we are not like everyone else. Understand this because if we were like every one else, we would compromise with what we have and would not try to better our bank accounts and our lives.
You hang around with losers - you become a loser. Harsh? Yes! Not true? I don't think so!
Look around you - who do you know is really making it? Do you know anybody? And if you don't why are you not trying to find somebody as quickly as possible?