As you may know I like to make the beta reading of my book open sourced so the community that will be using them can actually gain the information and request changes or additional information to be added as the book is being written.
This post is One Chapter of my coming book, “GET THE DEAL”. Which the idea has it’s origins from the live training with the same name that I have taught to thousands of real estate investors all across the country and have had time to refine the information to answer the questions most asked at those trainings. Without further ado I want to encourage you to read this chapter and leave your suggestions in the comments below!
Chapter Thirteen
Become An Alchemist
“I’m convinced that about half of what separates successful entrepreneurs from the non-successful ones is pure perseverance.”
– Steve Jobs
So far we have discussed how your mind works, strategies how to find deals and how to evaluate a deal. It’s time to switch gears now. It’s time to start putting your vision of financial freedom into a solid plan that is going to create the massive change in your life that you are looking for.
This may at first seem like a daunting task to some readers. I know that taking in the knowledge can be the most exciting part for some people and the action steps aka. mixing with other humans can seem like a lot of work. Please stick with me here. This is the most important part of the book and will be the catalyst for your success. Without other people there can be no transfer of money.
Of course there will always be those determined and highly motivated individuals who pushed through and scoured this book in search for these action chapters!
When I started out real estate investing I have to admit that I was in the first group of people. I was always looking for different ways to make money that didn’t involve me having to talk to or interact with other people. Obviously this was during my broke days and was a continual factor in stopping the flow of money to me.
It wasn’t until one day as I too scoured the internet and books for answers that I came across the book, “how to win friends and influence people” by “Dale Carnegie”. That I realized, all of the money I desired was actually in the hands of other people. If I could take this ability to gather information and learn new skills I could apply it to interacting with other people and learn the holy grail of skills. I was going to learn the skill of communication which can also be described as the skill of selling.
My first attempts at selling were pretty sloppy, and I was often accused of being manipulative. I remember an example where I was attempting to convince my friends that our band should start recording some of our songs and went the path of asking them what they thought was the most important asset that a band had. None of them answered recorded music… Damn… Looking back I could have first mentioned that I had heard this was the case, before polling the room.
Anyway, the conversation continued to the point where it became very obvious that I was fishing for an answer and was ostracized immediately for the next few minutes until I decided to just accept defeat and agree that the band and their friendship was more important to me than being right and manipulation wasn’t the right way to go about anything…
As soon as the words had come out of my mouth, but brother pointed out that recording music would be a good idea and that if I had just come out and said that we could have saved a bunch of time. It was awkward moments like this that continued to fuel my desire to learn how to communicate better, but it wasn’t until many years later when I started my sales career that I realize the secret to sales, communication and success in general.
Find someone who “wants” what you have and ask them why they want it and what they would be willing to pay for it and start building your network of people with “wants”. Eventually you will find people with opposite and complimentary “wants” and desires. When you do. Connect those people and charge them both for the convenience.
Change Can Be A Good Thing
Just like I had to change the way I approached communicating with other people and the way I thought about communication you may have to make some changes in your life around the way you communicate with other people and even the way you communicate with your self.
Some of the best and worst things in my life always seem to happen back to back of eachother. You could live your entire life afraid of change or you could learn to seek out the opportunities that always follow a change. The larger the change the bigger the opportunities. The more people a change effects the more people you can help understand, deal with or adapt to. The more money will be waiting for you.
Accepting Change
Change Is Inevitable. Accepting change, and learning to anticipate it, is not. Understanding that is a major mental hurdle for real estate investors as their businesses, sellers, buyers, tenants and markets shift over time.
Understand that you can actually train your brain to get better at handling change through some simple mental exercises, from imagining your company’s possibilities to learning how to meditate. It’s not always easy, but it is possible. Here are 3 habits that will be key to your success when you decide to be consistent with them:
Learn To Meditate.
Your mindset is a muscle that can be strengthen and improved upon. One way to improve your mindset and embrace change in your life is to learn the exercise of meditation.
Make Personal Development A Priority For Yourself.
Taking the time to work on your own development can be incredibly challenging as an entrepreneur, but it is the only way to embrace change and manage the inevitable stress and ups and downs that come with growing a company. Whether it is mediating, yoga, a spiritual practice or just self-inquiry. Intention about your own growth and path will let you learn to embrace change.
Retrain Your Brain By Noticing 3 Positive Changes Per Day.
Create a practice of noticing three changes a day that have had a positive effect on people’s ability to do business: email vs. mailing correspondence, rotary phones vs. zoom calls with your remote employee in another country, etc. By making the effort to recognize the positive effects of change for business, you’ll retrain your brain to see change as an opportunity for growth. One powerful tip for personal development is to surround yourself with people who see growth as a priority.
Surround Yourself With The Best
You have probably heard the saying, “No man is an island” by John Donne, a 17th Century English author. I heard someone say this at the first 3-Day success event I attended as the reason they wanted to be part of it. It has resonated with me to this day. Translation: no one person is 100% self-sufficient. We all rely on others at different points in our lives. Not only in our personal lives but also in business. Having access to like-minded people and relevant training that you can depend on in a business environment is critical to your success.
Now this might not be intuitive if you’ve never been to a success event, had a coach, mentor or experienced a mastermind group before, but I want to make it absolutely clear that one of the most valuable assets you can possibly have for taking your real estate investing (or any business endeavor) to the next level, is access to a Community of “Like-Minded” people, that have the same goals as you. “Remember a Real Estate Alchemist is someone who is looking to grow themselves so they can achieve more for themselves and the people around them. We just happen to build businesses and invest in Real Estate.”
I can tell you that I would not have the portfolio, the resources, or the knowledge base I have today, without surrounding myself with the right people. In fact, most of what I know about real estate investing and business came from reaching out to investors and business owners who had an abundance mindset and were much further ahead of me.
I learned how to buy deals correctly, find deals off-market, find the best real estate attorneys, create special provisions to my leases, find my property managers, find my CPA, as well as excellent tradesman for any type of work, all from knowing the right people who I reached out to. I’ve learned more than I can possibly relate here, but literally, I’ve found resources on anything involved with real-estate investing from difficult situations with tenants and clients, code enforcement, the city, contractors, etc., from my groups. I have also done multiple deals and started partnerships with this community. We all do business with one another on some lever or another. I cannot stress enough how people are more powerful than you can possibly imagine. So if you are currently not building a list of real estate investors, mentors, coaches, networking events and trainings to attend, I encourage you to get one started ASAP.
This next section of the book I have decided to call, “Become An Alchemist” and it is based on finding more of these great people to include in your business. At some point you are going to need to start reaching out to them in order to take your business to the next level. In many cases I offer a program, event or a product within our Alchemist Community at GualterAmarelo.com as well, and I want to make sure I let you know about those tools and resources while being very clear that I encourage you to expand and grow in whichever direction serves you best.
Alchemist Insights
Find the right Mindset, the People, and have fun with this. After your first connection you will slowly start to experience the value these people can have on your growth, and will look forward to meeting every new person be they a Mentor, Coach, or Peers at Networking Events and MasterMinds. As you meet more quality people on the same path as you, watch your real estate investing career accelerate to the next level.
