Entrepreneurship

All work and no play makes Jack and Jill suffer the “Stressed Out Blues”.

In today’s busy world, we’re so focused on work, work and more work that we fail to reward ourselves with even the smallest of treats like a simple hot chocolate on a cold winter's night.

Real estate investing can be hard on the head because of conditioning that has been passed on from generation to generation. Your parents may have made statements to you such as “You need to pay off the mortgage faster than the bank would like”; “This is the biggest purchase you’ll ever make so be careful what you buy” or “You’d better put aside some money each month so you’ll be able to have a decent down payment for your future home”. All of these statements are stress inducing mindsets that are hard to break but it is possible to snap of this chain of negativity.

For 2010 I encourage you to take the time to recognize your successes and how far you have come on your journey in investing in real estate.

Most people never get what they really want because they don’t know what they really want. The reason I say this is because your actions can be totally opposite of your thoughts, and you’re not even aware of it.

In the past, I noticed that often when I was attended seminars or networking events, I found myself ‘zoning out’ and not paying attention. Whether out of laziness or boredom, I would drift off and not fully receive the value of the seminar or miss the whole point of the topic or conversation. Now I make certain that I have a clear overview of what I want out of every seminar, conversation or meeting every time. I do this by making a list of 3 things I intend to accomplish that are completely out of my comfort zone. This sets my thought patterns into a positive direction, where I now have a mission to accomplish rather than sitting around getting bored.

Clarity also creates a strong sense of leadership. If I were currently renting and wanted to get into the real estate game, I would want to attract someone who has a clear vision of how to get me there, rather than someone who hasn’t any experience or proven results to offer me. This person is most likely going to get me there faster and with less effort due to their own sense of clarity. Their clear sense of direction will always prevail in any situation, as compared to the person who has problems figuring out what it is that they want to do.

Planning for your future and retirement relies on preparing the right kinds of long term investments. Everyone needs to have an investment for their future to ensure financial sustainability, and there are many different types of long term financing investments to choose from.

We both know that you will not be able to work forever. There will come a time when you will no longer be able to work, due to health problems or simply aging. So, what will you do for an income when the time comes to retire? This is why planning your long term investments carefully is so important.

Perhaps you enjoy the security of simply relying on government policies and programs to take care of your future needs, but this is not a realistic plan. Take a look at what has happened in the United States to the Medicare and social security programs – It is scary! Social security is in serious trouble. Though politicians are currently working to repair the problems, chances are that in another twenty years, or less, there will be little to nothing left in the social security budget.

Dear Professional Real Estate Investor:
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As someone who’s developed a business that continuously purchases one, two or even three properties a month with joint venture partners and has done so for the past 4 years – I understand the enormous challenges you face every day “in the trenches.”
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You’re under constant deadlines, your workload and paperwork is overwhelming, you have enormous responsibility and maybe not enough money or access to credit – and everyone thinks all you do is buy a house or two.
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Sound familiar? Sure it does. I’ve heard those frustrations time and again from the literally hundreds of professional real estate investors who do joint ventures like you that I’ve had the privilege to coach and talk with over the years. And there’s yet another stressor that comes along with your position: Even a single mistake on your part can cost you and your partners thousands of dollars. Holy smoke, talk about pressure.
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In today’s society, there seems to be great emphasis on achieving ”success.” When we recognize someone as being successful, we tend to offer them more respect and look up to them, and even pay more for their products or services. While working to become successful in our own lives, we are perhaps unconsciously looking to gain more respect, and all the benefits associated with it.
 
Pointing fingers and categorizing people seems to be a common habit our culture has created, fully embraced, and accepted as the norm. Furthermore, not only is this habit accepted, but it is actually promoted and published in the media for everyone in the world to see:  Success is a label we sometimes stamp on people, often unconsciously:

Real Estate Success“Wow, she’s successful!” Or,  “Wow, what a failure he is!”

However, “success” is a slippery, relative, and often hard to define term. I have heard many different expressions for what people believe success to be. The noun itself is defined in the dictionary with two definitions: “the accomplishment of an aim or purpose”, or “the attainment of fame, wealth, or social status.”

Dan Barton's keynote to the Victoria Prodigy Chamber of Commerce group.

Good evening prodigy chamber members and guests.

Who here would like to create more wealth and prosperity in their lives?

Who here would like to do that with early any effort at all?

Well, if this is a room of entrepreneurs and business owners, then I’m sorry to say, I think were all in the wrong room! Since I bet we have all experienced that entrepreneurship can sometimes be far from effortless.

Since, to this day I still have to meet an entrepreneur who hasn’t put a ton of time, energy & money into growing the company, an idea, a thought.

I have come believe; that it’s for the perceived freedom, that entrepreneurship and business ownership offers, that lures so many in.

It’s commonly a belief that freedom doesn’t come easy and freedom doesn’t come cheap. To entrepreneurs freedom comes to those who are willing to persevere their time, energy and money and risk it all on a thought, on an idea.

2008 proved to be an ‘interesting’ year. I had the wonderful opportunity & was blessed to receive the Young Entrepreneur of the Year award from the Chamber of Commerce. I also had the opportunity, as did many of you, to see every stock market and real estate market around the world take a nice steady decline.

Some called it a roller coaster of a life time.

My clients are often astonished when they meet me for the first time. Basically they’re surprised that I own a successful real estate investment business and I’m the ripe old age of 24. Better yet, I’ve been the owner of Oasis Properties for less than 3 years and have gone from being roughly $30,000 in debt to now having over 7 million in assets as of writing this article (2007). I’m a perfect example of the lesson of not judging a book by its cover! My business is thriving despite all the naysayer’s supposed advice when I first started out on this path. I’m of the opinion that my company has achieved the success it has through my own strong beliefs in myself combined with a strong sense of personal integrity, which I strictly adhere to in all my personal and business dealings.

I am also a firm believer in sharing and giving back to the world in any manner that I can, so that others may benefit from my experiences - both my successes and mistakes. I refuse to use the word failure, as in my opinion failures are mistakes that one has never learned anything from. People make mistakes every day – it just depends on whether or not you gain insight as to why you made it that counts. Personally I believe if you are afraid to make a mistake this means that you’re not pushing yourself out of your ‘comfort’ zone enough and trying new methods or ways to better succeed. You’re stuck in ‘safe’ mode and being too comfortable means you’re not moving forward to realizing your dreams. In other words, you need to conquer your fear of making mistakes in order to succeed.

For those of you who are looking to build a successful business venture, I’ve jotted down the 4 key reasons why my business has become so successful in such a short time to share with you. Here is what may be a familiar quote that sums up my core values: