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Live Your Best Life Now

Just how exactly do we live our best life now?

Rather than give you a long blog post to sift through with a summary of action steps at the end, I am going to give you the action steps now and then the breakdown to support it afterward.

Some people can “get it” just by reading a quick overview. Most (like me) need more understanding.

If YOU want to live your best life now, Dale Carnegie, Henry Ford and Napoleon Hill have all confirmed what you need to do…and if YOU TOO want to live your best life now, this is all you have to do right here…

1. Visualize What You Want

2. Make It CRYSTAL Clear in Your Mind (Being clear is a vitally important part)

3. Create A Plan to Achieve What You Want

4. Turn That Plan into Action (this is where the real

5. Adjust As You Progress Down Your Path to Remain On Course

It is no secret. If you want something, all you have to do is DO IT.

The problem is, well, that’s why its usually not enough to just give the action steps to a process.

We expect that by giving someone the recipe to success, we think that they will just somehow make it to the finish line.

However the reality is that people show up to different opportunities with different skill sets, expectations, biases and circumstances.

Before your brain even processes what I am trying to explain, it has to first off sort out all the thoughts, emotions, biases and life experiences that it has stored up from your previous life experiences.

These thoughts, emotions, biases and experiences are standing directly in between what I am telling you and they are trying their best to determine where to place this new information. Some if it will resonate, some of it will not.

However, until it figures out how to properly compartmentalize this information, much of it becomes information overload which leads to us doing nothing with this new “profound” information.

(Does this sound familiar to many past experiences?)

So now that you know that you WANT to live your best life now, I am going to remove the first layer of HOW to live your best life now.

Start where you are.

That’s it. Simply, start where you are. Now I am sure you were lookin for something shiny and soft and cuddly that was going to appear as magic to your situation and give this never before heard of formula for living your best life.

And part of the reason life has become so difficult IS BECAUSE OF today’s shiny, soft, magic formulas that make you feel  as if life is going to change radically without something radical happening first.

You see, human brains make decisions based on emotion and justify them with facts.

Do you know WHICH facts? Yes you guessed it. Only the ones that FULLY support what it is you TRULY want to hear.

More people are not living their best life now is BECAUSE their emotions are too involved.

They do not know how to separate the actions from their feelings.

With today’s distractions and images of nearly everyone living life on cloud nine with perfect bodies, amazing relationships, endless money and luxuries so opulent its no wonder our emotions put a brick wall in front of our desire to take action.

This is where we get stuck.

Wanting something to the point where we actually see it happening, but never taking the first step because our emotions get involved.

So lets recap so far…

If you want to achieve something here is the “formula” (don’t squint at me, this info is straight from the greatest men who conquered their respective fields before today’s distractions were around)

1. Visualize What You Want

2. Make It CRYSTAL Clear in Your Mind

3. Create A Plan to Achieve What You Want

4. Turn That Plan into Action

5. Adjust As You Progress Down Your Path.

In order for you to achieve you have to FIRST BEGIN. This means overcoming your emotions that tell you “I’m tired” or your feelings telling you “I am not you and don’t work as fast”.

In order to BEGIN, YOU MUST START WHERE YOU ARE.

PAY NO ATTENTION TO THE EXACT STEPS I AM GIVING YOU.

Those steps were MY STEPS to success and while 80% of what you are taught will serve as a frame work to getting you most of the way there, its that 20% that makes all the difference in the world.

That 20% is you admitting you can do this, knowing where you are is different from everyone else and being CRYSTAL CLEAR on the goal and COMPLETELY FLEXIBLE in how you get there.

Does this make sense?

I know my challenge is immense since so much of what we see today is led to believe us that THIS EXACT process is THE WAY, AND ONLY WAY to getting this result.

That’s not the way it works.

If you can separate your emotions from the action steps of getting where you want to go, you will quickly realize that BY JUST STARTING, you will have began LIVING YOUR BEST LIFE NOW.

DO NOT CONFUSE YOURSELF THAT SINCE YOU HAVE NOT YET ARRIVED AT YOUR GOAL, THAT YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO PROCLAIM THAT YOU ARE LIVING YOUR BEST LIFE NOW.

This is a lie that has the whole world fooled that if you don’t look like your instagram feed, then you are less than worthy.

Don’t base it on results. Base it on commitment, activity and STEADY progress.

So lets re-summarize how you can begin living your best life now...

  1. Grab a sheet of paper
  2. Write down three-five simple goals you want to achieve
  3. Create an action plan to get there
  4. TAKE ACTION by Starting Where you Are

That’s IT.

Remember that DONE is the new PERFECT and waiting to begin until things are perfect are the biggest robbers of Starting Where You Are.

ANYTHING that gets in between you STARTING WHERE YOU ARE is a lie that is meant to distract you from LIVING YOUR BEST LIFE NOW.

A.N.Y.Thing

Start living your best life NOW by taking these simple action steps. The time is going to pass by anyway.

Wont you be much happier when you are looking back at the last 12 months and seeing how far you have come JUST BY GETTING STARTED.

I am grateful for your commitment to take action.

I want to hear about your experience and breakthroughs. Comment below or simply email me your results if you prefer not to make it public. Email me at Erik@TheRealErikStark.com

If you found any value in this conversation, please share it with the world. You never know who you may impact.

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Our Number One Source For Our Most Profitable Real Estate Deals…And The Strategy Used to Extract All The Money

Our Number One Source For Our Most Profitable Real Estate Deals…And The Strategy Used to Extract All The Money

I remember my first few months when we began to make serious money in real estate. Life was good. Deal flow was abundant. We had private money sources to fund our transactions.

Every day offered 1-3 serious opportunities to buy another property. We averaged buying and selling two deals per week for nearly three years.

The first year, all of our deals were assignments. We made $235,000 profit. The second year we opened up to doing rehabs and did 60% assignments and 40% rehab. We made over $700,000. The next year we flopped those numbers around and did more rehabs. We did over $1,000,000.

The money was consistent…and so was the constant need to be “on”. You could even say it was borderline stressful at times.

We did that for another year and at the first sign of the marketing beginning to change, we flew in our secret weapon…the very first educator I ever heard speak in the field of real estate.

He was not mainstream. Couldn’t be found on a webinar and his website looked like it was the first website ever created. It actually may have been. He was a close neighbor to Bill Gates. We didn’t care about his online appearance. We knew his track record and wanted to implement his model as our new way of doing business.

He flew in and we showed him our machine.

Nearly in tears, he explained and showed us how we are working our asses off to cut our own financial throats.

He made us aware of just how much money our lenders make from our hard work.

He pulled out a napkin and showed us how we are making a small fortune and only keeping enough to fill a small piggy bank.

From that day forward we changed the direction, positioning and structure of our business.

From lead flow to lender interest rates to strategy implementation.

We set out to become property owners and disassociated ourselves with being property flippers, wholesalers and even landlords. Those are bad words in our office.

We used words like price, terms, expandability, zoning, wrap notes, maker beneficiary agreement. It was a new level of sophistication.

Our first step was to identify 100 of our areas top properties we want to own.
Not single family. Small apartments. Retail storefronts with lofts up above. Prime office space. The good stuff we drool over believing we don’t have what it takes to acquire.

This seemed daunting as we were just some amateur guys who worked our flipping model well and had purchased a few hundred properties in the last couple of years.

We were used to going after old, ugly distressed properties.

Within 5 days we had 100 photos, public records, biographies on the property owners and a very solid idea of the income potential of each building.

We set out to get in contact with all of them.

We mailed personal letters that engaged people and began purchasing these properties one at a time.

I will admit this was MUCH SLOWER than our previous model however it only took the first deal to realize how much equity we captured with effort nothing like we did with high volume wholesalers and rehabs.

Sure I was still on the hook for $151,000 mortgage and note, however the major difference is that there was zero pressure to have that money back to the lender within a certain time period.

Not to mention that that deal covered itself day one…and still threw off excellent cash flow.

Here is EXACTLY how we bought that deal.

How To Build Wealth From Your Next Wholesale Deal.

Below is the summary of that..

Bought a cheap house for $17,500
Put $2000 down and seller carried note for $15,500 at 4% for 5 years

Sold that house 12 days later for $25,000 CASH NET
Moved the sellers $15,500 note to another property we owned and pocketed $25,000.

We netted exactly $7,500 from that sale (even though we pocketed full $25k).
Meanwhile we were negotiating a 4 unit apt building in an excellent part of town.

We purchased that 4 unit for $159,000, put $7,500 down payment, seller carried $151,500 note at 7% for 15 years.

We cash flowed that building for over a year and finally someone wanted it so bad that they paid us $250,000 (if I remember correct).

So not only did we lock up a A class asset for $7500, but the property covered itself month after month, removed pressure from us having to renovate and improve, threw off additional net cash flow to our company, and then someone comes and pays nearly $100k more shortly after 1 year later. Therefore we also avoided cap gains tax.

ALL OF THIS STARTED WITH $2000 down on a cheap rental house.

I remember leaving the closing and went right back to my office to draw this out on the white board so I could visualize what just happened and how we can do it again.

This was the first time I realized Ill never go back to our old ways again.

We took that sellers $151,500 and moved it to another duplex, this time closer to downtown and paid off an underlying balance of $107,000 that we were paying more interest on.

Now that property was REALLY cash flowing.

Low and behold, one year later we received an offer for $252,000 on our duplex. Same scenario all over again. No pressure. No flipping. Self covering. Cash-flowing. Avoided cap gains. Made another 100k+

Don’t get me wrong, we had many 100k months, however those were dependent on us being in the field 50 hours per week.

Do you know what happens when you make $100k and are subject to capital gains?

You’re immediately only sitting with $70,000.

What we were experiencing was wealth creation.

So it turns out that our number one profitable source for real estate deals is direct to seller with out Top 100 Properties..

The number one strategy is to leverage and control properties. This can be done with option agreements, through owner finance and even certain wrap notes.

Im sure cash would have resulted in the same profits, however it was leverage that allowed us to sequentially hit on all cylinders.

How to Transition From Wholesaler/Flipper to Wealth Building Property Controller?

*Side Note – I advise you to begin building your own list of Top 100 properties however for sake of this post we are going to show you how to transition right where you currently are in your business.

First you start by incorporating this single question into your qualification sheet. Wether its you or a virtual assistant, I want you to begin asking this to every seller lead who calls to sell you their property.

“Are you interested in selling for cash or would you like to receive a secured monthly income from the sale”?

You can also try a variation of this and use “regarding the sale, are you looking to receive all cash or would you like to continue to receive an income stream from the sale of the property”?

*Another Side Note – I must stress the importance of offering cash first and leaving with the secured monthly income. It has been my experience that more people show interest when presented above which makes it more possible for us to structure their deal that way. Offering cash as the last option, in most cases made it super easy for them just to say “just give me the cash”.

By offering this question, you are opening the door to leveraging your way to wealth. Don’t be discouraged if your first deal doesn’t make you $100,000. Just know that anyone can buy a $17,500 crack shack with $2000 down and get there.

You want to structure these deals to forecast long into the future.

The one idea you need to wrap your mind around is that real estate is 100% SEPARATE from financing. They are two totally separate entities. Both can be profited from and maneuvered around.

Many of our deals don’t require a payoff at closing. Generally we do a discharge of the underlying balance and then simultaneously record the new note and mortgage on the new subject property.

Most typical deals that are common usually require a payoff, then the check to be sent back to the lender, the discharge to be recorded at the county, then the funds have to clear lenders bank and if you have a deal waiting in escrow to close with the principle or proceeds from the previous deal, you could be waiting days to fund your next transaction. We do it all within 5 minutes and every can mentally see the moving parts coming together for one beautiful symphony.

Your goal with these deals is not so much about the property, its about the structure of the deal. The goal is to create long term, low rate, amortized debt that you can switch to another property if you decide to sell the current property that the debt is being collateralized by.

Our mentor describes this as the “Bank of US”. It almost acts like a line of credit that allows you to switch debt, collateralize any equity and secure any source of funds as long as you have equity and cashflow to support the note amount.

The next objective you want to accomplish is to set these deals up for cash flow for the long haul. Getting your sellers to agree to 10, 15, 20+ years of financing is going to be one of the greatest future plays you’ll be able to enjoy in your business for years to come.

Once this deal is set up for 15 years, the lenders are getting interest only or amortized payments, the property is covering itself and you are now collecting cashflow.

This is where buying property in EXCELLENT areas will accelerate this process. You have so many more possibilities in A class areas that you don’t get with crack shacks and war zones.

As explained, these deals in excellent areas created future demand that allowed us to realize over $100,000 in profit, from two properties, with less than $2000 of ACTUAL money out of our pocket (remember the $7500 was from profit from selling the crack shack) and only $151,500 note we were responsible for.

We RARELY made $100,000 by only using $151,500 to generate it.

And there you have it. That is Our Number One Source For Our Most Profitable Real Estate Deals…And The Strategy Used to Extract All The Money

So lets recap…

1. Your objective is to begin asking and getting comfortable with “the question”.

2. When you get someone who is ready to sell on owner finance, fill out the purchase agreement the same way, except instead of cash, its going to be a purchase money mortgage and the rest of the details are pretty much paint by number.

If you truly plan to make this a part of your future business, it would be to your benefit to get educated on the possibilities of owner finance and how to maximize your deals. We can help with that and have several case studies, unique processes, documents and structures to help you begin taking these down. As you become more sophisticated with larger deals you will want to have a full on language for communicating your skill confidently.

3.Plan for the long haul. Lock up those deals for as long as you can. When interest rates soar to 8, 9 even 12%, you’ll have a nice little asset that can be repositioned to free up your 5, 6 or 7% money source to use for your next great acquisition.

4. Get educated on how to improve your control and positioning on these deals. You’ll still be responsible for the debt associated with these deals just like any other real estate transaction, however you’re only limited by legalities and the extent of what you can confidently explain and this gives you ultimate flexibility.

As you begin to acclimate yourself to this you will discover that little by little the pieces begin to come together. It may be tempting at first to take that quick $5k fee, however, you’ll ever be as good as your last month.

Start with these steps above and tell me about your experience right here www.Facebook.com/TheErikStark . If you are struggling to define and implement let me know what your biggest struggle. I can be reached at Erik@TheRealErikStark.com

Check out this infographic to see how this deal went down. Wholesale Wealth Infographic

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How To Make Big Money From Small Mailing Lists In Your Real Estate Business

How to Make Big Money From Small Mailing Lists In Your Real Estate Business…

I must admit I get a little disturbed whenever I meet someone who is mailing out 50,000 mailers per month. Occasionally I feel a little awkward.

The whole time they are telling me how they are doing deals at rapid pace and on course to have the biggest month ever. My heart is congratulating them for having real handle on their marketing.

Meanwhile in the back of my mind, I remember what it was like to be mailing thousands of mailers each month.

As we applauded for the “industry standard” of 1% response rates, I couldn’t help but think of the 99% of mailers that are wasted (and this is on a monthly basis).

Not to mention that your next deal is kind of like “luck of the draw”.

This thought kept me up many nights. Sure we were profitable, but what if….I mean just what if there was a way to mail more successfully.

What if there was a way to target a specific group, with a ultra specific message that with each mailer increased the relationship around one core proposition?

What exactly would that look like?

Welcome to the world of making big money from small mailing lists.

Segmented Marketing and Creating Your Minimum Criteria

Segmented marketing is no new tool in the world of advertising. Pepsi learned from early on that if you find a group that gathers every Sunday to eat greasy food, potato chips and watch football, they are likely to also consume a lot of Pepsi as well.

Rather than blindly advertising your cola product to weight lifters and marathon runners (who usually dont want it at all), it made sense to figure out who is most likely to consume my product (or want their service) and not only who is most likely but will also likely be around others who are most likely to consume and on top of that they consume it frequently.

They could actually predict how many people would consume their product this Sunday. This led them to further realizing that in towns where these games occurred, they could predict how many ounces of this product these raving fans would consume.

If I am going to be a property buyer, I want to buy property from guys who own a lot of property and also for my property sellers to hang out with other property sellers who own lots of property. This gives us the best chance of buying properties from one segment of our market.

So we began to segment our marketing into very specified areas where we could predict things…

…things that we consider minimum criteria for mailing

…length of ownership
…motivational moving factors (no updates, looks vacant, no recent refi)
…minimum $25,000 profit potential
…ready for a higher and better use (add a top floor, ADU, build a new home)
…owners of multiple properties
…lower 1/3 of property values (according to tax values)
…being the first to know of a large development project that stood to raise values of all neighboring properties
…special zoning permitted uses

Once we identified a target market (aka our ideal avatar) it was time to create a message that resonated with them. This was when the market was peaking, mailing was saturated and sellers wanted platinum prices for their scrap aluminum property.

(Side Note – This target market was one specific city with around 20,000 people. Building of new homes was going crazy. People were popping the tops on their roofs and putting dormers on and selling for crazy price per Sq. Ft. The city was initiating all these incentives to property owners and developers and the sales and developments here were on fire. Our total monthly mailers applied to 2654 of them…so again not a whole huge mailing list. These are A and B neighborhoods where people live work and play so there is no undesirable areas where people don’t want to live. Only thing undesirable was a ugly beat down house next to a gorgeous one.)

Its like if your fishing, you can just go out and troll the lake and hope one bites or you can look for a school of fish, go get in front of them and increase your chance of catching multiple fish without having to burn up hours on your motor and gas in your tank.

Bottom line, there was enough money to be made in one city within a 5 mile radius that it made more sense to play here than it did to keep chasing deals across three counties. This is just one major market we segmented to.

We knew these people were being bombarded with mailers from Realtors and Investors.

We adopted a message that challenged people psychologically that IF they truly were interested in selling, they couldn’t help but wonder if we could honor all that we said we could in the mailer. (Don’t worry about this getting leaked to your market. Only those in our monthly coaching have access to this info =)

This put us in a situation where we didn’t have a huge influx of deals, however the spreads were thick and when ever a lead call came in, it pretty much was a done deal.

Largely because next to homeowners (who didn’t want these type of properties) we were the ones paying the most cause we knew what type of property could be placed there.

Action Steps

Here is how you transition from your mass mailings to segmented marketing.

Pick the territory from your mailing list where you tend to have a lot of transactions or better yet, wherever your largest check has come from.

I prefer to start with areas of great demand. Where there is a pulse. The type of area where you want to take your spouse to dinner on Friday.

Once you have identified your area, discover your own minimum criteria for this area and segment your marketing.

This info is in the sales data. Inside of your target market, what properties are mostly probable to sell and for under market value?

For us, it was mostly based on future developments so one of our minimum criteria was it had to potentially make us a minimum of $25,000 assignment fee and therefore we could do a minimum $100,000 profit if we had to develop.

For example, you might look at your identified area and come up with a total of 35,000 properties.

Now you want to ask yourself, “of all these people, who is most probable to sell their property soon, and at a discount”?

“Do any of them own more than one property where you can potentially buy a landlords whole portfolio”? (I don’t mean all at once. One property at a time every six months for the next five years or so)

Our first mail campaign would identify who, out of these 35,000 properties are the areas largest landlords. Its not likely all 35,000 will be who you are looking for.

Lets say that there are 46 guys who own a total of 1200 properties in this area of 35,000 people.

What I would do is look at some of the motivating factors that determine if a property can be purchased with a little equity…

…are any of these currently in probate?
…which of these have the lowest 1/3rd tax assessed value?
…what is the oldest recording date of these?
…which properties look like they have not been updated since they were purchased?
…who manages them?
…do any of them have outstanding code violations?

These questions set the stage for our minimum criteria that we use as a baseline to determine who our most probable prospects will be.

Somewhere in the data is the information that will create a “best case scenario” of who is most probable to sell their property. This data is where we make big money from small mailing lists.

There is your first segmented marketing campaign.

Next you might look into who of these 35,000 people has inherited their property. This is generally found by looking for quit claim deeds that were recorded with a death certificate attached.

Practice thinking just like Pepsi does…

Who is mostly likely to need my service that will allow you to identify a minimum criteria for these types of opportunities and then segment them out?

 

Check out this video that walks you through the process of making big money with small mailing lists.

 

Tell me, what are some of your past deals that you can now recognize as having this minimum criteria?

This is a good starting point for you to begin your transition.

If you need help finding your target market, segmenting, creating your message and implementing you can message me privately at Erik@TheRealErikStark.com or post to the FB group and Ill create a video to answer your questions.

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How To Live Rich Part II

…and why giving and serving will help us sleep better than any mattress ever will.

After seeing that the How To Live Rich (Part 1) blog post was read nearly 5 times more than another other blog post that I wrote, I thought I would expand on the things that make us rich and give an updated version since the last one was more about materials.

Not being materialistic, but about buying select quality items that last and make you feel rich.

I need to start with the prerequisite that is the main starting point for this discussion.

Living rich can only be defined by you.

Yet how in the world are you supposed to remain loyal to your definition of living rich when you are constantly bombarded with images, posts and status updates that seem to show that everyone else is living the most epic lives ever?

We can start with the statistics and news headlines that reveal how miserable most online influencers are.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-5620939/The-6-reasons-social-media-making-UNHAPPY.html

http://behindthequest.com/instagram-depression/

I don’t like to be the negative nelly around here however my default usually associates those who post nothing but highlights of their life are just masking their true pain.

Life may be experienced in the high points of adventure, travel and epic landscapes however life is lived in the every day balance of juggling LIFE.

Human connection lies amongst the top sources for living rich.

I was always fascinated by the quote “live a life free from vacation” so one day we moved to a vacation destination to live out the rest of our lives. It felt amazing to live every day in paradise. However, life still occurs. Tragedies happen. Relationships dissolve. Disappointment is still lurking.

One day I seen a hashtag that said #iLivewhereYouVacation and it made me upset.

This verbal attack essentially summarizes what photo posts say to us with every scroll.

I live a life better than you do and I do it all the time and you don’t. Almost as if the high life is free from problems that only those on the bottom deal with…(and most of them ARE on vacation lol).

The toll this has on our subconscious is immense. Many of us don’t realize the impact of this.

Since writing the last blog post, I have had a unique look inside of a life that truly challenges what it really is like to live rich…from the view point of those who are wealthy (which is way beyond rich).

I have been fortunate to meet and become close to a local billionaire family that challenges the status quo of what it is REALLY like to live rich.

Its humbling to see a family who could stroke a check for any car on the market, yet he drives a 12 year old BMW truck and his wife drives a nice, 5 year old CLS class Mercedes.

With all the insane home building you see going on in our community, you would think they live in the largest home in South Florida with Ocean vistas and top of the line everything.

Although their home is VERY NICE (per anyones standards), they have lived in the same home since 1983 in which he knocked on 100 doors in the area he wanted to live in and asked to buy their home from them.

When you think of those who truly live rich, you don’t normally associate “rich” people knocking on doors to get things done.

100 foot yacht in the back yard? Not a chance. How about a 25 foot pontoon boat? Yup, thats them.

Armani suit every day? LOL. He literally must have 10 of the exact same color shirts with his initials on the sleeves. Just like Steve Jobs, he wears the exact same outfit. Every. Single. Day.

Loius Vuitton shoes? Yeah right. This dude goes for comfort and I think they are New Balance.

Having met them through some of my charity contacts, the relationship has a unique difference than most of my relationships which largely stem from business.

To summarize what living rich is to this family, is done so in one word.

Serving.

They live to serve humanity. I don’t know the exact amounts of people they serve each week, however I have repeatedly seen them show up to our homeless serve program every. single. week.

Ive seen them pay for surgeries of those less fortunate.

Ive seen them pay for expenses for those who deliberately put themselves into bad situations without having any judgement whatsoever toward those individuals.

Ive seen them buy cars for single moms to regain stability in life.

Ive seen them buy equipment for recovering men that helped those in recovery regain the confidence to enter society as a valuable contributor.

Even though they are blessing people financially, this is how they serve and give. Not only do they give their time but they give their money too. (For people who don’t have a lot of money, is easy to give your time, however for people who do have a lot of money, time is usually something they don’t have that much excess of, so to see them do both is truly humbling to a guy like me who easily disqualifies myself from giving cause I dont have an abundance of time nor money….or so we tell ourselves.)

Ive personally experienced them texting me at 6:45am asking me if I want to walk on the beach with them.

I still receive texts weekly asking me what they can do for me.

Who am I to a billionaire?

I have little to offer with business advice for a family worth 1.9 billion.

I can only offer my time to serve along side them…

and thats how we live rich. Together.

So there you have a billionaire standing next to a homeless man, both with humble hearts, the desire to serve and no separation of class regardless of their financial background. Both from two opposite ends of the financial pendulum, experiencing the exact same “richness” of life.

Reflecting back on the question that was asked in the first post…brings forth an amazing discovery in just how exactly you live rich.

How do you live rich if you DO have the expendable income?

So here “we” sit on this side of the financial pendulum and are always thinking, “If I just had more money, Id be happier” or “If I could just make more money, I could make a difference in the lives of others”.

Its a stark contrast when you look over and see someone who could hand out $100 bills all day and they are still looking for ways to experience the “richness of life”…

It makes you ponder.

I have had several conversations with him regarding his desire to show up and serve knowing that he can financially change the lives of many people.

It is very clear that just cause he can hand out money to people who don’t have much, he knows that him serving and being present is where he and the homeless people actually experience more richness as to where giving them money actually enables them to keep living in their current circumstance which diminishes the richness.

It is my hope that we lose sight of having to have the next technology gadget or newest car in order to feel rich.

Im sure you can look back and realize that that new car, becomes “old” in less than 30 days…and now you have a payment coming in for the next 60 months that you are obligated to pay. To me, this is not living rich.

It is my hope to challenge the status quo that says you have to be seen with A class people, have mountain top views with private flights all over the world.

If you need help, just watch Yahoo news headlines to see the weekly meltdowns of celebrities who are coming unstitched at the seams trying to keep up with their “riches”.

Meanwhile, the “richness” of life passes you by.

So aside from buying nice things like quality mattresses, good clothing, having close relationships, sleeping well and doing what matters we can now validate that the people who have the absolute means to live rich, experience life’s greatest riches by serving.

What are the activities, disciplines and things you do or have that make you feel the richest? Take a moment and reflect on what you do that makes you feel rich. Even if its not in alignment with these two blog posts.

The best way to thank me for this post is to engage with me so we both become better.

Share them below or go here and post them right to my wall.

 

P.S. This post was not created to glorify our wealthy friend however I feel I was able  to paint a better picture by allowing you to peek into the life of someone who can easily obtain all that society believes will make us happy and to explain what I see behind the scenes that really does make them live as rich as they are.

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The 5 Principles of Focus (A Biblical Approach to Growth and Leadership)

This is a recent call from our Tuesday Men’s Group, Biblical Leadership for Entrepreneurs

In this short (less than 20 minute) discussion you’ll learn the 5 Principles of Focus and what it takes to be a focused leader in today’s confused, wanderous would.

You’ll also be able to walk yourself through 5 simple questions that will realign you with your most powerful self.
I am honored that you would chose to spend your time on this site and know that it is valuable. I believe you will get a lot of value from this.

Here is the posting from our Facebook page…

Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you. Proverbs 4:25

A whole lot of your worst distractions can come disguised as good ideas…

They’re the things you want to do, things you believe you’d be good at, things that tempt your “whatever it takes” mentality…

But sometimes, what you NEED is to take a step back to see if this new opportunity fits within your life’s calling and cause…

What it takes at times like these is FOCUS.

This is a critical element for success as we face distractions every single day in our business. Shiny objects disguised as new opportunities for revenue, growth, new products and ventures…

On this week’s call we are going to cover “THE 5 PRINCIPLES OF FOCUS AND HOW WE CAN APPLY THEM TO GROW OUR CHURCH’S AND BUSINESS“.

If you are looking to zero in on your companies main purpose, cut out the noise and truly experience the growth that God has in store for you and the progress you deeply desire, then you do not want to miss this call!

Join us for our weekly fellowship call!
Tuesdays, 10:00 AM
DIAL: (712) 770-4010

ACCESS CODE: 902227#
#BLFE #leadership #entrepreneurs #entrepreneurship #spiritualwealth #wisdom #focus #Proverbs425
If you have 30 minutes each Tuesday to “ground” yourself and surround yourself with a few broken entrepreneurs looking to improve themselves according to Gods word, JOIN US Each Tuesday at 10am…

Just find Biblical Leaders For Entrepreneurs Facebook page

https://www.facebook.com/groups/140691203344603/

HUGE THANK YOU TO CHRIS LOGAN for doing an amazing job on this call.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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Know How Vs How To: Eliminating Variables and The Color By Number Approach to Life

“Fun Fact: Color by Number painting kits were originally created in 1951 by Craftmaster brand (Palmer Painting) promising “A beautiful oil painting on your very first try”.  Sales were so slow at first the company “hired” buyers to come to the store and make it appear as if they were flying off the shelves. They went on to sell over 20,000,000 kits.

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Have you ever wondered why you were not able to achieve the same result as someone else?

 

Have you felt the frustration of having everything you were told you needed to succeed and still came up short?

 

Why are more people not achieving their goals? Aren’t there plenty of people to learn from who are successful and have the systems and processes that continually allow them to remain successful?

 

What you’re experiencing is the difference between having the how to vs having the know how.

 

Paint companies knew this to be a powerful truth in the 1950s, so they began creating a fool proof system for helping others create true masterpieces (many times better than the originals) that made them feel highly accomplished.

 

Thats the power of transitioning how to into know how.

 

Let me give you a perfect example.

 

When I moved my family to Florida in 2013, I was no longer able to enjoy my grandmothers home made pie for Thanksgiving. After two years of missing this incredible delight, I asked grandma if she would be willing to share her recipe with me so I could begin serving this at our Florida feast on Thanksgiving.

 

After I signed the secret declaration to NEVER tell a soul what is in grandmas recipe, she finally mailed out that actual index card that her original recipe was written on.

 

Thats like finding a original copy of Think and Grow Rich.

 

Its as authentic as you can get.

 

So when grandmas recipe arrived and I studied the ingredients and process, I made a list of items I needed to get from the store and set out to get my contents.

 

When I arrived back home, I cleared my prep area, gathered all the needed items and began following the instructions perfectly…

 

(In order to protect my livelihood, the ingredients and measurements used have been removed)

 

A cup of this here

A teaspoon of that there

High speed mix for two minutes

Let settle for five minutes

 

Long story short after following that recipe EXACTLY, I pull the pie out ready to dig in.

 

Now I had to wait a few more minutes for it to cool per grannies instructions so I waited with anticipation.

 

After waiting no more than two seconds after grannies instructed time, I carved out my slice, slapped it on the plate and went to find my perfect spot where I could nestle in for my after indulgence coma.

 

I found my spot, licked my chops like Wile E Coyote did before he went after the roadrunner and dug in…

 

…

 

something…

…

 

…just wasn’t  

 

…

 

right.

 

it tasted ok…but it never touched the amazingness that my grandma was able to produce. It was 90% there…but it wasn’t the same.

 

I couldn’t understand it.

 

I had the ORIGINAL, EXACT recipe.

 

I bought the EXACT same ingredients and brand names mentioned on the recipe

 

I measured everything twice and poured once

 

The oven was optimal temperature

 

My timer was JUST calibrated to make sure it was dead on its time cycle

 

What went wrong?

 

I called my grandma and went through my troubleshooting checklist.

 

I verified the exact steps she used to perfect this process and get the result she achieved every time.

 

After going over everything in frustration she began to chuckle a little.

 

I caught on to grannies humor although this was no time to be laughing.

 

I said “granny, what is so funny? Im redlining on my blood pressure and you’re over here laughing”

 

She responded and said “hunny, you have the how to and until you get the know how, yours will always taste different than mine and even when you get it perfect, it will never be like mine”.

 

Im glad she got a kick out of this however for me, it was one of those life defeating moments and I wasn’t laughing.

 

So I responded sharply and asked “why didn’t you send me the know how instead of the how to?  If you knew thats what I needed, why didn’t you send it”.

 

She continued her chuckle and said “the only way you’ll ever get the know how is to fly me down there and have me stand right next to you and help you. Then, you wont even need the how to cause you’ll have the know how looking over your shoulder”.

 

I am glad she found humor in all of this although I am seriously going into meltdown mode.

 

So I said “granny, I am just trying to bake a delicious pie. I don’t have the time or budget to fly you down just to make a pie”.

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She was quick to reply with “well then you will just have to settle for the results you get on your own. The more pies you bake, the more know how you will have. Before long, you wont need the how to any more”.

 

I stopped for this brief “aha moment” and thought about what she had just said.

 

Its like she had Tony Robbins sitting next to her telling her what to say next.

 

BUT IT WAS TRUE. Everything she was telling me was the absolute truth.

 

I live life for these sort of breakthroughs and granny just served up a fresh dish of BOOM.

 

I thought about this and how it actually applied to several areas of my life.

 

Can you relate to this with something you have went through in your own life?

 

So why is it that we can have the recipe for a great pie or the recipe for success and it STILL requires additional thinking, effort, tweaking and constant adjusting?

 

In life we have whats called variables.

 

In humans, we have to deal with emotions, bias and behavior variables.

 

In business we have to deal with processes, regulations and operations variables.

 

In cooking we have measurements, ingredient quality and temperatures.

 

In painting, we have lines to stay in, color matching and water over saturation

 

These variables allow for inconsistencies to begin finding their way into the process of making progress. In most instances, there are more variables than constants.

The more variables you have, the more difficult you can expect it to become.

 

When something goes right, you mark it is a constant (meaning you can count on its result every time). When something is still in variable phase, you need to work through every possible source of testing, tweaking and adjusting until you have worked out every possibility that results in a variable.

 

Painfully so, many of the variables we suffer from are self inflicted.

 

High expectations

 

Lack of work ethic

 

Poor communication skills

 

Unable to problem solve

 

Unfocused

 

and for the record, there are more variables in life than there are constants. So make a good habit of working out all the variables so you have a perfected know how understanding of how it works.

 

So just exactly how do you get around this energy draining life long process to remain focused on results and the tasks at hand?

 

Well, fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on your outlook) there is a way to navigate through the thickets and get to a place where you can focus on spending your time in the areas of maximum effectiveness. There is no paint by number process for this. You’ll have to figure it out, one variable at a time.

 

Its called FAIL FORWARD FAST. There is NO shortcut for this.

 

You take a 90% successful how to process and you work through the last 10% to make a flawless process that allows you to show up and get right to the results you wanted.

 

If you are training to become a world class athlete and are truly serious about your success, you are looking for shortcuts to get you to the top as soon as you can.

 

Being that you are extremely dedicated to succeeding, you are spending your life looking to be the best, therefore you need to eliminate EVERYTHING that is not contributing to your success.

 

Some people spend years (either cause they are not serious or simply do not know better) going through variable after variable before they ever begin to see any form of results at all. Many of them simply did not make a conscious decision on where they chose to invest their time or spent it doing tasks that just don’t deliver results. Some don’t even know that these variables can be worked through, perfected and then systematized.

 

These are the variables that set people back years of their life and eventually burn them out.

 

[tweetthis display_mode=”box”]“Your Success Depends on How Soon You Endure The Pain of Change”[/tweetthis]

 

The faster you move through the variables to develop a plan that works, the sooner you will have the KNOW HOW of what it takes to be a world class athlete.

 

So what happens when you put a new person who wants to be a world class athlete with an actual world class athlete?

 

The world class athlete is going to have his own proven, tried and true process that he practices every day to remain the best.

 

He has spent years perfecting this. Using what worked for him and eliminating what didn’t. (<—— This is the only way to get there)

 

Someone may have offered him a diet plan, but he didn’t like fish…so he had to deal with the variable.

 

He could have had someone build a personal early morning workout plan for him, but he didn’t like AM workouts, so he had to adjust the variable.

 

The same goes for when the world class athlete begins working with the newcomer who wants to be the best.

 

He is going to get 90% of the how to from the world class athlete he is working with and then he will have to work out the remaining 10% that requires adjustment that will eventually let him get to his own repeatable know how process.

 

One of the most important variables that is more of a prerequisite to this whole journey is your level of commitment.

 

If you are not serious about your commitment, you will never make it passed the variables and therefore never put a “recipe” to what worked for you. You must have an intense ability to overcome opposition or you will want to quit sooner than someone who knows their reason at their core.

 

Its so crucial to understand your level of commitment with anything you take on since we as humans tend to give in at about 40% of our capacity.

 

Don’t become a victim of the “it didn’t work” mentality. If you invested in it, you must believe at some level it works…you just didn’t DO THE WORK to get the system to WORK FOR YOU.

 

Even worse, you did the work and stopped short of succeeding. It is much better to live in a little distorted color by number painting than it is to live your whole life in black and white.

 

If you want to consistently move from How To’s to Know How’s, you simply need to…

 

  1. find someone who has a proven know how system that they follow and
  2. simply borrow their process to use all that works perfect for you (the 90%) and
  3. then simply tweak (replace or adjust) that which didn’t work and make it work for you

 

In all my personal experiences, high level interviews, masterminds and especially in situations where I simply forked out money thinking it would just drop the know how in my head, I have never seen know how come before the painful process of perfecting the how to.

 

(Don’t be negligent like I was and think just cause you pay a personal trainer that you will get  muscles. You still have to show up and do the work. Consistently.)

 

If you try and manipulate this, you are messing with a principle that will leave you exhausted and disappointed.

 

You need to form the habit of following the three step process mentioned above and getting yourself used to getting aligned with the variables that line you up for success each time.

If you are struggling to discover your how to or need help defining your know how, simply send me an email at Erik@TheRealErikStark.com

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How To Live Rich

“Some People Are So Poor, All They Have Is Money”

Let me begin by saying, we do not have to be financially rich to live rich.

Adversely, being financially rich does not necessarily guarantee you a rich life.

What does “rich” mean to you?

Would you consider yourself rich if you were working 85 hours per week, earning $1,000,000 per year?

How about if you worked 10 hours per week and made $100,000 per year?

Which of those scenarios is “richer” to you?

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I have had the very fortunate opportunity to radically improve my life over the last 10 years. During that time, I have masterminded and interviewed some of the most brilliant minds that have not only made small fortunes, but truly created a lifestyle worth living…

Being in real estate and living in Ft Lauderdale, I meet people daily that “have it all”. Gorgeous homes, multiple cars, traveling the world, trophy wife, beautiful kids…

The downside is, they have all these “riches” of life and are not experiencing the “richness of life”.

• The gorgeous home has become the new norm. Always needing something and have not had a pool party in years. Thanksgiving is just shy of WWII.
• They rush through life and rarely smile and say “Man Am I Blessed To Hop Into Some Beautiful British Stitched Leather Seats”
• They travel the world and never stop for sight seeing cause they are on “busi-ness”
• The trophy wife is a distant soul that has lost the spark for her husband
• The kids have zero idea what love really is and think it comes in a package from dad that says “Im home, heres your present”.

I bleed for these people because I know no one wants to live that way. The great challenge is they have created so much momentum rolling that ball in the direction that they can not slow it down and change its course.

I’m guilty of having it all…and being emotionally bankrupt

So How do You Live Rich if You Don’t Have a Ton of Expendable Income?

Before you begin to answer that, it does us a great justice to consider this…

How do you live rich if you DO have the expendable income?

It goes to question that if those with plenty of money have access to everything they desire and aren’t living rich (whats the purpose of having it if you are not grateful and enjoying it), then is it very possible for the everyday man to enjoy a slice of those riches, at a fraction of the cost for the everyday person who works hard and would feel ultimately rewarded for having access to an oceanfront home a few times per year to spend with his family or to take his spouse on the vacation of a lifetime. Even to keep a luxury or sports car in his garage for when he wants to feel young or powerful.

[tweetthis]Part of Living Rich is enjoying the value of nice things, without having to overpay the cost[/tweetthis]

Lets also be clear about this as well…

Being rich is being rich in your mind.

[tweetthis]Don’t ever let your happiness rest in someone else’s mind[/tweetthis]

Let your riches be meaningful to you and its likely to become a blessing to others

Here are some of the ways I have been able to live rich

Being Healthy: My appreciation for health has only been to the extent of my education. However, health is my leading priority in my life now by default. Simple steps such as eliminating (ok, lets be real…reducing) sugar and adding intense exercise. Just the thought of how much sickness I can save myself if I reduce sugar (and processed foods) and began finding SOME way to do intense, low impact activity was enough to convict me that I needed to begin. Gradually it has increased. I hated working out just as much as the next guy…However, I know that if I am going to prolong my legacy and “be there” for my family, I could begin doing some form of intense activity that over time would increase the “richness” of my life. So now, I cycle roughly 60 miles per week, run a few 5k runs per year, am highly active and adventurous, I swim in the ocean often, take a lot of cold showers to shock my body, workout around my pool and have minimized the intake of flours, sugars, too much alcohol and snacking. Part of this was realizing that much of my snacking was done mindlessly. I have rerouted my mind to go for water every-time I want to reach for a snack. I also realized that the reason I have lazy mornings is because its starts the night before. Although I am not a big alcohol drinker, I woke up for years with “hangovers” from the foods I was consuming almost subconsciously. Sluggishness from carbs. Actual back pain from my body not being able to break down so much red meat. Again, its only effective to how educated I am and I am my own university slowly building my library. Summed up, health equals wealth so one of the ways we can live rich is to practice healthy habits of limiting sugar, processed food and carbs mixed with a low impact, intense activity that gets your heart rate moving. Don’t push so fast and increase the misery of what you are not liking. That’s not getting rich. Your better off cycling 10 miles or walking 5 miles instead of running 1 mile if running sucks that much. Make sure you are increasing your activity as your body responds and grows toward more mobility.

Nice Clothing: Having a healthy mind and body should also reflect in your appearance. NOT for boasting reasons but for setting the premise that you respect yourself. This will allow others to respect you as well. Nice clothing can be an investment. There is a large difference between upscale department stores and many of today’s department stores. Believe me, shopping next to the ultra wealthy is not un affordable. Just like any other store, they also feature “last seasons” lineup if you are concerned price is too much. Having a few nice tailored shirts, quality breathable polos, custom cuff links made, a few pairs of dark tailored jeans and certainly a dark pin stripped suit is a necessity of any respectable gentlemen. The great benefit of buying upscale clothing is that it truly does last longer. Like anything, know your brands and the quality they provide. As much as I can tell the difference between upscale and normal dept store clothing, I also agree with my wife that most of it is all made in one factory in one of three foreign countries where buyer agent representatives go and buy the lineups and have their tags stitched into it. Those will do from time to time, but search for quality clothing and you can keep it for the better part of your life. Go to all the dept stores and search high and low for the new you. Try on some items you may think are not your personality. Start at whatever budget you must, but by adding to this, you are investing in yourself and your actions will compound over your life. You will see the different responses from people. Dressing sharp increases your appearance, confidence and social respect. Good things happen when you have those qualities. Those are qualities of people who live rich lives.

P.S. This does not mean you go and buy the latest LV or Gucci brand clothing. It must be said that just because it has an expensive price tag, does not mean it is quality.

Driving Nice Cars: Driving a nice car is one of the greatest blessings of living rich. You spend a lot of time driving in your car and your vehicle is a statement of who you are. I have always driven nice cars because I understood how to leverage financing, buy rite, with good miles and usually sell for a profit after driving for a while. I did this before I started in real estate and to be honest, I became lazy when I began buying property. Rather than continue my car hustlin hobby, I just went out, found what I liked and settled for that for the next few years. Even still I drove an Infiniti Q45 and Lexus LS 430 for years and was able to focus on real estate. Now I am back in the game of buying luxury cars, driving it for a few months and then selling for a break even or a profit. One of the secrets of driving a nice car, even like my Inifinit and Lexus is to buy them after they lose the majority of their depreciation. Now if you really want to get the best value, find out your specific cars depreciation curve and look for one that is coming up or just past the major curve of its biggest loss. This is usually within the first 3-5 years of the vehicles lifespan Example, Brand new, my Lexus is $57,900 off the lot. If you wait twelve months of it sitting and being the “old model” (that usually only changes design every 8-10 years) it usually drops $10,000+. If someone buys it brand new, they suffer the largest loss. The expendable cash guys can afford to lose that. Where we want to pick up is when they “must have a new model” and are ready to take a significant loss on the original sale price and turn it in for that new one. Usually within 3-5 years on most luxury cars. When I bought my car, it was 6 years old and the model was still the same look at the new ones driving on the streets. I negotiated it from a deal that had it for $24,900 and bought it for $20,000. No one can tell if its the brand new model or the “old model”. However, we both sit at the stop light with the same statement of who we are…I just have $37,000 more dollars. Let me ask you who is rich?

A few ways that you can have a luxury or sports car is to understand vehicle values so you are not the one taking the huge loss on the cars value. If you buy the right car at the right time and dont put any miles, its common for rare and collectibles to begin going up in value. Focus on buying your luxury or sports car once it has suffered its largest hit for value loss and then find some extended term financing auto loans that will give you a lower payment for a longer period of time. Again, this is leverage perspective to understand that you CAN own and enjoy your $80,000 Z06 Corvette if you buy it right with financing that wont make you work 20 extra hours per week to cover the expense. Ask me how I drive a Bentley GT for the same monthly expense as what my Lexus cost and when I sell this Bentley in a few months Ill recoup all if not more than my payments back. Again, cause I bought it right, with low miles with unique financing that keeps my monthly out of pocket low. The Bentley will end up costing me less or potentially paying me to drive than the Lexus.

Living In A Nice Home: This is an interesting topic as I am a full time real estate buyer and have been for the last 10+ years. My opinion and you can do your own research, yet I am rather convinced that owning a home (in todays market for sure) is much more of an expense and risk than leasing. I justify that because of a few reasons. Number one is the net cost to live. My home I lease in Florida costs around $400,000. To own this home, with taxes and insurance would cost me around $2800 per month. PLUS when the $3400 ac goes out, $18,000 roof is needed, $3000 pool refinishing or $3000 pool heater and spa have issues, its a direct expense to the owner. I lease the same home for $2200 and treat it like its my own home and enjoy the “richness” of having the amenities that matter most to us without the huge overhead. A simple, updated, pool home oasis, close to the beach, in a desirable part of town, with kids for our son to play and an outdoor paradise we can enjoy at its fullest because we are not trading time for money to afford an overly large home that would keep us separated, cost a lot of money, require a lot of upkeep and rarely be used. I also get bored easily and we dont mind relocating to another “richer” home we may find at a great value that is in proximity to our sons private school.

HOWEVER… When our market does drop home values, I will be ready to locate and capture our dream properties which will be an oceanfront condo that will serve as my office and our weekend getaway as well as the waterfront lot with ocean access where we will build a home new from scratch. This is my version of maintaining “richness” as I maximize my living experience now, keep cashflow low while enjoying life and then capturing my desired lot and condo at the perfect price that will confidently justify a total renovation/new home that is worry free for 10 more years….at which the market will be likely increased again and I will have equity, which equals options.

I must share this little secret of how I have secretly found hidden gem homes in gorgeous waterfront communities where although I may be one of the smallest houses on the block, my neighborhood is filled with million dollar homes. I am able to live amongst the “richness” of perhaps more established, wealthier people and enjoy everything just as they are. The walks, parks, ocean, hyacinth and jasmine blooming everywhere. So I have always driven the streets and kind of “internet stalked” neighborhoods where I envisioned myself living. Places where most think they cannot live. I would find homes that are for sale but have not sold yet. Or I would find a nice looking home and see if they lived there as their primary home. Or perhaps find a vacant home that is listed for sale on line. The longer its been available the better. Then I would mail or email the owner or Realtor and include a incredibly written message about who I am, what I do, my family, our finances, our great credit, no pets, non smokers, great references, son going to private schools and include a photo of my family mentioning we are looking to rent a home in the neighborhood and wanted to know if they would consider leasing since the home has not sold. Use the words LEASE not rent. It just carries different weight. Especially to me because I am a landlord and own properties in these sort of neighborhoods. THOSE properties are my true investments. The tenants pay those off…not me. I have moved into several ocean front communities where most people think it is expensive to live and found hidden gems and negotiated incredible terms because of the adverse creativity.

At no time did I say this wont require work. Part of living rich is working. However, work harder on yourself than you do your job.

Solid Moral Character: This is where the quote above comes from. Its the very sadness of life that people set out with good intentions and over time, the wallows of life topple over and we wake up one day with just enough realization that we are not on the path where we intended. Many times we just move on with our head down. Some of us are fortunate enough to have a wake up call before the wake up event happens. This is perhaps the toughest area to live rich as we can be our own worst enemies. I know I am the creator of my own sabotage at times.

In Dr Suess book Oh The Places Youll Go, he talks about being in a slump is one of the toughest places to pull yourself out of in life. Yeah….Im wondering why Seuss was telling children about slumps as well yet I know I picked up on that wisdom.

Solid moral character is chiseled from adversity. When you resist the urge to give into temptation or participate in something unruly, you are chiseling a solid moral character. Having a solid moral character is actually my direct link to “richness”.

I have tested my own life and can absolutely testify that depositing $50,000 into my bank account on one deal, did zero for my personal excitement meter. I have also seen my own spirits rise out of a depression because I was feeding the homeless. Money is not linked to happiness and it is my deepest wish that you come to experience this yourself (this is good….means your making a ton of money and then you realize….wait…this didnt help anything I feel on the inside). Solid moral character is also using that deposit to improve my life not be lazy and waste my days away. It is to be used as a springboard to greater, “richer” things. Build your solid moral character. Its likely to be one of your greatest assets.

An Incredible Nights Sleep: I may take this for granted a little and I am pretty certain that having always been a sound solid sleeper is closely linked to my moral character. Tough to sleep when demons are haunting you, people are after you and you don’t own up to your commitments. Although a solid moral character is an aid to a great nights sleep, what I mean is a good mattress.

For somewhere we will spend 1/3 of our lives, investing in a good mattress is a worthy investment. There is no right answer here but to find the mattress that serves you and your spouse best for the greatest affordable amount. Ever since I switched out my Beauty rest for a foam mattress, I actually sleep a little less, yet more solid. I have also became a fan of using a sleep cycle app. This allows me to recharge with only around of 6 hours of sleep. It also is designed to wake up before I begin phasing into my 7th hour which is too much.

Lastly, I hate pills of any sort. They mess up your chemical balance. There are some melatonin pills that will not leave you with a “hangover” if you need to use them for a solid nights sleep. My caveat is not to become dependent on them. Keep a clean conscious, invest in a nice mattress, learn your sleep cycles and you will be sleeping better than most rich men in your community that are up all night with worry, stress, anxiety, overwhelm and many other ailments that keep us awake at night.

Having Rich Relationships: Relationships are something we are wired at our core to fulfill. We need human interaction like never before. Although we are all very busy in life and do not have time to manage several relationships, we can create a small circle of close, deeply connected friends who enrich our lives beyond what money ever could. I don’t have to juggle several “needy” people who are a constant drag.

Those who have close personal relationships are people who build me up and make me a better person. Friends from my mens ministry that meet like casual friends and hold each other to a personal accountability. Friends like those who cycle along side me, run next to me and participate in obstacle course runs. They build me up and contribute to my life. Whenever we are together we are living life richly. There are kids laughing, good food being cooked, pools splashing, deep conversations being had, go pro footage rolling, living it up at the Ft Lauderdale Boat Show. All things simple and extreme fall under the category for us. One day a friend and I swam across the Boca Channel. Not a huge deal but it definitely stirred my blood jumping into 50+ foot deep water of insane currents, where boats are zipping in and out of the inlet, possible sharks and critters swimming all around.

Even though it was only one minute, it was 60 seconds of life at its fullest. My heart was racing from the intense fight of the current and the overcoming of something 99% of people will never do in their lifetime. These sort of relationships keep me out of the rut of conformity. Making sure I own up to my marriage and parenting responsibilities. Keeping me sharp and ready for life. Always pushing me harder than I would ever willingly push myself. The goal is to pan for gold. I am always panning for golden relationships and you don’t find them in every stream and you have to pan through a lot of muck, sand and gravel for a few nuggets. Although its worth it.
There are some key principles to Living Rich that if followed simply will allow you to live a full, grateful life that is filled with rich experiences. Define what living rich is to you.

I have a contractor who lives behind me and he jams with his band 5 days out of the week from 3 oclock in the afternoon until 10 at night. Lavon is the coolest guy you’ll ever meet. He works hard in life, but just enough where he can live comfortable and spend the majority of his time doing what he loves which is jamming it out.

Doing What Matters: The great thing about being rich is its your definition of what that means. The woman whose goal is to change the life of children through teaching and wakes up every day with conviction that today is the greatest day to be alive is living rich.

Living Rich (as we know) actually has little to do with money. One of the richest people I know is a homeless man at the corner of 8 Mile and Woodward in Detroit. You will never pull up to his corner and not see him with a smile. One look at his circumstances and the physical condition of his health and you would wonder how he is still smiling.

Not to mention he is homeless. William has a rich spirit and he was the first person to ever tell me that some people are so poor all they have is money. Every day he sits at his corner and reads his Bible to his fellow homeless pals, plays his guitar and gets everyone singing. He could easily be boozing it up, harassing people yet what matters is still having hope and purpose. THATS living rich.

I hope you gained a little bit of insight into what Living Rich truly means. It is not what we are pitched day in and day out. Often, its the direct opposite.

The whole reason I wrote this article was to get you engaged into a life of Richness.

Take a few moments and tell me how you “live rich”. I have not covered every topic, but those listed above have opened up my life to a whole new world of richness by enjoying these very “things” to the fullest.

Leave your comments and stories below. I manage my own blog and respond personally to everyone.

Thank you for reading and keep on living rich.

 

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33 Things I Learned At Age 33.

Happy Birthday to me…Happy Blah Blah to me…Yes Indeed. Another incredible year has rolled around. I am proud to say I am better, happier and far more lively this year than ever before.

 

As I sit here on my ever-so-blessed 33rd birthday, I have such an overwhelming sense of joy and gratitude. I am truly blessed. Not of my own doing however. God has opened up doors that I couldn’t have pried open with a lifetime of effort.

 

Here are a few notes from my journal that I reflect on in light of today’s celebration.

 

1.  Find A Higher Purpose For Living: Living for ourselves is too shallow of a reason to exist. Do NOT confuse this as putting yourself last. You cannot give what you do not possess. However, when you are living at full capacity and giving your abundance, you are truly experiencing life at full throttle. Most of us have learned by now that acquiring possessions and always having to have the next shiny object in order to be happy is a death cycle. Happiness is not a way of living. Its a chemical reaction in the brain. Find a larger cause, purpose or benefit as to WHY you exist. My personal choice is to glorify God. Why, because just about every other “thing” I have tried doesn’t bring the satisfaction I deeply crave.

2. Let Your Light Shine (Be You-nique): In a world where you can be anything, be yourself. Don’t worry about fitting in with the masses. People attract to supreme confidence and when you let your light shine, people will see their way through (darkness) phoniness and move toward your authenticity (light). Don’t ever let someone put a lampshade over your uniqueness. Those that do are usually not meaning to hurt you. Usually they are scared of something they see in you that they are wanting to do as well. Knowing this, you no longer have to live in fear that people may laugh at you. They actually want more of what you radiate.

3.   Live Well: Don’t wait until you’ve “made it” to begin living life. Life is lived on the journey, not once you arrive. Know what a life lived well means to you and drop as many of those activities into your calendar as you can. Tying this to a cause really amplifies your ability to feel good about how you live your life. Start by answering all of your “How Are You Today”? with “I’m Living Well”.

4. Work Hard: There is simply no other way to get to where you want to go. You can leverage your efforts by being extremely clear and stubbornly focused on your mission. Lets not take 40 years to get to an 11 day destination. Be sure not to confuse busi-ness with productivity. It only cheats yourself.

 5.Bless Others: The ability to bless others is ALWAYS available. The desire to do so however is many times absent. A true show of character is ones desire to bless others. This can be as simple as a smile, a listening ear or helping someone breakthrough in a time of need. My personal experience is that I have been blessed with much, so it is my responsibility to bless others. Besides, everyones internal bank account needs “feel good” deposits. This is the best way I know of to avoid becoming  emotionally bankrupt.

 

6. Find Your Passion: The two greatest days on this earth are the day we are born and the day we find out why. Shifting into a life of passion can be a painful process. So is staying in a rut of conformity and mediocrity. Dig deep and discover what stirs your blood. Find out how to incorporate more of it into your life and if you are super fortunate you will even find a way to profit from it.

 

7. Marry The Wife (Spouse) of Your Youth: Marrying your souls equal is a gift very  few of us are able to be blessed with. I have been with my wife since I was 19 and have been told that dating today is not like it used to be. Part of the reason is because too may people replace what they don’t like instead of working through it to find common ground. Your spouse is a living, breathing being so things WILL NEVER BE PERFECT. If you focus on working through your core differences you can enjoy a life of blessings instead of living under the mindset that somewhere out there is the perfect spouse that has it all together like this world often portrays.

 

8. Repair don’t Replace: Having the mindset to always scrap what isn’t perfect can set you up for a lifetime of disappointment. You never get ahead since you are always building something and then stopping when it gets to tough. This is very similar to people who start something and then never finish. By building a mentality to fix what isn’t perfect will teach you to make the best of what you have an allow you to appreciate much more of life in the long run.

 

9.   Be Selective: In everything. The company we keep. Minds we develop. Water we drink. Our circle of influence. Don’t just let any thought or person take up space in your brain. By being selective and saying “NO, I wont allow that into my life”, we send a shockwave to the world saying we will not accept this standard for our life. Tony Robbins says the simplest way to improve your life is to increase your standards.

 

10. Build Something Great: We are all builders. Whether we build a life of mediocrity or a life of greatness is up to us. Make up your mind to build a better you. A happier family. A business that solves a need. A community that gives back. Too many people end up at the end of their life with regrets. This is a surefire way to not be a victim of that. Start with a solid foundation and build your way up.

 

11. The Air Plane Principle: This is one of the greatest principles I have learned in my life. I consider myself a giver at heart. Many times when I give, it costs me. A lot (pain, agony). Im always willing to eat last and suffer more than most. The airplane principle teaches us that we put our masks on first (to help ourselves first) so that we can continue to help many many other people. Many times we say we will sacrifice our well being to help someone else and many times we are not truly helping, but enabling. Well, you can only help so many people put their mask on before you collapse. Therefore, don’t consider it selfish to know that you serve the world best when you are getting “yours” (in this case oxygen) first.

 

12. Count Your Blessings: An attitude of gratitude will be your best defense to life’s overwhelm of reality. Life is fair by being unfair to everyone. We must have something we are grounded to that keeps us seeing through the blurred vision. When you know this in your heart, very little can keep you separated. This is not to seem cliche. This is not to seem over thought. If being a mother is your greatest blessing, KNOW THAT in your deepest capacity. This will keep you as fierce as a lioness protecting her cubs when life gets a little vicious.

 

13.  Live With Conviction: We take in a lot as humans, let alone entrepreneurs. So much that we often times don’t know WHO we are or WHAT we stand for. We must learn to convict ourselves of the evident truths that make up our internal DNA. This conviction must stand as part of our WHY that keeps us standing at our post regardless of the relentless opposition that will come our way. Be picky. Know what your values and beliefs are and don’t adopt something just because its popular.

 

14. Know The Power of The Mind: “For as you believe, so shall you become” Proverbs 23:7. “Whether you think you can or think you cant , you’re right”. There is no shortage of quotes to give horsepower to the power of the mind. Learn how to build a mindset that works in the upward spiral of life so you are taken down by the ever-present-but-has never-happened thoughts that consume us. If you have a hard time living by faith, try looking back at all the worry you did. Did any of those situations ever turn out as bad as we made them out to be in our minds? Be a victor not a victim.

 

 15.Life is Not Lived At The Top Of The Mountain: Truth is, if you jumped into a helicopter and asked them to drop you on the top of Mt Everest, your body would implode. Its also VERY hard to breathe up there. Besides, how many times have you reached the summit and thought “WOW! Great view. Is this it”? Life is lived on the journey. So enjoy the view at every turn.

 

16. Keep A Close, Small Circle: Small circles keep value as their main connector. Value in the form of advice, action, friendship, business. The larger the circle, the more you must maintain value to each individual and we only have so much time. When time is spread thin, there is a sacrifice. Sacrifice on the quality of our advice, action, friendship or business. Be at your very best by keeping the very best close to you.

 

17. Be Mindful: Mindfulness is awareness. In order to be aware, we have to know what to be aware of. To know what we have to be aware of, we have to know what we feel convicted about. Im not sure if you are connecting the dots here but many of these “lessons” come full circle once your individual answers are put together to make one giant overview. Be aware of what consumes your mind and drop little tidbits into it as often as you can.

 

 18. Develop A Daily Routine: This is your daily “build the best me” routine that you do every day before you begin saving lives and making a difference. This can include reading, working out, writing, reflecting or anything that makes you operate at your absolute best. I created a video you can watch that goes over my morning routine. You can watch it here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixpf1_HoD-o

 

19. Do Life’s Work, Not Busy Work: If you are building something great, you are doing life’s work. Lets be sure we drop as many of these activities into our schedule. They rejuvenate us. They give clarity and power to our days. They make us feel accomplished. Do not live under the condemnation that you are too busy making a living that you have no time to make a life.

 

20. Keep A Journal: Keep several. I love to read. However, no book will ever contain as much power as your life’s legacy (except the Bible). Your experience. Your setbacks and breakthroughs. However formal or informal, leave as much legacy as you can for the rest of the world.

 

21. Seek Wise Counsel: This is where your small, close circle comes in. These close friends usually have your permission to kick your ass in life. They will give you brutally honest feedback. They will make you stronger. When you need advice, you will likely turn to someone you trust. If you are truly about growth, then you will want the brutal truth. People in my circle always have a healthy dose of growth tied to everything we do. I strongly advise you find counsel that doesn’t hold a biased opinion and will shed light on the truth regardless of how painful that may be. Having a “friend” who sugar coats life and tells you what you want to hear is not doing you any good.

 

22. Build Community: The smartest entrepreneurs and business are building  communities. They are building a fan base of loyal customers. These communities are WHY focused and looking for an outlet to their thoughts, issues and creativity. Learn how to gather great minds to give them a source of relief, direction and…community. Your reason doesn’t have to be for business. It could be to start a community garden, community conversation, community running club. Trust me. There are people JUST LIKE YOU who want to be a part of a community that shares your common interest. Gather them and build something great.

 

23. Know Who You Are: We are not looking for name, rank, serial number. WHO Are You? At Your Core? This question is tough to answer yet offers so much clarity as to why we bother to wake up each day. What do you stand for so strongly that you refuse to sit down be quiet? Thats Who You REALLY Are.

 

24. Give Thanks: Developing a heart for appreciation could very well be the greatest gift humans are capable of. We see what happens when we develop a heart for entitlement. Just look around. Don’t just be thankful. Give Thanks. To all those who helped you along the way. To someone who helped today. Or perhaps several years ago. Everyone loves to be appreciated. If we can help to put a smile on someones  face by giving them sincere appreciation, we just lived for a higher purpose, let our lights shine, lived well, blessed others, built something great, lived with conviction, were mindful, did life’s work and built community. Two simple words allowed you to live life at full throttle. Cliche as you think it is, study the greats. They all had thankful hearts.

 

25.  Create Memories You Can Leave Behind: I prefer to leave experiences and memories to may family instead of possessions. Aside from my journals I have, a life time of well lived memories and wisdom on how to live better, I have began to record short videos for each of my family members to watch then I leave this world. These videos are specific to my relationship with that person and are placed in a digital Do-Not-Open-Until-Im-Gone Folder. Although it may be painful to watch these videos, as they go through them they will appreciate those extra moments they never anticipated spending with me. Letters, photos, special memoire’s. Anything personal, specific and unanticipated will be a wonderful memory.

 

26. Assume Nothing, Verify Everything: This unfortunate value of todays society is disappearing very quickly. The do good aspects of life we once counted on as a gift in life now come with a cost. Just cause you hear, read and in many cases, see it, does  not mean its actually true. Don’t spend your time validating senseless information. Use it for that which matters.

 

When you are humble, your soul is at peace. You are not living to boast, compete, be noticed or need confirmation from the rest of the world. Just do it and leave your ego at the door. One of my favorite quotes is “some people are so poor all they have is money”. Think on that.

 

28. Listen: I am terrible at this so I may not be the best person to give advice on this. The power of listening is still one of the greatest sources of peace and power we have on this earth. I don’t mean just listening to people. What do you do when you have a moment of free time. Do you go outside and listen for a pleasant song bird? Most of us have been trained to numb our existence than listen for a moment of quick rejuvenating peace. However, lending a good ear, listening to good counsel, listening to a friend spill their life, listening to the stillness of our lives is very peaceful. When everyone is reaching for chaos or struggling to find peace, go the old fashioned route and just listen.

 

29. Know What You Want, Not Just What You Like: This can save you from ending up on your deathbed saying “I wish I would have done more of…”. As humans, we really don’t know what we want. We just know what we like. What a tragedy to “like” (seems like we “like” everything today) something we see someone else with and give our whole lives up to achieve it only to say “is that it”? Be stubborn in knowing what YOU want.

 

30.  Work Strategy, Don’t Chase Opportunity: One of the biggest breakthroughs of my business life was when I discovered the ability to work strategies instead of chasing opportunity all over. This brought a lot of security and confidence to my life. When we have the ability to see where we get results from and focus on duplicating those.

 

31. The Light That Burns Twice As Bright, Burns Out Twice As Fast: Most of us bite off more than we can chew. Trying to keep up with life’s constant demand is taking its toll. We add 48 hour loads on 24 hour circuits. We sacrifice health to get “success”. We lose sleep to “get ahead”. All too often we trade the golden years of our lives for tin foil. Its great to work hard. Just know that juggling too much for too long will  take its toll  on you.

 

32.There Will Be Toil Along The Way: Period

 

33. Know God: I was raised to know God as my savior and strayed away for a short period in my life. I recall the very day I just made $50,000 NET CASH flipping a house and being depressed. I had all these paid mentors and advisors around me. I couldn’t be transparent with any of them or face losing my “superman” image. I recall walking over to the Bible I had on my dresser and reading “Count it all joy when you fall unto various trials, knowing the testing of your faith produces patience”. The thing was, I wasnt in any trouble. Life was good. Bills were paid. I have a gorgeous wife, incredible son, business was growing. I was just empty inside. No matter who I met, what I bought, where I traveled I always returned to this same “dead” feeling inside. I cried out to God to forgive my sins, asked Him to show me how I could fill this void (selfish of me I know) and begin living a life of faith. Its been a painful journey shedding the old me and creating a new one in Christ’s image although I now know where I can go for comfort and truth.

 

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The Invaluable Life Lesson I Learned While Watching a Family Movie

I don’t watch movies.
My whole family knows this. I’ll work, workout, read a book, but I don’t watch movies.
Yet a few weeks ago, in the midst of my most intense schedule of my career, I found myself settled on the couch next to my 10 year old…and am glad that I did.
At 5:45pm I had returned from my 8 mile cycle ride as I do every day. I knew that as soon as I got back I needed to get to my home office and finish an as always important project.
This is typical of me to work after work in order to keep an edge and ever evolve our business. I even work on days off. I even work while I am playing. Half on the field with my son, half on my projects always in need of finishing.
My family has come to accept this way of life.
It does however pay for the wonderful and blessed lifestyle we live. They have accepted it as a fair trade for the pool side beach home we live in, my wife not having to work, son who attends private schools, organic foods we eat, etc.
My insane work ethic has become the new normal.I am an entrepreneur what can I say other than I am blessed to have a family that supports my crazy ideas and lifestyle.
As I make my way through the garage to put my bike away, my wife is out back sipping wine and chatting with a friend poolside. I walk through the living room to find Kaiden, my 10 year old son, sitting on the couch watching a movie.
At 8pm this would not be uncommon, yet at 5.45, his typical activity, from the moment he finishes school work to the moment our household screens get shut down for the night (Not mine of course, I am exempt cause I am working) Kaiden is usually playing Minecraft on his X-Box with his global team of builders or outside jumping on the trampoline, playing kickball, soccer, riding his bike, having nerf wars and doing what 10 year olds do.
Knowing I needed to finish this project, it struck me as so uncommon to have him sitting in the living room watching a movie it’s almost as if he needed a break from the overwhelm of so many 10 year old activities.
I knew the feeling.
I took a moment to sit beside him and spend some bonding time with him which is typically reserved for the 3 to 5 minutes before I crash in his bed after being up from 4:45 am until 10 O’clock.
I sat down, kicked my feet up, pulled him close and put my arm around him.
“what are you watching son?”
“I’m not sure, this guy is funny though”
I  grabbed the DVD case and seen he was watching Adam Sandler’s “Click”
I settled in, thinking this is a great time to bond, so I figured I would spend 15 minutes with my buddy before diving back to my project.
What happened next was straight out of a real life screenplay.
Now if you have never seen Click, go to Amazon and buy it for $5 and watch it with your family.
If you have seen it, you know what I am talking about.
The whole movie is a screenplay for my life and so many other lives across the world.
The story of a family man with a beautiful wife, two amazing kids, a wonderful life that is constantly under pressure from work to keep up with the rapid demand on growth, new products, client satisfaction, keeping bosses and partners happy and constant weight of workload.
As if it is a relentless cycle to keep you apart from what matters most.
Even as we love our work, we still sacrifice the greatest gifts of our lives to achieve.
The movie goes on to show Sandler who works for a large architecture firm that he is trying to make partner in, take on the insatiable work load from his boss. His only escape is his TV sports channel. When his TV remote breaks he goes to the store to buy a new one. Not able to find a simple basic remote, he is given a special remote that lets him click through life just as you can the TV.
The once highly impatient, insensitive and totally overworked Sandler that has built a reputation of never playing with his kids, always scolding them when they ask for anything that never gives full attention to his family, now has a remote to mute, fast forward &“shut off” any and every thing that gets in the way of his business accomplishments.
At this point, I am living in this movie.
I am that guy.
Listening to my son while focused on texting, playing soccer, thinking about my deadline, making dinner with my wife while talking impatiently with my son as I expect him to know so much at 10 yrs old.
The challenging part is I am fully aware of needing proper balance in my life. I have multiple productivity courses, planners and audios I frequently refer to to keep guard of my greatest asset. “Time”
The whole situation came to life and full circle as I sat there, wondering….why was Kaiden watching a movie at this time of day? Why did I stop to acknowledge it? As I became absorbed I recognized that character as me, always busy being busy.
Sandler Fast Forward his way through life missing the highlights of his families greatest moments; only to wake up and find his wife left him and his kids became the same frantic workers he once was. While on his death bed he made a confession to let them know how bad he messed up and that family comes before business.
Perfect for a movie but not so simple in real life.
It’s the 2000’s version of the “Cats in the Cradle”
And while I am very fortunate to have spent the highlights of my family’s life “In the Moment” I am still in much need of greater balance.
So how exactly do we get greater balance in life…..
I have battled this Balance for the last 10 years of my life.
I have used planners, digital calendars, time management systems, schedules, to do lists and NOTHING ever seemed to give me the balance I needed to:
   1: Make time for Life’s most important To-Do’s
   2: Be mentally present for those times and be fully engaged.
I read a book called “When I Relax I Feel Guilty” and its an absolute truth to many peoples lives, mine mostly. I’ve built myself into a prison of constantly moving, building, satisfying, taking on more…
Then one day I had it…Something must change or I would simply fold to the pressure of constant demand and my ability to never be  fully engaged in my personal life like I was my business life.
I had to get out of my zone and find a way to better structure my life. I knew I had time I could rearrange and get another hour out of my day.
I  could tell more people no and use the time to catch up.
Yet I knew that if it was important in my life, it had to play an active role in who I was and how I was living out my days.
That’s when I created the What Matters Journal.

 

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Don’t Worry About The Cost. What’s The Value?

On a recent trip back to Las Vegas with my wife we were taken back at how undervalued an overpriced everything was. There is a large difference between expensive and overpriced. And the difference is value.

Living in America in 2014 is expensive. Living in Vegas where the in town economy is rigged to profit as much as they can from the demand of tourists wanting to experience the best of Vegas is a prime example of overpriced and undervalued.

While walking through the shoppes we stopped into the Louis Vuitton store and checked on some purse prices. I would not mind a nice back pack for my lap top and wouldn’t mind paying a considerable amout (up to $2000 for my personal value consideration). When I saw the back pack was $5200 and the purse was $3250 I declared them as overpriced and under valued. I get zero compensation or reward by walking into an appointment or Starbucks with a Louis back pack. Actually, you’ve likely became a larger target to criminals than a respected consumer to today’s savvy business league.

As we strolled and consumed beverages that are triple what we pay in our hometown of Ft Lauderdale I once again seen the overpriced/undervalued scheme over and over.

One of the days we went on a helicopter tour over the Grand Canyon and paid around $500 for the experience. A hefty sum but the value was infinitely greater than that. Being one of the seven wonders of the world and being an item on my wife’s bucket list and traveling through the sky at 100 miles an hour in a corporate chopper is a manly accomplishment especially overseeing the incredible overwhelm of beauty the experience brings. The cost was minimal in relative consideration to the value.

So how do you know when you are getting a good value?

Much of this comes down to your personal tolerance level of value consideration and largely your income. While walking we seen numerous women walking with multiple high end shopping bags and  if I have to put a price on each bag I would say roughly $2500 (just an average). Times this by three to five bags and my internal value calculator says if you make anything less than $150,000 per year with a mostly free and clear life you likely should not be spending more than 5% of your annual income on accessory items and my personal tolerance is much higher.

Living below my means has been a way of life for my wife and I. We make great income and put very little value on material possessions.

The value of the Grand Canyon experience is worth more than the value of those handbags or that back pack. Again, This is my personal tolerance.

Being that I buy discount homes as my profession I have a very hard time overpaying for anything that doesn’t carry a hard value to it. Real estate is an asset that can have value added to sell for more. This will never happen with a hand bag.

Here are a few things you can do to test your tolerance level and begin setting your bar for buying valued items in life.

  1. Take inventory-Relative to your income, how is your lifestyle? Do you frequently have too much month at the end of your money? Or do you constantly get teased for not having a brand new car like your friends drive? Knowing how to determine which priorities in life provide intrinsic value to you will not only keep more money in your hands, it is proven to make you happier.
  1. Know the real value of the things you buy-When I was shopping for a newer car (to me there is no value in paying msrp on a brand new model and making a u turn to sell it right back to the dealer and have the price be $20,000 less than I just forked out) I looked at comparable models for the luxury car I wanted. Its easy to get sold on style and sleekness but as a driven entrepreneur and realistic consumer I looked at cost of owner ship. I was looking to buy a used top of the line luxury car and choosing between a Volkswagen phaeton, BMW 6 series and the Lexus Ls 430. I reviewed all the consumer reports and simply discovered I will pay roughly the same price for either of them. The cost of owning the BMW and VW were triple that of my Lexus. That’s smart economics.
  1. Look at your past purchases-Go through your closet or garage or storage unit and see how much “stuff” you have. How often do you truly sit back and appreciate the value of that stuff? Are you still paying for these items with high interest? Does a $5000 couch make a large difference in your life? What if you spent a fraction of that and paid $500 for a bike that would allow you to reclaim your health? Or $1000 on a good camera so you can capture the experiences of life to treasure once a month while sitting in and having a great bottle of wine with it.

The final step in making the necessary changes are up to you. Most purchases are done simply based on emotion with zero rationality behind it. Anytime we ever plan to buy a large item, we typically sit on it for 30 days and decide whether it really tugs at us to purchase. Undoubtedly if we find a super value, we no questions asked purchase it right there.

Become subconsciously aware of your buying habits. Before every large purchase, ask yourself the questions at the bottom of this page and validate the true value of that item.

Set your own personal value consideration. Know what items are worth to you and don’t go a dime over that amount. Wait until you find it at your price or find the alternative or worst case, Go without.

Dig deep within yourself and become aware of what really means a lot to you. This helps set your limit of your personal value consideration. If you truly desire to have a top of the line new car, then get it. It is your personal preference. Just don’t go forward In life thinking that the new car is going to make you happy. That usually wears off in 4-7 days.

I want to share a story of a set of chairs I really wanted. My wife and I were looking for a set of Adirondack chairs to basically have in our yard for appeal. We likely would sit in them less than ten times per year. We looked at pricing and found that each chair would run us about $220. Not something we were willing to pay for a yard display. One day while driving home I spotted a pair of chairs at the street being ready for disposal. I took them home and began to sand, tightened the screws and repainted them. Not only did I have the chairs we wanted but I have the personal satisfaction of knowing I put my time and energy into making them “our own” and now carry a much greater “value” than the “price” I would have paid for them.

It is my hope that you found a nugget of wisdom in this article. If so, please share so you yourself can impact a life. I appreciate your feedback with any consideration you have with the content mentioned above.

Questions You Should Ask Yourself Before Making That Large Purchase.

#1. Are You An Impulse/Emotional Buyer? If So, Why?

#2. Do You Have Credit Card Debt for Most of Your Material Possessions? If So, Why?

#3. Do You Feel You Live Above Your Means? If So, Why?

#4. How Do You Feel When You Buy Something New? Does That Feeling Last Longer Than The Payments?

Start Considering Putting A 30 Day “Consideration” Period On Your Next Purchases. By Committing To This You Will Tell Your Subconscious Mind That YOU Are In Control And You Will Eventually Stop Purchasing Out of Habit…