Rob Minton - Income for Life

Time of the Season

I don't know how many of you are going to remember this song by The Zombies, Time Of The Season but it has shuffled its way into my life quite a bit lately.  Every time I hear this song it reminds me to be thankful for the current market conditions.  Times like these are to be seized.  It truly is the time of the season for real estate investors. 

Are you a real estate investor?  Or are you just 'really interested in real estate'?  This is the question I ask new investors when they come into my office. 

Why? 

Because real real estate investors make things happen. They don't hesitate. They don't kick tires. They assess deals quickly and they take action. Massive action.

Learn something about yourself by stepping up and being willing to take the swing.  There hasn't been a better time in very a long time.

Don't know where to get started?  Well this is a pretty common problem.  "I just didn't know where to start.  I have been looking for something like this for a long time", said one beginning investor.  I
gave him the same advice that was given to me sometime ago.  Seek out and secure a mentor.  Someone with a proven track record of success. Someone that will advise and steer you as needed.  Do not delay in implementing this strategy in every part of your life.  If there is
something that you want to achieve, hire a mentor with experience in the desired field and you will cut your timeline to success in half.

It is a proven model.

If you call yourself a real estate investor and you are not actively buying property right now seek out a Mentor.  You must take action. It is the Time Of The Season.

Travis M Dyer
Income For Life

Accelerated Learning...

I have my nose buried in an older book titled "The Learning Revolution" by Gordon Dryden and Jeannette Vos. The book shares strategies for accelerated learning. The lessons revealed are helpful for both adults and children. It's a lengthy book, but easy to move through.

In the book, the authors list "20 easy first steps to better learning." Here are the first 5 steps from the book:

1. Start with lessons from sports.
2. Dare to dream.
3. Set a specific goal - and set deadlines.
4. Get an enthusiastic mentor - fast.
5. Start with the big picture first.

From my perspective, these 5 steps are what is required for success in just about anything in life. In the previous posts on our blog, we summarized that real estate investing as a process. To be successful in this process, you need to implement the 5 steps listed above. Here is how I have applied these 5 steps to real estate investing:

Start by dreaming about the kind of life you would like to live. When I first got interested in real estate investing, I was working 60 hours a week at a job that I hated. I began by picturing the life that I wanted to live. I pictured this new life in great detail. In fact, I actually sat down and listed out everything I wanted in my life. This vision got me excited. I then began, step-by-step, to layout specific goals with deadlines that would help me move to my desired new life. I started working with a mentor - a real estate broker who was also a real estate investor. He owned several apartment buildings and was a wealth of knowledge. He helped me see the true power of investing in real estate. With his help, I took action and bought my first property. He helped me avoid some costly mistakes and saved my butt a few times.

Within the next year, I had turned in my resignation and had become a full time real estate investor/entrepreneur. I was nervous to make this big move. I didn't know if I was making a big mistake or not. As it turned out, it was the best decision I have ever made.

For the most part, I now live the life that I had pictured. A few of my goals have since changed. I do own a large real estate portfolio. I also own my own business. I'm able to work when I want to work. However, the best part, is that I absolutely love what I do. When I do work, it doesn't feel like work. I love helping people achieve their goals. It's amazing to see someone's life change right before my eyes.

As I wrap up this post, I have three questions for you?

1. Do you have a picture in mind for how you want your life to be?

2. Do you have a mentor?

3. Do you have specific goals with deadlines?

How You Can Use the Power of the Mastermind to Increase Your Income and Build Wealth

In my previous post, I mentioned that I was in Florida attending a mastermind meeting. Have you ever heard of a mastermind group? Sadly, not very many people have. What is a mastermind group?

A mastermind group is a group of people, with similar goals, who come together to leverage success and help each other with challenges. Napoleon Hill wrote - "Organized effort is produced through the coordination of effort of two or more people, who work toward a definite end, in a spirit of harmony."

In fact, I'm often asked - What is Income for Life?

My answer is usually - it's a mastermind group for people who want to create income for life. Our similar goal is that we want to make more money so that we can have more time to enjoy life. Mastermind groups are very, very powerful.

In Napoleon Hill's book "Think & Grow Rich," he wrote:

“No individual may have great power without availing himself of the “Master Mind.” If you carry out these instructions with persistence and intelligence, and use discrimination in the selection of your “Master Mind” group, your objective will have been halfway reached, even before you begin to recognize it.
… A benefit of the Master Mind is obviously economic. Economic advantages may be created by any person who surrounds himself with the advice, counsel, and personal cooperation of a group of men who are willing to lend him wholehearted aid, in a spirit of perfect harmony. This form of cooperative alliance has been the basis of nearly every great fortune. Your understanding of this great truth may definitely determine your financial status.”

Did you notice that he basically said that mastermind groups have been the basis of nearly every great fortune? This has been the case for me. My income and wealth skyrocketed after I began participating in real mastermind groups. Yours will too!

To prove his point on the power of a mastermind group, Napoleon went on to write:

"The Master Mind principle, or rather the economic feature of it, was first called to my attention by Andrew Carnegie, more than fifty years ago. Discovery of this principle was responsible for the choice of my life's work. Mr. Carnegie's Master Mind group consisted of a staff of approximately fifty men, with whom he surrounded himself for the definite purpose of manufacturing and marketing steel. He attributed his entire fortune to the power he accumulated through this "Master Mind.""

We obviously all can't afford to hire fifty people like Andrew Carnegie did. However, we can look for, find and participate in our own mastermind group. Imagine being connected to a group of people all striving towards a similar goal? Imagine hearing and learning break through strategies? Imagine being able to ask others how they handled specific challenges. This is all available to you through a mastermind group. You can apply to join the Income for Life Mastermind group right now, by clicking on this link.

What mastermind group do you belong to? If you don't have one, maybe this might be the answer. If you keep doing what you've always done, you'll keep getting what you've always got. If a mastermind group helped Mr. Carnegie accumulate his fortune, what could it do for you? Apply now.

Rob Minton
www.QuitWorkSomeDay.com

A Little Wisdom From Tony Soprano

I caught an old “Soprano’s” episode from season 4 the other day, and I heard Tony Soprano say, "More is lost by inaction than by wrong action" (Of course, he was using it to convince another mob boss to go through with a ‘hit’, and not necessarily about financial independence, but the quote itself is still relevant)

There is an inherent fear in all of us when it comes to taking the first step in investing.  This fear often leads to finding some justification for not ‘pulling the trigger’.  If we don’t go through with it, we are guaranteed not to face any of the consequences we might incur if we did go through with it and failed. Wow, does that sound like a winning attitude to you?  I don’t see that being the pep talk that brings about the next great innovation.  But that is how many of us think when it comes to investing.

There is a distinction between successful people and the common public—and that distinction is the understanding that failure actually BREEDS success.  Not one successful person has been without failure. Not only is it common, it’s necessary.  Breakthroughs depend on failure. 

Success is a constant activity, requiring the desire to take action, the willingness to take risks, the acceptance of failure, and the ability to learn from your mistakes.  It is only a failure if we fail to learn anything from it. 

So, while it is the potential consequences involved with taking action that often lead us to ‘inaction’, that thinking needs to be re-evaluated.  If it is failure that breeds success, it is inaction that prevents success. 

No matter what your goals are for your financial future, you can read all the books in the library and soak up all the info you can handle, but it is all for nothing if you can’t PULL THE TRIGGER (not literally, please!)

Andy McFarlane

Income For Life Pa

www.quitworkpa.com

How to Achieve Your Goals in 2008!

This video above is of my first skydive. For years, I have wanted to skydive, but have been afraid to go for it. Each year, I force myself to face my fears. In 2007, I jumped out of an airplane at 11,000 feet. I faced a few other fears too. Did you?

Why is it important to consistently face our fears? It is important to face our fears because fear has a tendency to hold us back in life. Consider your New Year’s Resolutions for 2008. New Year’s Resolutions are goals, right?

To achieve your goals, you must face your fears. This is true for almost any goal we have in life.

For example, let’s assume that you have a goal to increase your income in 2008. Don’t we all have this goal? What do you have to do in order to achieve this goal?

1)     If you work for a company, you probably have to go to the next level with your position. Going to the next level will require you to take some risks. You may have to step up and recommend new strategies. Or you might have to make a few tough decisions. Both could result in negative consequences such as making a mistake, losing your job, offending someone at work. Many people are afraid to face these potentially negative consequences. Their fear holds them back from going to the next level at work.

2)     If you’re an entrepreneur, you probably have to implement a few strategies that you haven’t tried before. Maybe you have to make a few presentations which require you to speak in front of a large group. Or maybe you have to invest money into a new marketing campaign that hasn’t been proven. In any event, you must pursue new strategies which may or may not work. You must take risk to grow your business. Many entrepreneurs of small businesses are afraid to take these risks.

3)     If you’re a real estate investor like me, you must be willing to risk some of your money with your investments. Every investor is afraid to lose money. However, to build your wealth, you must face this fear and invest when others are telling you to sell. You must be able to see opportunity and go after it. I’ll write about seeing opportunity in an upcoming post to this blog. Be sure to check back soon!

As you can see, it really doesn’t matter what your goals are in life. In almost every single goal, you must learn to face fear. You can shortcut this process by facing smaller fears first, like I did by skydiving. Your self confidence increases with every single fear you face. Facing my fear to skydive did not directly relate to any of my business or investing goals; however, it did increase my self confidence. Facing this little fear allowed me to become bolder. It led me to face other fears. This will happen for you too.

As my self confidence grows from facing little fears, I’m able to achieve more and more goals in life. I can still remember acquiring my first investment property - a two family home. My hand was shaking when I signed the final papers. I was extremely nervous. I faced my fear on investing and went on to acquire own millions of dollars worth of real estate. Had I not been willing to face my fear on my first real estate investment, I would not be where I am today. I would still be a CPA hating my job.

Sadly, I watch many people go through life too scared to do anything. What fears are holding you back? Where would your life go if you were to face your fears? This is a big question, isn’t it? How can you start to face these fears? What can you do to consistently increase your self confidence? Think about it…

I believe that facing fear is the foundation to goal achievement. You cannot achieve your goals unless you learn to face your fears. I wish you a very scary 2008!

Rob Minton

www.IncomeforLifeBlog.com