It’s been said that when you’re the smartest person in the room, it’s time to find another room. Nowhere is that more true than in the investment game. You can up your chances of winning by getting outside of your normal routine to find mentors and communities that support your goals. When you do this, it’s possible to make obstacles into opportunities. Here at Paradigm Life we love the idea of investing in things that are real and lasting, never putting all of your eggs in the Wall Street basket, and finding alternate routes to success—that’s why we support the idea of real estate investment. Whether you’re just beginning in real estate investment or are a seasoned professional, there’s always something to learn and someone to look up to, and networking with great minds is essential to any investment strategy.
We want to introduce you to Russell Gray, a financial strategist, speaker, author and faculty member of the California Association of Realtors, who is (among other things) a founder of The Real Estate Guys™ radio. We interviewed him on our podcast The Wealth Standard Radio and he shared his story.
By the end of the 1990s Russell had worked hard, studied, and built a great investment portfolio in real estate—and from 2000 to 2006 everything about his real estate and mortgage business was fantastic. When the mortgage-backed securities blew up with the subprime crisis in 2008, he experienced an enormous personal economic shift as he lost millions of dollars in real estate and his mortgage company. Since then Russell has rebuilt by studying those who were prepared for the crash and building his business on a more solid foundation.
Besides networking, what are some of the biggest lessons Russell learned when the real estate bubble burst? If you’re prepared for downturns you can take advantage of the opportunity. But the only way to do that is to see the flipside—see opportunity in a bad situation. For example, if you had access to cash after the crash, you could purchase real estate at a much lower price.
He also firmly believes in taking a failure and turning it into a success. Tom Hopkins said, “I never see failure as failure, but just another opportunity to learn.” Failure is the feedback we need to figure out what we need to learn so that next time we improve. Here is his advice for doing that:
Try hard to listen to all sides of an argument
If you can’t hear both sides of the argument then you don’t have the whole perspective. Our job is to hear what people have to say before we come to conclusions.
Know what’s going on economically
Don’t chase trends, but stick to the fundamentals and have the courage to act. Don’t necessarily do what the herd is doing. You need to be willing to act and stand by your convictions about what you understand about the economy.
Know what you can control
For example, you can’t control the existence of the Federal Reserve, but you can figure out a strategy to work around banks to find investment cash.
Take personal responsibility
When you can take personal responsibility for your failures (and successes) you take control of your results.
Connect
Whenever you invest in anything you take a risk. The smartest thing you can do is connect with others who know the ins and outs of your market and how to play in that ballfield.
Here’s an excerpt about networking from Russell located on his own podcast. Check out the full podcast.
“Well, think about it. Just imagine if you showed up in this earth and they locked you in a closet and you never interacted with anybody. How quickly would you pick up the language? How quickly would you pick up the social mores? How quickly would you learn how to do basic functions of survival? You wouldn’t learn anything. Why should it be any different when someone decides, ‘Hey, I want to change my life. I want to go from being a working class drone sitting in a cubical somewhere doing something I hate, living for Fridays and retirement, to the master of my own destiny. I want to go out and build a portfolio. I want to have streams of passive income coming in that are going to allow me to live how I want to live and do what I want to do with my time?’
If you decide you want to go down that path, there are people who’ve done it, who are doing it, that are accessing resources and thought patterns and habits and attitudes, all of which you need to begin to pick up. It’s part of a culture, just like you learn a culture when you’re in any type of society. Without that cultural interaction, without that involvement with the right people, you’re not going to pick it up. If I wanted to learn how to speak Spanish and then I got stuck living in Taiwan somewhere, how well am I going to learn to speak Spanish?”
What are some ways to get started networking?
Search for mentors online
Find those who you admire and have the experience.
Mingle
Attend conferences, get introduced to others in your area of interest, and create a person-to-person network of people you trust.
Create a compelling personal brand
What’s you unique value offering? When you combine your value, authenticity, and selectivity, you create a memorable reputation.
Investing in anything can be tricky, and we all know that real estate investments are not foolproof. If you do decide to go down that path, how can you offset the risk? We can show you a proven method of growing wealth and capital to invest while safely capturing a steady return.
We want to share a strategy with you called Infinite Banking, and if you haven’t already, we invite you to take 2 minutes to sign up for a FREE, extensive eCourse called Infinite 101®. You’ll receive access to video tutorials, articles, and podcasts. It literally costs you nothing to become educated on this ideal financial strategy and start changing your wealth paradigm!
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