Welcome my friends to the Brant Phillips show, the show, you know what’s up. The show that is dedicated to results. So, what are we going to talk about today that’s going to help you create results? Today we’re talking about how to make a million dollars in real estate, but more importantly, more importantly what we’re talking about today is not about the how, the how do you do things in real estate, like the steps, or anything like that. We’re asking a much more important question that you’re going to have to answer if you’re ever going to be able to create the life and the business that you dream about. And that question that you’re going to have to ask yourself is this, “Who do I need to become?”

Let’s not even talk about the what’s, and the how’s, and the why’s right now, let’s talk about who you need to become to do this. So, why are we even talking about this in a podcast? For those of you who are in the Houston area, you know that we have a monthly networking event. We come out, invite a lot of people out. We have food, and drinks, and that kind of stuff. We have a lot of fun, we have some education. So, I’m preparing a presentation that’s called how to make a million dollars in real estate. Because you know, so many people get into this business, into the investing business, or just being an entrepreneur. You want to make money, you want to become a millionaire, I get it that’s part of one of the dreams that I had when I got started.

What I’ve discovered along my path and along my journey is that it’s been a journey of, who do I need to become in order to accomplish the goals and the things that I set out to achieve, that I’ve achieved? Who do I need to become in order to just show up every day and do the work? Who do I need to become to not give up when things get difficult? Who do I need to become in order to lead teams, and build a company, and build these organizations, and these different divisions that we have? Who is it that I need to become in order to build these investments and these companies that make the money that I desire?

And so, I’m going to tell you this. I’m going to tell you this, and this is a very powerful statement. I hate to be too cliché with some of the things that I share in this podcast, but sometimes that’s just what we have to say, and it’s just the truth. We talk about the importance of your why, what is driving you, why are you feeling. Why are you driven to accomplish certain goals? I’m going to tell you this. If your why is big enough the how will become small. If your why is big enough the how will become small. I see too many people come into this business and they really don’t have a strong why.

Whatever is motivating them isn’t big enough to overcome the obstacles that they’re going to face, because as entrepreneurs, as real estate investors we are surely going to face obstacles. Hurdles, set backs, shifts in the market, all of these types of things. There’s going to be turbulence. There’s going to be problems that we have to deal with, and if your why isn’t bigger and greater than those obstacles, those obstacles are going to win each and every time. You essentially have to put your why on the scale. What is driving you? Why are you going to do this?

On the other side of the scale is going to be all the problems, all the challenges, all of the stuff, all of the set backs that you’re going to face. If all of those things, and they could be substantial, they can be absolutely overwhelming at times, if they outweigh your why you are done. Your why has to be bigger. When your why is bigger, my friend, you will figure out the how’s.

The how to do real estate, the how to start in business. The how to stuff, you can find that anywhere quite frankly. We live in the information age. The how to become a real estate investor, the how to flip a house, the how to become a landlord, the how to raise private money books are out there. You can Google this stuff for free.

They’re on podcasts, they’re on bigger pockets, they’re on Amazon. And most of it’s free, or extremely cheap to figure out the how to kind of stuff, but without that why, without a clear and definitive why not only will you give up when things get tough, because you will, but you’ll drift and you’ll wander aimlessly. You’ll go to different events, and seminars, and boot camps, and podcasts, and webinars chasing idea, after idea, after idea. And my friend, you will waste years and possibly decades of your life because you can’t answer one simple question, which is what in the hell do you want? What do you want?

My friend, I want you to strongly consider that clarity is absolutely power, and I need you to have an urgency to find your clarity. The importance of you having clarity is so paramount right now because if you don’t know what it is that you want, then my friend, how are you ever going to truly begin creating results? You’re simply going to be bouncing around from idea to idea chasing a squirrel. Here’s a squirrel, there’s a squirrel, everywhere a squirrel, squirrel. And here you go down this rabbit hole, and the next rabbit hole. You wake up, and you look up into the mirror, or look at the mirror, in a year, two years, five years, 10 years from now, and you’re in the same place that you started from.

Maybe still at the same job, maybe in the same financial position. You may be exactly where you stated from because you didn’t take a little bit of time and just answer a very simple question, which is, what you do you want? Begin to get clarity around that, and begin to really solidify your why, and then, just begin to set goals. Set goals, get the edge, get that eye of the tiger whatever it takes. I remember whenever I first started in real estate, just began in real estate, many of you’ve heard this story. My wife and I, we had no money. We were living in an apartment. I had no business or real estate experience at all.

We had no money but I had this dream to become a real estate investor. I set a goal, I just set a goal. I told my wife, “I’m going to buy 10 rental properties this year,” and I really had no clue how I was going to make that happen. I went to the grocery store and bought a poster board. I drew 10 squares in it with a black magic marker. I drew 10 squares and I told her, “Every time I buy a house I’m going to write the name of the house at the top. I’m going to fill in the square just to acknowledge that I accomplished buying a house, and one step closer to my goal. At the end of the year I’m going to have this big ugly poster board filled out with 10 freaking black squares filled in.” I hung it on the wall in our apartment. I used a credit card, I used a credit card to buy, to borrow against to buy that first house. Exactly 12 months later, just …

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Hey, this is Brant. I hope you’re enjoying today’s show. If you’re at a place in your life, your business, where you just feel stuck, or you just don’t know what actions to take to help you get unstuck, or onto the path to creating the results you truly desire, please take a few minutes and go to my website, Brantphillips.com. There’s some really valuable resources and information that may be able to help you out. If you’re interested in really speeding up results with the help of a coach and mentor, and adding true accountability and guidance to your life and business, please reach out to me from my website as well, at Brantphillips.com, or going directly to www.brantphillips.com/coaching. Now let’s get back to the show.

A hair, a smidgen under 12 months I had finished buying 12 houses, my first year. I started out living in that apartment with no money, nothing but a dream, but I had a big why guys. I had a really big why, and the why meant more to me than anything in the world. My question to you is, what is your why? What is your why, because a lot of you have million dollar dreams. You’ve got dreams on becoming a millionaire, and if you’re like me it probably has very little to do with the money, but it has more so to do with what the money can create for you, and for your loved ones, and for others.

For me it was all about time and time freedom. First and foremost I wanted my time back, I wanted my freedom back. I wanted to do the things that I wanted to do when I wanted to do them, but I really just wanted to control my freedom and how I spent my days. I wanted to be my own boss, and I wanted to call my own shots. So, my friends, without your why, without something to drive you, then your million dollar dream, your million dollar goal is nothing but a dream, and it’s never going to do that. It’s never going to help you accomplish what is it you want to accomplish unless you’re backing it with some other things. And yes, you still have to know the how to’s, but they’re out there.

You guys know that I have a coaching program and it’s built on seven fundamentals of real estate. Teaching real estate investors how to create deal flow, how to analyze deals, how to estimate repairs, how to raise private money, manage rehabs, and build a business with multiple exit strategies and multiple income strategies. But none of that’s going to matter, none of that’s going to matter if you don’t have the why, what it is that, why you’re going to do this work. Why you’re going to show up each and every day, and why you’re not going to give up whenever you have a setback, or some obstacle, or some challenge.

My friend, here’s the deal. Bet on yourself, just bet on yourself. For those of you who want to make it big, maybe you don’t even want to make it big, you just want to create a little bit better, a little bit more for yourself and for your family life. Maybe you’re happy with your job and where you’re at, and your life direction. Maybe you don’t have enough for retirement, or maybe you just haven’t created exactly everything that you want. My friend, just get clear on that. Get clear on what it is that you want, begin to set goals, establish that why, and just build your plan and execute it.

Go out and execute. Bet on yourself and just know that it’s okay to fail, and it’s okay to fall down, it’s just not okay to stay down. Keep your eye on the prize, keep your eye on your why, and just grind my friend. Grind, and grind, and grind. Keep on driving and keep on grinding until you reach your goal, and when you look up, when you look up you have no idea where you’re going to be. You have no idea where you’re going to be, and what you’re going to accomplish if you just choose to fall in love with this work, and this process of building your legacy, your life, your business, your family. Just fall in love with the process.

My friend, if you fall in love with the process, and you fall in love with this work, and you fall in love with life and the life that you’re creating, a couple of things. Life is just going to fly by, it’s going to fly by. When you wake up in the morning you’re going to be excited about what it is that you get to do, not have to do, because you’re pursuing your dream, you’re pursuing your why. When you look up, my friend, my friend, when you look in the mirror, win, lose or draw, I think you’re going to find when you look into your own eyes you’re happy with the person that you are and who you’ve become, and who you’re becoming.

I’m going to close this out like this, and I don’t want to sound like I’m bragging. It’s never my goal to try to impress anybody, because anything that I’ve accomplished is a speck compared to many, many, many hundreds of thousands of other entrepreneurs that are walking the earth now, and that have gone before me. But I do feel called to motivate you guys. Motivate, educate, inspire and equip, and one of the ways that I do that is to share my story.

I’m looking at where I am now and I’m, been working on this presentation for our networking event that we have every month. One of the things I’m doing, I’m sewing a spreadsheet of all the deals that we’ve closed in the last 12 months. It’s close to $3 million of real estate, and equity, and net that we’ve made in the last year as a company.

As I look at the spreadsheet, and I put this together, I look at what our real estate business is. We’ve got multiple companies with seven figure valuations now. This happened in just a little over 10 years guys, because simply, I made a choice that you guys can make today. That you, you my friend listening can make today, which is just the fall in love with the work. Fall in love with the process, establish your why. Figure out what it is that you’re going to do, and just go out there and take action. Go out there and take action.

Well my friends, this has been a pleasure and a joy to share with you. I hope it’s motivated, and inspired, and equipped you to go out and take action, and begin creating the results that you desire in your life and in your business.

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Brant : Welcome my friends to the Brant Phillips show. The show that is all about helping you to create results. It’s all about the results my friend. So today is going to be a little bit different. Today I’ve invited a friend on named Connor Steinbrook and we’re going to do an interview about something that I’m incredibly, incredibly excited about going on in my business right now and you will never believe what this is about.

Brant : So many years ago and I’m going to tell the whole story during the podcast. You know when I first got started in real estate, right before I left my full-time job. I decided to get my license, my real estate license and there’s always a debate in the investing community whether or not you should have your license or not. I decided, basically out of fear that I was going to get my license just in case I need to generate a little bit of extra cash here and there, do some listing for other people but you know there were some benefits.

Brant : It helped me get access to the MLS and I could list my own properties and things like that but you know many years later I decided that having your realtor license didn’t really support what my business mission was, my business goals and dreams and it didn’t really improve my lifestyle and it didn’t improve my freedom and it didn’t create really what I was trying to cultivate, right? Which was recurring passive income, doing things that I absolutely enjoy and love working on.

Brant : Well, my friends I’m gonna let you know now, I’m going to give you a little peek behind the curtains what you’re gonna hear today. I’ve reactivated my real estate license. I’m back in the industry. But it’s the company that I’m with now and this business model that you’re gonna learn about today is completely revolutionary because now being a licensed realtor is congruent with everything that I became an entrepreneur about. Not only is it allowing me to improve my bottom line financially but it’s also given me ownership of another company in a business model that’s 100% agent owned brokerage.

Brant :    And with a platform and an ability to generate passive income, passive income from what I can input and use my time, energy and resources one time to create recurring revenues. So that’s all I’m going to share about this now. So enjoy the interview with me and Connor. I think there’s gonna be some big takeaways from you out there that are in the investing world and for those of you that maybe licensed agents. And if you want some more information about this just feel to reach out to me, shoot me an email or fill out a form on my website and we’ll talk and connect further if you have questions about this tremendous, tremendous opportunity that’s available in the marketplace.

Connor : Guys, welcome back to the podcast today. We have another, yes, another high level real estate entrepreneur, real estate investor and real estate agent out of Houston, Texas. We’re going to go over his career today. What led him to join EXP because top real estate professionals all across the country continue on joining this company because they understand there’s lots of opportunity here.

Connor : Let me introduce you to Brant Phillips out of Houston, Texas and let’s go in Brant and talk about why you made this bog move and who you are and why it’s important for people to understand why someone like you is important to listen to and why you make this move.

Brant : Yeah, man. Thank you for having me on the show. I’m really excited to be here and yeah, a little quick story about me is I was in the corporate world. Previously I was seven years in law enforcement. Figured that wasn’t where I wanted to spend the rest of my days in the workforce. So decided to go test out the corporate world because the grass is always greener on the other side, right? I learned, it took me one day in the corporate world to realize the corporate world wasn’t for me. I knew it the very first day. I remember coming home. I was no longer in law enforcement, working weekends and holidays and stuff like that.

Brant : My wife was so excited because I had this 9 to 5 kind of thing, which it wasn’t really 9 to 5 but I came home. She was like, “Honey, how was your first day on the job?” And I remember saying, “I absolutely hate it but don’t worry I’m going to make the best of it. I’m going to provide for our family but I’m gonna find something else to do that we can make more money, I can enjoy my life, etc.” Like so many, I read Rich Dad, Poor Dad and I just began reading books about real estate, going to networking events.

Brant : And late in 2006, I told my wife I wanted to get a real estate investor and it’s kind of funny at the time because we were kind of newlyweds. We’d been married for probably about three years or so and we had our first child. We had our second child on the way. We’re living in an apartment and we had no money at all. We had just finished paying off all of our student loans. Both of us had college debt, college loans like so many. Paying off credit cards, she did this Dave Ramsay thing, we’re debt free, blah, blah, blah.

Brant : We’re living in this apartment and then I told my wife, “I want to become a real estate investor.” So I know she … I still remember this. She’s probably thinking, “We don’t have any money. We’re living in an apartment. You have no business experience. Okay, sure.” And I got real specific with her. I said, “I’m gonna buy ten houses this year.” Just pulled the number out, it sounded like a good number. So low and behold I used my credit card to purchase my first investment property. I bought ten properties the first year. Began putting together partnerships and raising money my second year and 2009, I quit my job and became a full-time real estate investor.

Brant : But one of the reasons we’re on the podcast today is, I know about EXP Realty and what a lot of people see me as a real estate investor because I write books about real estate and do coaching and teaching and all this kind of stuff, a lot of speaking. A lot of people don’t know in 2009, I got my real estate license right before I quit my job and so some people that’s always a debate in the real estate community, hey should I get my license, should I got get my license?

Brant : And about half the investors that I know do and half don’t. So my motive on getting my license at that time was it was kind of fear based to be honest with you. Because I didn’t see myself as being a realtor. It wasn’t something I wanted to do but I was like, “Well, in case this investing thing doesn’t work out. I can do some listings. I can have this income to support my family in case there’s some lean time.” So I got my license. Got my license, used it a lot for listing my own deals. Working with other students, friend, family members kind of stuff like that.

Brant : And it was nice to have access to the MLS and learn some things and get education and make income with my license but over time, especially as my investing business grew. My time became more constrained and I began just really giving all my investments to an agent. We actually have a full-time agent in the office that I employ. But I began realizing several years into it, being a realtor, the income was good but it really wasn’t supporting [inaudible 00 : 07 : 50] which was to create a lifestyle that me and my family truly desired.

Brant : To create true wealth and that wasn’t supporting that. I was trading time for money. So a couple of years ago I decided to deactivate my license. Just for that it wasn’t really supporting what I was trying to achieve in business and deactivated it and just focusing on investing but me and you know each other quite well Connor and I know one of our mantras is multiple streams of income, passive income, reoccurring revenue. So I don’t know how much you want me to share.

Brant : So when I heard about EXP I immediately said, I have to reactivate my license and I have got to get back into this because now being a realtor with the EXP model supports why I became a real estate investor and it really supports what most of the people that I work with. Real estate investing clients, realtors that I’m not working with. It’s like we all want more money, more time and more freedom and this is on alignment with my other investment models. It makes absolutely sense, man. I never would have thought I would say I’m fired up to be an agent as much as I am now because it’s like a rebirth for when I got into real estate 10 years ago.

Brant : I’m like, “Dude his is it man.” There’s another layer to the model.

Connor : That’s what people are saying. People are saying EXPs are making real estate fun again because it’s a breath of fresh air for a lot of us because now people are reinvigorated. We’ll talk about the different between active and passive and residual income models and working for equity as well. But guys, support and understand that Brant is not some brand new individual in the real estate world.

Connor : He has done an amazing job over the past 10 years, runs a huge company down there in Houston. Most people can never get out of being a solopreneur as a investor, where they’re just doing everything on their own. So he’s actually built a real business. He’s traveling around the country speaking. He’s helped a lot of people change their life through real estate and that’s kind of how we met. So we met at an event. I was speaking there a little bit in the beginning of the event and Brant was giving the speech there and that’s kind of how we connected.

Connor : And talk a little bit about how you, before you say EXP, kind of already were talking about EXP without really knowing about EXP. Knowing that the real estate world was moving towards a more leaner, cleaner business model, more tech based model and how technology was going to help influence this industry quite heavily and then when you say EXP it just kind of clicked like it did for me. Like it did for a top real estate professionals across the country.

Brant : Yeah, sure. Yeah, so I go up to Dallas where as soon as I get off this I’m heading up to Dallas to go speak at Quest at a private lender function, where I teach people how to invest passively in real estate and so at our office here in Houston, like I said, I have a full-time agent, I have an acquisitions buyer, a construction manager, all these people and we have a lot of conversations about business all the time and I don’t know if it was early this year or late last year, we were having a conversation. There was other people in the office but I was really having it with my agent, who’s also my sister-in-law.

Brant : And I can’t remember if I read something or just we were talking having a conversation and I told her, I said, I’m like, “If I were you as an agent. I would be concerned about your industry.” And she’s like, “Well, what do you mean?” And I think I was reading something about Uber or Air BnB or something I can’t remember what it was. Things are changing. I was looking at the [Redthin 00 : 11 : 50] model they started doing 1.5% listing model or one percent. Look at Nextdoor. Look at some of these other competitors.

Brant : But I was like, “I don’t think that’s it.” I just said, “Something’s gonna change in this industry.” And I’m like, “I don’t know what it is but I know technology is really going to catch up with really an outdated system, an outdated model.” I’m like, “So, keep your eyes out. Keep your ear to the streets and really find out … being looking for signs because something’s gonna change. I don’t know what it is.” And that was it. We had a conversation about it and a few months ago or it was a few months later from that conversation, which was probably three or four months ago from today, I’m getting ready to speak at this event and I never met you before. I’d seen you on Facebook and your podcast, your YouTube channel actually is what I’ve seen and so I think it was Nathan Long got up and said, “Connor is gonna speak a little bit before Brant comes up.”

Brant : And I was like, “Oh, he’s gonna speak out his investing business. He’s gonna raise money. Something like that.” And you talked about EXP Realty. And so I’m like, “What is he doing talking about being a realtor.” I’m like, “Is this guy a real investor?” Like, “What’s going on here yo?” It just blindsided me and I was thinking to myself, I’m like, “Dude, I think this is it. This maybe it.” And that’s when I went up to you and we started talking. I’m like, “I want to learn more about this man.”

Brant : So I went back started watching videos doing my research and here we are. [inaudible 00 : 13 : 32] this was the next thing.

Connor : Right, I mean it just makes sense for a lot of serious entrepreneurs that see the model. Because we have a three income stream model, which we’ll talk about here in a second but when you look at all the other big companies that have come before EXP, they were all built before the internet. So there’s a lot of great companies out there, Keller Williams, Caldwell Banker, Re/Max. These are amazing companies but they were just built before this technology boom that we’ve seen and the internet boom and we have the ability to run a leaner, cleaner business model, which is what EXP essentially is guys.

Connor : We’re the fast growing real estate brokerage in U.S. history. It’s because we’re a cloud based brokerage and for y’all who don’t understand what that means. You need to sit down with Brant or myself or somebody in EXP and sit down and see what it is. So that’s how we met and there’s a lot of reasons why I personally moved my license to this company. And one of them is because I promised myself, just like Brant did, was I would never have one income stream because my previous career disappeared and I had always worked for something that had a residual income stream.

Connor : Something where I could trade my time, energy and resources one time but get paid multiple times for that effort and energy. And so, one of the biggest reasons we see a lot of agents burn out and quit the business or get frustrated and step away from the business sometimes is because they’re working for active income. And guys if you don’t understand the difference.

Connor : Active income, transactional income, being a wholesaler, flipping houses, being a real estate agent, working for a job, you’re getting paid once for the energy that you’re trading once and the risk that you’re trading once. And what happens is as regular real estate agent, guys, is you go and sell a house and once that house closes, anxiety picks up and frustration picks up because you don’t know when the next check is coming nor do you know how big that check is gonna be.

Connor : Is it going to be $150,000 house or it is going to be a $500,000 house? Without that consistency and financial stability, it can be very, very stressful living that lifestyle. So let’s talk about that what most real estate agents see is because they have no real exit to the business because as long as they can see houses and produce an income. Most of them can do pretty well that are successful in this business.

Connor : But as we know as you get older, energy levels drop, production drops, you can’t maintain that pace that you did early in your career. And it seems to be people have a struggle because they don’t have that business maturity or self discipline through those early years and they live or what is called immediate gratification and they spend that money because as their income goes up, so does consumption.

Connor : So let’s talk about what you’ve seen in your career watching real estate agents struggle with this active income model.

Brant : Yeah, so I love talking about this. This is probably one of the things that inspires me the most to share with people is teaching really other people, not just to create the income. It’s so much more than just income. It’s about creating additional time, freedom and just building a business that you love and enjoy. So I, myself, I was hard charging as an investor and I’ll tell you about year four, year five making tons of money. I went through a massive, massive burnout in my investing business because it was 100% active right.

Brant : So I didn’t have systems in place. I had a few team members but it wasn’t a true … It wasn’t a real business model that I had. I had active income, like I said, I was making a lot of money but I went through like a really difficult time of being burnt out and I didn’t see an end in sight and that was the problem. Like yeah, I’m making a lot of money but I don’t know how to fix this to where I can run this business without being so active in it and so in hindsight it was wonderful because it caused me to rethink things. Slow things down and build it back to where I’ve 10, 11 years later I’ve been in this business and now we buy dozens and dozens, 50, 60, 70 houses a year and I don’t have to see these houses. And I don’t have to manage them. I don’t have to look at them. I don’t have to manage the …

Brant : And I’ll tell you that is a difficult accomplishment. It’s not something that probably everyone needs even desires to do, nor do I recommend anyone to build this more functional real estate investing business. Because it’s truly different and it’s really hard and that’s a reason why I’m so fired up about EXP because this is allowing people like plug and play to instantly have the systems and the model built out for them to where you can recreate and reproduce a fully functional business that can meet, depending on how you work it, can meet your everyday income needs to provide for your bills and expenses and your family.

Brant : But also it’s giving you the ability to build it for the future, right? And so I’ll tell you when I went through my burnout. When I kind of hit that bottom so to speak and it really helped me to get focused on what I wanted to do and I went back to the beginning, like why did I get into this business right? Money was, for me honestly, money was the least motivating factor. I wanted more time. I wanted more freedom. I wanted to build a business that every day that I enjoyed what I was doing, that I enjoyed the people that I was working with.

Brant : That was really important to me but also I wanted multiple streams of income. If one wasn’t producing so well, I would have piece of mind that other things were working and then I wanted passive income. I wanted passive income and I went the rental property route in the beginning, that was what a mentor that I had taught me and leveraging … just starting out with nothing, you’re leveraging rental property, it’s great for creating wealth and I don’t regret it at all but it’s not a truly passive income model and so that’s just been part of my journey and that’s why I’m excited with the agents that we’re working with now.

Brant : With EXP, we’re teaching … I’m teaching agents, realtors to create real wealth through their active everyday income that they’re creating but also layering some reoccurring revenue through the EXP model but also with the investing thing as well because I think it’s all, the cool thing with EXP is when I talk about multiple streams of income, for me it’s really important that they’re all in the real estate sphere.

Connor : Right.

Brant : Like we’re not running over here and just doing some just tangent of some other industry. Like all these things are interrelated and that’s how we, I don’t know there’s some true synergies that occur with this business over and over and that’s why I like it.

Connor : Right, I mean they’re just extra symbiotic cashflow streams and different income streams that go together. And so the reason why a lot of agents are attracted to coming working with you in your EXP team. A lot of people are reaching out to you because of your experience in the business and you have a lot offer them but guys let’s talk about this burnout, this active income burnout that real estate agents feel and this happens to everybody. It happens not just in real estate, it happens in all industries and it’s the pressure to live up to your expectations, live up to previous years’ incomes.

Connor : So what happens is, even if you’re a rockstar and a lot of y’all are and a lot of your agents are going to watch this. What happens is you start out in the business and you start out slow and then you start making a lot of money and you get to a point where you’re going to hit a peak year. At one point you’re going to make the highest income you’re ever gonna make. And that next year you’re gonna have a drop in income and you’re gonna start out that year. Say you made $400,000 last year and you break the year down into quarters.

Connor : So you’re thinking in your mind, the way our minds think is to break your previous year, which is why you’ve been excited about the business running so hard because you keep breaking your previous years’ income, you’re going … And say you’re in that first quarter and you’ve only produced $50,000 income. So your brain starts thinking you’re behind. And it starts creating stress and anxiety and there’s always going to be a peak year but when you work for passive income and you’re stacking passive income models, as well as, working for equity. Your income is always going up and when we talk about the way our brains work, as long as your progressing in life. As long as things are getting better, you stay happy, you stay focused, you stay driven, energy levels are high.

Connor : But when you start to feel that regression or that stagnation, that’s what creates that burnout feeling, that depression, that anxiety that people feel and they start saying they’re burnt out and once you start breaking that emotional barrier and you start thinking that way. Now you’re already thinking that way and it just compounds on that down swing and so that’s why you see so many agents get frustrated and quit the business because they do see no end in sight. But now EXP is giving us an exit to the business.

Connor : So let’s talk about why we have an exit to the business because we have a three income stream model. Guys you can come in and act as a regular real estate agent. We have a commission-based income stream or you can sell houses and go out there and act as a real estate agent. But just doing what we normally do anyways as real estate agents now with EXP, we can actually build equity in a company. Because now, as you saw on May 21st, EXP has now been uploaded to the Nasdaq. We’re publicly traded company. When you come into the company and you sell your first house a number of shares are going to be issued to you. So just doing what you already do anyways, you’re making or you’re building up equity in this company through the stock.

Connor : Also, if you do what we call capping out and within our company, which a lot of y’all work at a company where you have a cap, when you sell $2.66 million in real estate, they’re gonna issue you more shares. And then we have a third income stream which is basically a team building income stream, which is where you can go out there, act as a real estate broker without actually having had a broker’s license but still build a team. And when those agents come on your team and sell houses because you’ve introduced those agents to the company, you’re going to have a financial incentive and they’re going to reward you out of that agent’s production.

Connor : So for example, on our front level, we’re getting 3.5% of gross commission of what that agent’s selling. So now agents can come in an build a team. They can build equity in a company. So they’re building passive income, they’re building equity, as well as, alongside they’re selling houses. And this is what’s super exciting because when you’re building up this revenue share, as we call it. Similar to the KW profit/share model. But we’re doing it before expenses and not after expenses are pulled out because we’re not a franchise model.

Connor : Now agents are able to build up what we call a cash/flow model or an extra income stream coming in every single month and that’s what’s super exciting and this is what’s going to allow you to exit the business. So let’s kind of talk about how these models really influence you to come into the company because you were sitting there working as an active income agent for a long time and it just burns you out so much that you jus quit the business and when you saw this, it’s so exciting for you it basically brought you back in the business, which I’m seeing happen for a lot of agents.

Connor : We’re seeing agents change their lives over and over. So let’s kind of dig into this a little bit here. And let’s just hear you opinions on it.

Brant : Yeah, so one thing I think is really important when we talk about reoccurring revenue and passive income and active income is I see a lot of people, real estate investors included, they focus on like this big number, like this really big ginormous goal that is really overwhelming to them and for some people far fetched in terms of with the systems and the methods that they’re trying to reach their goals. Like you just mentioned it. Say and agent goes out and makes $300,000 or $400,000, well they’re not going to continually be able to increase that revenue especially like what if they get sick. What if there’s a shift in the market, which there will always be.

Brant : So once of the things that I love about this model and really real estate investing and the EXP model in general is this, is yes, we all want to become high net worth individuals so having a high net worth is great but what’s even more, really to me, more powerful than that for your every day life is getting to a point where your reoccurring revenue meets and exceeds all of your bills.

Brant : So this model, while it’s so exciting for me and like why we’re truly helping realtors create real wealth is because if you break this down into just a mini goal. Forget about people … I see so many people think. If I can just make a million dollars, that’s going to be peace, love and happiness. That’s like this finish line. It’s not. I made a million dollars. It’s not. But whatever you if you take a much smaller view.

Brant : Let’s say your mortgage is $3,000 a month, $2,000, $3,000 whatever it is. But think how many lives would be changed if they had $2-$3,000 a month coming in every single month no matter what where they just didn’t have to pay a mortgage again. It’s absolutely life changing to them. What if you had an additional $1,000 to pay for you and your spouse’s car or maybe you want to send your kids to private school, like my wife and I did with our kids. When you have this income coming in, just like $1,000 to $2,000 and you layer that, like you said. You stack maybe another $1,000 or $2,000 whatever it is a year later. That changes your life. That changes people’s lives and I don’t think people understand the impact that has or really how achievable it is with the right model and the right systems and the right support etc.

Brant : And so that’s what’s really exciting to me is that opportunity to get people’s mind off the bigger goal, like we need to have bigger goals and we need to pursue net worth and etc. But where our daily actions are actually having an impact on our daily and weekly lives, like improving it tremendously just by hitting some of these little small goals but that’s exciting to me. People don’t understand. $3,000 to $5,000 in passive income changes people’s lives.

Connor : Absolutely. So what it does is it basically gives you the feeling of living without fear. Because for example, the individual who brought me into this company. He got sick was put in the hospital not too long ago and he’ll tell you himself that his revenue share, that passive income, that cash flow or whatever you want to call it was coming in, while he was sitting there stuck in the hospital. It took a huge burden off of him because if he was a normal agent, what would have been going on.

Connor : He would have been stressing out. He would be like, “When am I going to get out of here? What are my bills going to be? When am I going to get out there and be able to sell houses again?” And those unknowns are very, very stressful. But you’re seeing this happen all across the country, specially you from Houston. Look at all the flood houses, right? So all the EXP agents that I talked to that were in Houston, when I went to the shareholder event, said they all had houses held up in Escrow at least they were in that part of the city on that side and they were basically, look it was my revenue share that let me go to sleep at night feeling comfortable because I didn’t have to worry where the money was coming from.

Connor : Whereas if you’re only working for active income and you get sick, you get hit in a car wreck. For some reason you have to travel and take care of your parents because they get sick. Guys, life will catch up to you eventually, I promise you. If you’re living in the present moment and feeling like you’re invincible and everything is always going to go right. That is not how life works. Some point in the future, if you’re only an active income earner and you don’t have anything to step back to and look to if you get to a position where you can’t produce that income. It’s gonna catch up and it’s going to be a very, very stressful time for you.

Connor : And so, especially for you down there in Houston. You’ve probably see this happen with agents all over getting help up with houses in Escrow. They couldn’t get these houses closed and their business shut down. So there’s so many things that can come up as an active income earner that can be a risk long term for you.

Brant : Yeah, sure. Well, I believe that success breeds success, that’s why I like to encourage people. Hey I did it. Your bills maybe $10 or $15 or $20,000 or whatever all your bills are but let’s focus on mini goals. When people focus on, let me get to $1,000, $2,000, $3,000, $5,000 whatever it may be in reoccurring revenue, once they see that they’re on fire. So it just that success breeds success. Oh, if I can do $1,000, I can do $2,000. If I can do $2,000, I can do $4,000. So that’s always been my strategy with investing and now it’s what we’re working on building with the EXP model at the same time.

Connor : Right, so a lot of people are going to be attracted to come work with you. You have a lot to offer. So you actually built a real business. What is it like to see because I think a lot of people understand once they start looking at EXP that these multiple income streams are just the best option for an agent because we see, how often do you see Brant a 75-year-old real estate agent still selling houses and what do they tell us. They’re selling houses because they love the business and we know that’s not true because they can’t live off social security. They didn’t’ put money away because they didn’t plan for their retirement and they’re having to sell houses.

Connor : And so you have the ability to help these agents, we have incredible software they give us. Let’s kind of talk about some of the opportunities that EXP allows us because not just do we get the ability to have extra income streams, we’re also getting incredible opportunities to training through conversion and what we now call KB Core, we get commissions inc. So for someone like you who’s an expert lead generator, what can using these softwares do for you and the team that you’re gonna build.

Connor : You’re gonna help some of these new agents that wouldn’t have this type of help going to 100% shop because a lot of agents are attracted to those flat fee shops where they get 250 per transaction and that’s it but essentially what they’re doing is they’re taking their hat off and just hanging their license there and they’re not getting any support. They’re not getting any help because they’re just focused on, I get to keep more of my money. But what happens is there not getting any support help from someone who knows the business, any softwares or lead generation programs to help them and so they’re making more of their commission but they’re not selling hardly any houses.

Connor : So really they’re not making that much money, right?

Brant : Sure. So it’s really just an inefficient business model. So hearing you talk about how I built this business that’s probably 90% systemized or I deal with very little these days and I look like if I was getting started in the business now and if this model was available now and if I’m just getting started and if I had all this knowledge and all this experience of what I’ve been through, I can tell you I wouldn’t have chose the path I’ve been through. I will tell you that. So everything that I’ve built and the losses and the risks and just the headaches and the trials and tribulations of building a business, like I’ve grown from it and I don’t regret it but if there’s a smarter more efficient, less risk model why wouldn’t you do that?

Brant : Like I said, I want more time, more freedom and just more enjoyment out of life and of course, to create wealth and income but to do that efficiently so that’s what was really so exciting to me about EXP as well. Was just the efficiency of the model. I was an agent previous to coming back for about eight years and I met with a broker. I had two different brokers and I was with the flat fee model both times. So I had two brokers, I met each of them one time and it was both when I signed up with them. I never saw them again and I went to broker’s offices exactly two times ever.

Brant : Should I have been going there more? Yeah, ’cause that’s where training was. That’s where support was and so I didn’t but you get into it what you put into it and so to me it was just like I don’t want to drive across town for this, so I’d spend time on the phone or trying to get help or just trying to figure out things myself a lot of times. So it was an inefficient model and I’m not like a tech person or anything like that but I’ll tell you we’ve been using virtual assistance for over … I had my first [VA10 00 : 35 : 00] years ago when I first got started in this business.

Brant : So we use virtual support. We use technology when it makes sense with a lot of … Even I have employees that don’t come to the office anymore right because there’s no need for them to. So when I saw EXP’s model, it just made sense that it would, not only like we mentioned several times, not only support me improving revenue, income but it provided a more efficient business model. The cloud based brokerage it just blew my mind.

Brant : I knew something was going to happen. I didn’t think think it would be like that but when I saw it was like this is it. Tell me why this doesn’t make complete and total sense?

Connor : Right, like when we were down there at the mastermind. Down there in Cancun. We were at the pool. I was literally on my phone accessing the cloud brokerage. Think about that. I can run my business. Like if we have internet access on the moon, we could run that business and so what’s interesting Brant is that you have in a very extensive career and long track record on both sides of business but a lot of people know you for the investment business you built. The same thing with me. They know me for the investment business I built.

Connor : And so a lot of people didn’t believe me when I said I put a lot of my business activity kind of on the back burner to focus on EXP. And so what you said earlier, how we met was this should prove to people this is a huge opportunity that when we met, I wasn’t out there trying to speak on how to flip houses or how to buy rental properties. I was out there spending my time focusing on building EXP Realty because I love this company. I think it’s the future of real estate just as many of us and everywhere I go. What do I hear? I hear the same broken record, EXP has changed my life, EXP has changed life, EXP has changed my life.

Connor : And I just can’t remember anybody telling me that a different brokerage has every changed their life. Now they enjoy being at the company but they’re not out there saying that this is giving me an excitement again. That this is giving me a path to actually exit the business where I don’t have to sell houses until the say I die. And that’s why a lot of people from these flat fee shops are moving over because they can never retire. They’re always gonna have to sell. Unless they have some discipline and take that initiative early on and start putting money away. There is no 401K. There is no retirement plan set up for agents and this why most of them never live past the present moment.

Connor : But I’ve talked to a number of them lately and some of them specifically said just like this, the biggest fear that I have is that I’m going to have to sell houses forever and I’m trapped in this business because I don’t want to go back to corporate, yet I don’t see an end in sight for this and they feel stuck. And it’s just a horrible very sad thing to see.

Connor : So we’re now able to help them and I think if they just reach out to Brant and us and sit down and see what we have to show them I think this business model is going to massively shift the way they’ve seen real estate and brokerages in the way they’ve been run before. But it’s also important to understand that we’re not a franchise model and because of this we don’t have that slow down of having to build offices out and we can now build teams across the country. So individuals from Florida, California, New York can work with Brant and us and our team, the same way they’d work with us if they were right here in their backyard.

Connor : Because nobody goes to office. We’ve had top agents on here left and right or coming through our office or coming through Investor Army talking about this that people do business in the field. The do business at the title company or title attorney’s office or Starbucks. These are the top three places they tell me they spend their time. They never tell me they’re going into the office and it’s just the elimination of this brick and mortar costs and the elimination of the franchise process, now eliminates massive overhead and when you run a leaner cleaner business model and overhead goes down profits go up.

Connor : And the reason why the company wants to give us so much top training and live training a cloud of video vault that we can access 24 hours a day, conversion or what we call KB Core now, Commissions Inc. All our different [inaudible 00 : 39 : 07] from platforms is that the company wants to spend more and give more to the agent to make us better agents because when we sell more houses, more money goes back to the company and because we’re all agent owners together, the individuals that have come in and sold a house in the company because we’re now all equity shareholders, everybody wins and that’s why this is such a great business model and what they’ve created for us is so powerful.

Connor : Still there?

Brant : Yeah.

Connor : Looks like we lost you for a second.

Brant : Yeah, I’m there. Yeah, I’m here. Yeah man, it sounds so … A big thing for me is I like to truly be excited and inspired by what I’m doing. I don’t care, you can say, “Hey, you can make a million dollars doing whatever flipping mobile homes.” But I’m like, “I don’t know if that’s my thing.” Not that there’s anything wrong with that. But I like to be excited about what I’m doing and just work with people I enjoy working with. People do business with people they like doing business with and that’s another thing that’s so cool about this.

Brant : So I meeting with … I’m getting on a call later today with one of my old students. He’s in Atlanta. He’s heard about what we’re doing. He’s like, “Dude, I want to talk.” He’s in the real estate space. So he’s in Atlanta but he can come onto our team with EXP and we’re down here in Houston. Talking to some of my wife’s family is from the east coast, they’re from Philadelphia. So we’re talking to some of her family. We’re like, “I see what y’all are doing.” They’re watching a couple of videos and want to learn more about it. So we can work with them even though they’re in Philadelphia. And so there’s just so many things that are inspiring me and encouraging me and you’re right about our time.

Brant : You told me you began shutting down certain aspects of your business to focus on EXP. And whenever, when I got into this business, like I said I was pursing time freedom, financial freedom, all these types of things and the old model, the old realtor model just didn’t support any of my goals. I shut it down. EXP supports that. So what am I spending a lot of my time on now? It’s the EXP model. We’re doing weekly lunch and learns at our office.

Brant : And I’m having to look at other ways, time commitments that I have and honestly when I’m putting them on the scales, EXP is outweighing some of the other things I’m doing. So that’s what we’re devoting more time to and I got a busy life. I got a wife and five kids and pretty active with other things but it’s like EXP is beginning to get some other time in my business time each week and we’re devoting more and more time to it because the more and more time that we spend in it, the more and more people that we’re working with. Like we’re starting to see.

Brant : Even much, how bigger the opportunity is. So I’m in Houston and at the time of this recording we’ve got an incredible baseball team. The Houston Astros, World Series Champions.

Connor : Debatable.

Brant : So my wife and I went to a game last Friday. I took my son to the game last night. One of my sons, I have three boys. So I took my 8-year-old we got first row seats, it was pretty awesome but you go to the Astros game now and it’s packed we have 30,000-40,0000 people, which is a lot on a Monday night where 5-6 years ago they were the worst team in major league baseball. But everybody loves to be a part of a winning team, right.

Brant : So EXP, they the fastest growing real estate company ever. So why wouldn’t you want to be a part of that. So me, there’s synergy there. There’s energy. There’s a reason that they are the fastest growing company ever. That doesn’t happen by accident, right? That doesn’t happen by accident. So this analogy about the Astros. They won the World Series, it wasn’t an accident, right? They had a great team, they had great chemistry. They had great leadership. They had efficiencies in training and things other teams didn’t have and that’s what EXP has.

Brant : So I’m proud to be a part of this team. And Conner, you and I are coming in under us we’re business partners now. We’re in this business together. So everything you’re doing, everything I’m doing like we’re collectively growing a company and I haven’t seen anything like this before. It’s so much more efficient that starting an investment business. It’s so much easier and the risk. I was thinking about when I had my license before and you were talking before and I met with brokers two times, went to offices a total of two times and I remember I had other phone calls and conversations for support but I always had this feeling like my broker didn’t like me very much because she just seemed frustrated.

Brant : And I’m like, “Well, maybe she’s frustrated because I never come to the office.” I don’t come to the meetings. But really now that I’ve learned more about this and like I think she was probably just overwhelmed because when you go into EXP World and you see they have specialized support for every aspect of the business. It’s so efficient. So I was saying, “Maybe, she just doesn’t like me but it was, maybe she was just really burned out.” But all the stress and the burdens that she was having and fire she was having to put out and they’re all going to her cell phone or email for the most part.

Connor : That’s what people don’t realize. Most of the brokers are losing money. They got in with a vision of what they thought and a lot of times when we create a vision and we have an internal thought process of where we want to go and then a few years down the road after we put a lot of energy behind it and reality plays out different than the internal movie that we created in our mind, that’s what causes that frustration and that feeling of failure and this isn’t what I thought.

Connor : But a lot of these brokers … Guys, if you’re a broker right now and you come across this, ask yourself, “Are you still selling houses yourself?” And if you are you know why you’re still selling houses because most of the time you’re supplementing the brokerage that you’ve built. Because brokers that are truly successful they don’t sell houses anymore they give those leads off to those agents and they’re taking 50% or 20% or whatever they want to split but a real entrepreneur understands that it’s better to get 50% of 100 deals than say 100% of say 20 deals, right?

Connor : And so just to create a form of leverage and like he talked about guys. We no longer have to fight for the attention of one broker. We have in the cloud specialized salaried employees that handle accounting, the tech outposts, transaction team, agent services, we have individuals that are employees of EXP that work for us. So 200+ employees will work for you, instead of you essentially working for one broker.

Connor : It’s totally shifted the way the industry’s run but I think it’s important also that you brought up the Astros here because it kind of struck a chord with me. Let’s be honest, real estate is a very lonely business for people when they start out as an entrepreneur, if they’re an investor or an agent, they’re the only one looking out for themselves. They’re out there running around on the street trying to make a living for themselves, so they can be very, very lonely.

Connor : And what EXP has done compared to the traditional model, which is one broker a bunch of random agents in the office who are their competition. Now we’re building teams. Brant and I are on a team. Guys if you call Brant and you sit down with us and you join our team, you’re going to be working with Brant and I literally us, not assistants or not some other person. You’re going to be working with us every single week. That’s what’s crazy about this opportunity. You’ll actually get to partner with us but now we’re building a team environment because when we win, we all win together and we’re all working at this together.

Connor : And so it’s literally for those of us who played a lot of sports when we were young, this is take the team back to our lifestyle and a lot of us were in team sports and it has created that environment where we can all win together again, which is exciting for me and a lot of y’all out there.

Brant : Yeah, absolutely.

Connor : So what’s your take on this because you worked at a shop where there was one broker. Now you can log into the cloud, live time, hop on your computer and go out and get any question answered that you want. You can walk right up to the tech outpost, those salaried employees. You can have one working next to the other from different parts of the country. They’re able to now work at home and raise their family and this has been a big reason a lot of single … I’ve talked to a lot of agents, actually hundreds of agents lately. And a number of them are single mothers and they’re saying the ability to work at home and raise their children and be able to spend more time there has just completely changed their life.

Connor : And you’re seeing this come out left and right and it’s just something that when we think about on a human level, it’s just absolutely amazing that this is now available for agents that normally would get stuck having to drive around town, go to the office all the time, now they can work from home.

Brant : Yeah, absolutely and like I said, my wife and I, we have five children. We have help. We have a nanny. We have all these things. But I like to encourage people, for people who are considering this, really look at it from a business perspective and I remember when I first got into real estate investing, we talk about what is the risk? What is the reward? What is your investment? Etc. And what’s the return on that investment? So when I got started in real estate I used a credit card. So I had no money. So I didn’t really care that much about the risk honestly.

Brant : Like I didn’t have much to lose. But now when you create more success in life or agents begin to build up their business. You have to look at like, what is my risk for this opportunity? Whether it be an investment deal, whether it be a business decision. Something like this. Begin looking at it like a business perspective. Like what is my risk to take part in this opportunity and what would the reward be. So you start really looking at and I encourage people to get out a spreadsheet, get out a pen and paper and really start doing the math because that’s the …

Brant : When I heard you first speak about it. I was like, “Man, this sounds incredible.” But the next thing I did was really start looking at numbers and data and it was … And numbers don’t lie. Numbers will tell the story and that’s the thing is that these numbers tell a story and then when you, especially when you … Numbers are great, right? So they’ll tell the story of the financial outcome but them you start looking at other things especially as we get older, many of the people that I work with like on the investing side are people that are nearing retirement age, which I hate the word “retire.”

Brant : But they’re retiring at that age of mid to late 50’s, early 60’s and what do I do now? So look at that as well as you look at all the data on the income, the revenue streams, stock options, etc. But also look at the data on what this can do for your life, for your time and just the efficiency is sort of there with being in the cloud versus driving over to your broker’s office and all these different types of things. And that’s where the numbers, you put everything on a scale with current model and you put everything on the scale with the EXP model and to me it was absolutely [crosstalk 00 : 50 : 48].

Connor : No brainer.

Brant : Exactly, it was a no brainer.

Connor : That’s what I said.

Brant : And so with our Lunch and Learns we hosted one together last week and so we’re sharing with agents, and you know, I suck at sales. I’m like this isn’t a sales presentation. I approach EXP just like I approach when I speak to private lenders when we talk about people investing with our company. I’m like, look at this really is we’re sharing some information about an opportunity that exists in the marketplace. This is an opportunity for agents, and we’re just saying, something for you to consider is there is a newer model. I believe it, Connor believes it to be much more efficient, much more conducive for you to create likely what you wanted in the first place is for you to create a business model that meets and exceeds your monthly expenses and creates a lifestyle for you.

Brant : And at the same time working and helping people that you enjoy working and helping at the same exact time. And then just create some more of that freedom. So you can work at home or work with your kids. You know they’re with you. Just do the research is what I encourage people to do. Just watch some more videos, ask questions, reach out to me or Connor and just look at the numbers-

Connor : Look at the math.

Brant : Look at the data. Just look at it. And like the numbers don’t like. It was I always tell my students. It’s like plug the numbers in the spreadsheet, like the numbers will tell you the story and is that story a story you want to live out and realize or is it not so good and then you don’t do it. But to me it’s overwhelming.

Connor : Math is a universal language. Guys, if you’re a serious real estate entrepreneur and you’re not going to take 30 minutes to an hour to sit down with Brant or I or somebody else in this business at EXP to take a look at this. You cannot consider yourself serious as far as business goes because we’re sitting her talking about the fastest growing real estate brokerage in U.S. history. A three income stream cloud-based model that’s using technology to leverage your business.

Connor : Hundreds of employees that will work for just $85 a month. I mean so a lot of people Brant have come into our team. They’re like, I’ve been where I’ve been. We don’t need to talk about these other companies because they’re all great but they’ve been there for 10, 12, 15 years. They’re risk in their mind is, let me come over and try it for three to six months, if it doesn’t work and it’s not what people say it is then I’ll go back.

Connor : So I can say this without a doubt right now that not one person that’s come into our team since I’ve joined this company has left my revenue share organization, not one. If you’re a broker ask yourself how many people come in and out. It’s like a revolving door for most companies but the saddest thing and the worst thing you’ll ever see in your entire life is to see someone at the end of their life and see regret in their eyes. And the reason why people live a life of regret is because they lived a life of skepticism and they never wanted to slow down to look at an opportunity because they were always skeptical.

Connor : So if you’re a skeptic guys and you don’t want to take the time to at least sit down and see this for what it is and really run your numbers and take what you’re making at your company and take your commission splits and just put it on pen and paper side by side, I mean it’s like you kind of deserve what you’re gonna get right? If there’s a better opportunity and it’s been presented to you and you don’t slow down to look at it. What’s your risk? You come over and if it doesn’t work then you move back. I mean people bounce around brokerages all the time and that’s what’s so sad is that most people aren’t even willing to slow down and look at a new opportunity. Especially one like this when industry leader after industry leader is moving over left and right [crosstalk 00 : 54 : 35]. Yeah go ahead.

Brant : Yeah, sorry man. But that was on my mind and we haven’t really spoke about it too and my past and my real estate investing past I’m always looking for mentoring and for coaching and to learn from others that have created results that I desire and so one of the main things is if I’m going to invest in a coaching program or a mastermind or whatever it be or sometimes it’s not even a financial investment, it’s just an investment of my time. I always ask myself, is this person in the place that I want to be? Have they created the results that I’m seeking?

Brant : And sometimes that’s on a person … like does this person have … If someone’s giving marriage advice to me, I’m like does this person really have the marriage that I’m achieving to have or what is that like or parenting advice, financial advice, investing advice. I always ask myself has this person created the results that I’m seeking. If so, then I want to learn from that person. So that’s what’s really impressive to me as well, when you told me about some of the leadership team. I started doing my own research as well and looking at some of the people that are moving over to EXP.

Brant : There are some serious, serious players that are moving to EXP and to me that just spoke volumes. I’m like this is something real. You and I are both really, really successful in real estate, right? I’ve created an awesome business, an awesome life all this kind of stuff but it’s like this is something that we have to take note of and so that … the industry leaders that are moving into this space, just spoke volumes to me and that really even just added onto my curiosity. I’m like, this is something that I’m going to be a part of.

Connor : I mean that’s what I felt as well. I feel like history is being made right now. I feel like this is that once in a lifetime opportunity for real estate professionals. In my opinion guys, that this is whether you’re an agent or an investor or anybody thinking about real estate, this is in my opinion, the greatest opportunity we’ve ever seen and it’s just a huge opportunity because look at this. I want to challenge y’all to sit down with us but I wasn’t there during the dot com boom. I missed Dell and Yahoo, I missed Facebook. I missed Bitcoin. I missed all these and so when I saw this I said, there’s zero chance that I’m going to miss this opportunity. Especially since it’s already aligned with the business that I’m in which is real estate.

Connor : And I come from a family where I hear story after story from my parents, from my aunts, my uncles, about all the missed opportunities they had throughout their life. Specifically one from my own father. He tells me about he was at a McDonald’s decades ago and some guy came up to him and was like, I got the opportunity of a lifetime for you. And he wanted him to just look at this stock that was coming out and it was Yahoo and if my dad had just put a few thousand dollars into it. It would have made him a multi-millionaire.

Connor : And I hear story after story like this from individuals who are older and the older generation about all the missed opportunities and it’s because they didn’t look at it with an open mind. They didn’t slow down to do their research. They didn’t slow down to put pen to paper and see if this is actual opportunity for them and all I ask y’all is, I challenge you to just sit down with us for an hour and just show us your numbers of what you’re doing.

Connor : If you’re a broker show us the numbers, let’s compare it. If you’re an agent. Show us the numbers and let’s compare it. If you’re gonna make less money or it’s not a big opportunity for you, then it makes no sense for you to move. But if it is, unless you hate money. Unless you hate your future. Unless you hate where you’re going in life. Why wouldn’t you want to make the move and give it a shot, right? And that’s all I’m asking and that’s what people are saying.

Connor : Take a look at it. It’s changing lives for everybody that I know. Personally, all the agents that are coming over are saying, this is the most exciting time in their career. This is what they’re telling me and so I don’t know it’s just one of those things I think this is going to be bigger than anybody even really imagines that it can be and most of us think it’s going to be huge.

Connor : And so guys, sit down with us. Brant you want say anything? Final words?

Brant : That’s it, man. Like I tell my students if the numbers make sense then you do the deal. So same thing. If the numbers make sense. You do the deal. So last thing is Joni Warren always says. Joni Warren, I quote says, “There are those who see an opportunity and there are those who seize an opportunity.” So do the numbers and if the numbers work for you and the story works for you and what you’re trying to create. I would seize it in a heartbeat. That’s what I did and I’m not just saying that. That’s what I did and that’s what I encourage people to do when they spend time and do the research, I think that’s what they’ll find.

Connor : All right. Well Brant, how do they reach you? So obviously. Sorry we got a little glitch there. How are they gonna reach you if they want to sit down with you and I. So guys if you want to reach out to us, we’ll sit down with you. We’ll get on Skype just like this. We’ll look at your business model. We’ll look at where you’re at. Some of y’all are at boutique brokerage. Some of y’all are at franchise companies. Everybody’s got a story behind where they’re at, why they’re there. All y’all have different longeveties at these places. Some of y’all have been there for your whole career. Some of y’all just moved there. Some of y’all are feeling pain right now and just want to see if there’s a new opportunity out there and I promise you this is worth taking 30 to 60 minutes of your time just to sit down with us and see if they can be a better option.

Connor : So how do they reach you Brant if they want to sit down with us?

Brant : So I’m pretty out there on the interwebs. You should google my name, Brant Phillips. The name of my main investment company is Invest Home Pro and the number is on that site and you can also reach me at 713-530-1610 or just email me brant.phillips@gmail.com is the easiest thing.

Connor : Right, so guys all I say is that you know you’re hearing about this out there. If you’re not slowing down to take a look at it don’t call us back in two years and say, “Hey why didn’t you show me this sooner or why didn’t you press us harder to look at this guys?” We only have enough time to sit down with people … We’re looking for those who are looking for us to work with, right? We’re not going to go out there and chase people down. This is your business. This is your future. This is your life. This is your obligation and your duty to prepare the best for your future. So you need to reach out to us. Okay guys, that’s all I want to say. Thanks for coming on the show. Brant appreciate it.

Brant : Thanks man, enjoyed it.

Connor : I’m grateful that you joined the team and am working with us. It’s going to be a great road, a great run at this. Guys, we’ll see you on the next episode. Have a good day.

The post Brant Phillips Show 41: Brant Joins EXP Realty – Interview With Connor Steinbrook appeared first on Brant Phillips.

What’s up, my friends? This is the Brant Phillips Show. I’m Brant Phillips, and this is the show dedicated to helping motivate, educate, inspire you to go out and create results. That’s it, my friends. Helping you create the results that you want in your life and in your business.

And today, I want to talk to you about, “Just Act Like It.” Just act like it when you don’t know it, act like you know it. If you don’t have that confidence, like fake it. Like act like you do. Confidence is everything, right. And I know that there’s thousands and thousands of self-help books, helping people to get confident, and be inspired, encouraged what they do.

But sometimes, like we just don’t have that confidence, right. Like sometimes, we get stuck in life. Sometimes we get stuck in business. Sometimes we’re doubting that we can get out of a situation or doubting that we can create the success that we want. And sometimes it just starts by acting like we can, even when we don’t think that we can.

I just finished up teaching a seminar, a real estate seminar, this week and there were several instances where people were sharing, “Hey, here’s what you do in this situation. Here’s what you do to raise money. Here’s what we do to create deal flow. Here’s what you do to do this or that.” Just different aspects and a couple of things. The main thing that stood out to me one time, was sharing how we raise private money, and what we do with our private lender relationships, and how we establish those to get favorable terms, rates, and all that stuff.
And one lady said, she’s like, “Yeah, but you’ve been doing this for years and you have credibility.” And I said, “Yes, but you can do that, too.” And she’s like, “Well, it’s easier for you.” “Okay, now it is, but understand that we all start, we all start in life at the same place, in terms of we all start with zero experience, right. Zero knowledge at some point in time. And sometimes, like we don’t have that confidence.” I play sports with my kids all the time, we play baseball, we play football, we play basketball.

And I think back, too, like when I was a kid, about trying to mimic, like playing like Michael Jordan, and some of my sports heroes, and so I do that with my kids, too. Like my son playing basketball. I’ll be shooting three pointers or shooting far off, and he’s like, “Dad, I can’t shoot that far.” I’m like, “Well, just act like you can, son. Act like … Pretend you’re LeBron James. What would he do? Like how would he do it?” It’s just sometimes having that thought like, “Oh, let me try to do it like him. Put myself in that mindset.”

I was wrestling around with my three year old the other day, and I’m wrestling … We’re wresting and things like that. And I get him in a headlock and he’s like, “Dad, I can’t get out. I can’t get out.” And I’m like, “I thought you were Super Dylan.” I call him Super Dylan sometimes, and sometimes he’s Batman, sometimes he’s Spider Man. And so I was like, “Well, I thought you were Super Dylan?”

And he kind of … His demeanor changed, and his eyes got big, and he started hitting me, and punching me, and kicking, and doing all this stuff, until where he got this superpower, where he could get out of the headlock. I let him get out, and then he started beating me up, and all that kind of stuff. And it just like started when I gave him the idea to change. Like to get this instant confidence.

And so think about that. Like who do you want to be in life, right? Who are some of your mentors? Who are some of your role models in real estate, people that you look up to? Like imagine if you could hang around with someone like Robert Kiyosaki, or maybe Than Merrill, or Richard Branson, or just whatever real estate investor, or entrepreneur, or someone that you aspire to be. Like what if you could hang out with them for a day, a week, or even a year, and just so that you could start seeing how it is that they live their life? How could that change your life and your business?

Because we’ve all heard that, that the sum of the five people that we hang around with, or whatever it is, the average of the five people that we hang around with, it is going to be one of the greatest determinations on who we become in life, and financially, and how our personalities are. And, it’s really important as well, because who we are, also rubs off and reflects on those people. So it’s incredibly important, but guys, there’s ways to mirror other people’s’ behavior, and mirror more importantly, other peoples’ actions.

I mean, the most successful entrepreneurs and leaders in the world have written books, they’ve left maps. So I encourage you, I encourage you. When you feel stuck in any area of life, maybe it’s being a parent, being a husband or a wife, or being in control of your health and fitness, like when you feel stuck and you feel like you don’t know what to do, or how to act, like act it. Like find someone, right. Like find someone who that you can mimic and role model. And like I said, like it’s probably not going to be some big celebrity entrepreneur. It doesn’t need to be.

It could be someone in your circle, it could be like someone who’s written a book, someone who’s doing YouTube, YouTube shows, or something like that. But get like … Once again, like get really clear on what it is that you want. I talk about this all the time. Get clear on what you want. Establish some really strong, clear outcomes, and just get that clarity in your mind.

And when you, even when you don’t feel like you can do what it is that you want to do, because you probably can’t in your current level, in your current capacity of where you’re at right now, but you can begin to work towards that. When I first had the idea of competing in an Ironman, I couldn’t go out and run an Ironman.

Hey, this is Brant and I hope you’re enjoying today’s show. If you’re in a place in your life or your business where you just feel stuck, or you just don’t know what actions to take to help you get unstuck, or onto the path to creating the results you truly desire, please take a few minutes and go to my website, brantphillips.com. There’s some really valuable resources and information that may be able to help you out.

And if you’re interested in really speeding up results with the help of a coach and mentor, and adding true accountability and guidance to your life and business, please reach out to me from my website, as well, at brantphillips.com, or going directly to www.brantphillips.com/coaching. Now let’s get back to the show.

Right, I had to act like people who had gone before me. I had to begin to read and see what these people are doing, and what that training regimen would look like. Get some role models, for example. Get a coach and find out what to do. And the same thing for you. Like find some people that you can act like. Get like some role models, begin reading books, seeing what it is that they do, what is their decision making process, what are some of their actions, and more importantly their habits that have made them to be who they are? What is their attitude in life?

What are some of their inherent skills and abilities that you may not have, but you can start to see what they have, and begin to work on those things? And what are some of the motivating factors, right? Like what was their why to do what they did? And that’s going to be a little bit more of a difficult one, that you’re not just going to be able to mimic. You’re going to have to find out what it is, what is your why, and what’s driving you?

And when you begin doing that though, you can start putting it all together. Just when you start really boiling it down to success is simply finding a map, creating some habits, and repeating them, and executing them each and every day, over and over, and over again. And it’s habit stacking, if you will, to create success, right. It’s swinging singles, it’s all these little things that you can do over and over, and over again, and put it all together, and create success.

But I do want to leave you with this, and I want to share this with you. It’s some words of caution, if you will. But it’s really important that you become yourself. Like don’t get caught up in this thing where you lose your identity, right. Like you need to do you. And you need to be you. Like this modeling, and modeling other peoples’ behavior, and getting mentors and coaches, like it’s incredibly powerful. And it works. But you got to do you. Like I see people come in, like I’m in a lot of Masterminds and groups, and I’m modeling behavior of some of my mentors, right, to certain, in certain instances and certain avenues.

But I’m only extracting the things that are going to help me become the greatest version of myself and in what it is I want to create. So make sure that you’re doing you. Make sure that you have a clear end in mind of the life and the legacy that you want to create and go find those people. Go find those examples. Go find those people who have some behaviors that you can model and integrate them as your own. But you need to do you and you need to create the greatest version of yourself.

And also, I want to share this, my friends. Just because you’re modeling someone who’s gone before you and has created success, and they have left a map, and they’ve left steps, they’ve left habits, they’ve left … My book is based, my first book was based on fundamentals. Like I’ve left seven fundamentals of real estate. And if you execute those, you can be very successful in real estate investing. But, my friends, you’re still going to need to struggle.

You are still going to have to create your own path and know that in creating you, even if you’re acting just like someone else, and you’re mimicking everything that they’ve done, and everything that they’ve shared, and everything that they’ve taught you, you’re still going to have to buy in and prove yourself during this struggle. Because you’re going to have to chart your own path, right. And life’s not just about success, and fame, and fortune, and money, and all this peace, love, and happiness stuff.

My friends, it’s about the journey. It’s about the grind. It’s about the struggle to create your own unique path. But there’s beauty in it and it’s this battle and these obstacles that we get to overcome in order to create success. And yet, I’ll tell you, so many avoid this path and settle for status quo, and so oftentimes, mediocrity. Mediocrity. So don’t do that, my friends.

Like if you want to create success, you want to create an incredible life, you want to create, you want to become an awesome husband, or father, or wife, or mother, or entrepreneur, or real estate investor, whatever it is that you want to do, like even if you can’t do it right now, just act like it. Just act like you can. Model those behaviors of others who’ve gone before you. Build your inner circle, like get a strong group around you, so that you can begin to extract some things that will work for you. But chart your own path.

Chart your own path and you do you. Don’t worry about failing. When you fail, get back up. It’s going to be hard. Enjoy the journey. Enjoy the process each step of the way. And continue to act like others. This is not just fake it ’till you make it. This is faking it until you actually become it, and it becomes you, and you become the greatest version of yourself.

So that’s it, my friends. Begin taking action today in your life and in your business. And once again, I thank you so much for listening to this show, my friends. I look forward to helping you create results in your life and in your business.

The post Brant Phillips Show 40: Act Like It appeared first on Brant Phillips.

Welcome my friends to the Brant Phillips Show. The show that’s dedicated to results, because if you’re not getting the results you desire in your life and in your investments and in your business, well then my friends, why not? It’s time for some change. It’s time to get motivated, to get inspired and educated and equipped to go out and take action, and that’s what I’m all about and that’s what this show’s all about.

So today we’re going to talk about performing at your peak. Performing at your peak. Why are we talking about this? We’re talking about this because I heard my pastor, a pastor talk about this the other day at a church that we were visiting and so I dug a little deeper. I started reading and I learned about an author. His name is Charles Garfield, and the book he wrote was called “Peak Performers.” From what I was gaining, he’s very similar to in the Jim Collins, Malcolm Gladwell type of fold, and this is a book about the new heroes of American business, and essentially what Charles Garfield did was he began looking into what makes people perform at a higher level, what makes them different, what’s in their DNA that makes them different.

Part of this came about from studying NASA. NASA, whenever they were on the Apollo 11 mission, and so they were building towards this incredible, incredible, mission. Something that had never been done before. At NASA, the supervisors were noticing their team was just creating great results on a regular basis, like people were extremely and visibly happy in the work, everything that they were doing, people were being cohesive, working towards this mission, right? Like this incredible mission. That’s what they began to find when they were doing this research, was that the reason that they were performing so well and they were so cohesive and just energetic in what they were doing is because of that mission, the mission that they had, and that’s the one of the first things that he found.

Because if you’ve read anything about the Apollo 11 mission and NASA was that almost immediately after that enormous victory and that highlight, things begin to collapse a bit because they didn’t have the number one, the very first key component of being a peak performer, and that is having a motivating mission. You’ve got to have a motivating mission in your life and in your business because that is one of the characteristics of peak performers, is having a motivation. You have to have something that you’re doing that’s pushing you and causing you to be great. You need to be chasing greatness, chasing something larger and bigger than yourself, and that’s something that’s going to constantly stretch you.

So that’s my first question for you on this podcast today, is do you have a motivating mission? Do you have something that’s driving you and pushing you more? Like what is it that you want out of your life? What is it that you want in your relationships? What do you want in your investments? Do you want to reach a certain income? Do you want to make six figures for the first time? I talked to so many investors and that’s the goal, I want to make $100,000. Cool. That can be your motivating mission. Maybe you want to replace your income with passive income, right? Maybe that’s your motivating mission. Maybe you want to make, you know, continue working your job but invest on the side to build your retirement and maybe give to some type of charity or nonprofit or you want to free up your time so that you can work with a charity or nonprofit. Have a motivating mission. That’s where it all begins.

Number two, peak performers take results oriented action. I see so many people in life and in business. They show up and they’re taking action and they’re doing work, but is it getting them the results that they’re really wanting? This is something that I work on, not only personally for the things that I work on, but this is something I have to work on with my employees. What are you guys doing? Are the actions that my employees and my team and my staff is doing, is it moving us closer to creating the result, the established goal that we have? So make sure that when you’re taking action, there is a clear goal in mind and it is moving you closer each and every step, and if it’s not, shut it down, stop doing it, and find something else that’s going to get you there.

The third characteristic of peak performers is that they have self management through self mastery. I’ll say that again. They have self management through self mastery. This is kinda like to thine own self be true and knowing in your heart, knowing in your heart what it is that you need to be doing and being able to discern what’s working and what is not working. Especially in real estate, especially in the world of real estate investing, markets are always going to shift. They’re going to go up, they’re going to go down, they’re gonna go flat.

It’s really important that we keep a pulse on what’s working and what’s not, and more importantly, not just keep that pulse, but be able and ready to make changes whenever those times are necessary, because I see so many investors in the real estate world that are one trick ponies and they … another analogy may be better is they’re ostriches and they stick their heads in the sand because they are a one trick pony and things are shifting and rather than discerning like, “Hey, I need to do something different. I need to learn a new strategy. I need to get out of my comfort zone,” they stick their head in the sand, right? That’s not a key. That’s not a characteristic of a peak performer, right? Peak performers are like, you don’t have to motivate them, you don’t have to push them, you don’t have to manage them. They are going to discern what’s working and what’s not and take action and make things happen.

Another one, they’re team builders and team players. One of the mantras, one of the core values of the Navy SEALS that I picked up in my SEALFIT training was this, and one of them is ready to lead, ready to follow, and never quit. ready to lead, ready to follow, and never quit. And that’s one of the same characteristics of peak performers is that there’s times when we need to like step up and lead.

Hey, this is Brant, and I hope you’re enjoying today’s show. If you’re in a place in your life or your business where you just feel stuck or you just don’t know what actions to take to help you get unstuck or onto the path to creating the results you truly desire, please take a few minutes and go to my website, brantphillips.com. There’s some really valuable resources and information that may be able to help you out, and if you’re interested in really speeding up results with the help of a coach and mentor and adding true accountability and guidance, please reach out to me from my website as well at brantphillips.com, or go directly to www.brantphillips.com/coaching. Now let’s get back to the show.

But it’s a misnomer to think that we need to lead all the time. Sometimes we need to be led. That’s why it’s so important that you build a team because you’re building a team of professionals, of experts in their particular areas because sometimes you need to be led, and so you need to be willing to check that ego at the door at times and follow others and listen to others and gain insight and wisdom and wise counsel from others, but sometimes, yeah, you do. You just have to roll up your sleeves and lead and you have to be willing to correct course. You have to be willing to correct course. Now, it’s one thing to have a plan and that’s incredibly important, it’s incredibly important, but it’s also important to learn from your failures and know when something’s not working, and correct your course.

One of the things he found is that that peak performers are not the smartest people in the room. They don’t have the highest IQ. They may not be the sharpest, the fastest, the smartest of whatever it is. It doesn’t mean that they’re geniuses, but they are highly committed to creating a result. That means that they are intuitive to what they are doing and they are assessing and looking at results. Monitoring feedback, receiving feedback from others, receiving feedback from the marketplace, receiving feedback from simply what’s working and what’s not working, looking at indicators to make sure that they’re on the right path, and when they’re not, they’re ready, willing, and able to correct their course.

This is why it’s so important to make sure that you’ve got not only a strong team and a team that can communicate honestly and effectively, but having some accountability, coaching, mentoring, a mastermind that you’re a part of that will help you navigate some of these rough spots.

They manage this change effectively. They manage this change effectively. There’s no perfect investment strategy. There’s no perfect business model if you are not willing to manage … so there is … I kinda take that back. The perfect business model is a model that … our seven fundamentals for example, but that’s not the perfect business model unless it has someone who’s willing to be a peak performer and to get in and dive in and execute it and  assess when things are working, when things aren’t working, and know when the market is changing and shifting, and being willing to … be so involved in your business and in your life that you can anticipate changes and you’re willing to adapt to them and take the right actions and purposeful action to go out and make changes. Because the perfect business model, the perfect investment strategy includes a little asterisk that says things are always subject to change.

Things are always subject to change. Circumstances and markets are going to change. The market is always going to be cyclical, so that means things have to change and so that means that you, if you are going to be a peak performer, then, my friend, you’re going to have to manage change effectively and efficiently.    The only thing that we know that remains consistent and constant through the world of business and the world of investing, the only thing that will ever stay the same is that everything is going to change, and that’s okay as long as we are utilizing these characteristics of peak performers and going out and take an action.

I just want to reiterate right through this study by Charles Garfield is that peak performers, once again, they weren’t the highest IQ people in the world. They weren’t the most talented, they weren’t the smartest, but they were motivated, they had a mission, and they went out and took action, and they made adjustments and changes whenever obstacles arose, because we all know that that’s going to happen.

So my friend, there’s not a whole lot separating you from the greatest achievers ever in the history of the world. There’s not very much separating you and me from the greatest leaders in business ever except just this ability to get really clear on what it is that we want with our mission, right?  And going out and taking massive action and shifting when things aren’t working and assessing when things are working or not working. I’m going to go back to where I started in this podcast and I’m going to ask you what is your mission, my friend? Are you clear? Because it all begins with that mission. It all begins with that mission. In order for you to perform at your peak, get clear on the mission. Why are you here? What is it that you are committed to create in your life and in your business?

So my friends, that’s all I have today. I just want to say that I appreciate each and every one of you for listening to the show. I love your reviews, your positive reviews on iTunes and all of your support on social media and other places. You know the feedback I get from you guys, I truly, truly appreciate it. With that, I’m going to sign off and just encourage you, my friends, go out, take action, become a peak performer, and create the results that you desire in your life and in your business.

The post Brant Phillips Show 39: Perform At Your Peak appeared first on Brant Phillips.

Welcome, my friends, to the Brant Phillips Show, the show that’s dedicated to results in helping you to create the results that you desire in your life and in your business. My goal on each and every podcast is this, to help to inspire you, motivate, educate, and equip you to go out and take action, and create what it is that you want in your life and in your business. With that being said, let’s get started.

Today I wanna ask you a very incredibly important question. That question is this: who are you hanging out with? Who are you hanging out with? I just got back from a mastermind, it’s called The Boardroom, it’s a part of Kent Clothier’s group. I just had an amazing experience being in this room with over 100 and something real estate investors who are incredibly successful, extremely successful entrepreneurs.

Why are we talking about this? Because I don’t think that people understand how important it is to surround yourself with people that you are looking to become more like. Jim Rohn, who was a motivational speaker, said that we are the average of the five people that we spend the most time with. We are the average of the five people that we spend the most time with. Another thing, I was reading an article about this, was Tim Ferriss, if you know who Tim Ferriss is, he was being interviewed and someone asked him if you could put any message that he wanted on a billboard, what would it be? Instantly, he answered this: you are the average of the five people you most associate with. This has been a topic that’s been…I’ve heard about this for years and I know it to be true. That’s why I’m always trying to surround myself with people that I desire to be more like and that have results that I desire in my life.

This is something I’m sharing a lot with my teenage son right now. For those of you who have children, especially teenagers, look back when you were younger, when you were a teenager or a kid and the decisions that you made with your friends and how important that was and how that impacted you, either positively or negatively. I absolutely believe that we do become like the people, the average of the five people that we spend the most time with.

Successful people know this. In order to increase your real estate transactions, the number of deals that you do, your net worth, your financial statements, this is going to be about not only improving and leveling up the quality of people that you’re spending time with, and this sounds kind of shallow sometimes, but it’s also gonna be about letting certain people in your life go because whether you like it or not, this is true. This is real. This is a fact. It’s not fiction.

When it comes to relationships, we are greatly influenced by those closest to us. Why is that true? As we’re taking in…each and every day, we are taking in input. We are taking in things that we are hearing and absorbing. Our minds are like sponges. Each and every day, we’re gonna be receiving and taking in data, input, conversations, whatever it may be. Whether we like it or not, that’s going to affect us in one way or another. That’s a choice that we have to make each and every day.

I’m gonna tell you a problem, a big problem, I see in the real estate and the business world. I see this happen all the time and I wanna make sure, I’m gonna encourage you not to make the same mistake. As entrepreneurs and as real estate investors and as business people, a lot of times we’re focused on making money, and there’s nothing wrong with that, but don’t make the mistake of just becoming this one-dimensional, money-driven, lopsided individual and set all of your focus on making money and surrounding yourself with people that are only focused on making money. At the end of the day, I don’t care how much money you have, that’s not gonna give you the life that you want.

One of the really great takeaways that I experienced at the mastermind I was in this weekend was not only was there a majority of conversations about improving our businesses and making more money. Of course it was, it was a real estate mastermind. But there were a lot of discussions that were going on, as well, about becoming better husbands and fathers, and there were ladies there too, about becoming better mothers and about becoming better wives, becoming better parents in general for all of us and taking care of our fitness and things like that. A lot of those conversations as well. It was a really good group of people, of like-minded individuals focused on creating more money, a better lifestyle, but also becoming better people at the same time.

I’m gonna give you a few things just to ask yourself so you can do a little assessment and see where you’re at right now. Are you on target to becoming the type of person you want to become by analyzing how and who you’re spending your time with. It’s really important just like Stephen Covey said, to begin with the end in mind. Begin with the end in mind and define who you want to be. Ask yourself the simple question. What kind of person do you want to be in life and business? What type of husband and father or mother do you want to become? Or wife do you want to become? What do you want you level of fitness to become and what do you want your business to look like? What do you want your net worth to look like?

Begin seeking out people in each of these core areas of life so that you can learn from and you can grow from them and you can mimic certain behaviors that you see from them when they’re at certain levels and they’re producing results that you don’t have. Just watch what they do. Surround yourself with them. Ask questions. Focus and improve on who you are spending your time with. Who are the five people that you’re spending most time with? Look at them. Are the qualities that they’re representing certain things that you would want to represent as well? This is really incredible. This is where you’re gonna have to answer some honest questions.

If you’re wanting to become a millionaire, but you’re surrounded by people who are working a job, you have to understand this law of averages. Assuredly so, if you’re wanting to leave your job and become a full-time real estate entrepreneur but you’re spending 90% of your time with people working a job, who have no desire to leave that place, what results do you think that’s going to create? If you’re wanting to become a great husband and father and you’re hanging around single guys or dead-beat dads, that is not going to help you become a better father.

Seek people who are gonna help you become who you want to become. Begin looking to the future, not only at yourself, but your friends and the people you’re surrounding yourself with. Do they match up with who you want to be in the future? Are they gonna help support you to get to be in that position or are they gonna detract from what it is that your vision of your greatest self is? Are they gonna bring you up or bring you down? These are where these tough decisions are gonna have to come in because you are going to have to make a change. You’re going to have to make a change in one way or another.

I would also encourage you, as well, to think about other, the ways that you’re spending your time when you’re not with people because there’s way that you can gain influence from people even without being with them, even with dead people. The books that you’re reading, the shows that you’re watching on TV, there are no rules here. There are no rules here at all.

There are no rules here. You know Napoleon Hill, it was in Think and Grow Rich, he talked about this imaginary council he created where every night before he’d go to bed, he would have, this sounds a little weird I get it, but he would have this meeting with his invisible counselors. Essentially what it was, he was creating these conversations in his mind with people that he looked up to, his mentors, people he had read about, people like Einstein and Aristotle and Confucius, Socrates, I think Darwin. He had these councils with these people and just envisioned himself being mentored by them and learning from them and growing from them.

This is why it’s so important to consume daily content from people who have gone out and created incredible results, so you can learn from them and you can grow from them. Use this law of averages, of how we’re spending our time because if you are spending more and more and more of your time by being surrounded by people who are a higher level or that are injecting positive messages and input into you, you’re reading positive information and content and you’re spending most of your time, a majority of your time, in a positive, upward direction, that’s using the law of averages to your favor. That’s what’s gonna happen is you increase your contact with the averages and the people that you’re surrounding yourself with. You’re going to be moving in an upward direction.

I’ll let you know that, at times, whenever you begin this leveling up process and you begin seeking…meeting people who are more financially successful than you, that are better husbands and fathers, whatever it may be, there’s gonna be times where you’re gonna want to revert and you’re gonna wanna go back to your comfort zone. You’re gonna feel, I don’t know if it’s insecure or just, you’re not gonna feel comfortable. Just acknowledge that, and that’s okay. Even if you feel a little bit awkward, but if you continue to connect with these people and to continue to read books or listen to podcasts or whatever it may be, even it’s just for 15 or 20 minutes, it’s just a matter of time. The more and more exposure you get to people at a higher level than you, eventually you’re gonna start to connect with them, you’re gonna resonate with them and likewise the same with them with you. You’re gonna find that you’re gonna start to connect on a very similar wavelength and begin to understand some of their mindset and some of their DNA and how they’re wired. You, through this law of averages, can begin to rewire your brain, so to speak, and transform who you are and begin to shape your life and transform your life and begin to get on this path of creating better results in your life, in your business, by simply choosing who you spend your time with.

Start today, really start asking yourself these questions about who am I spending my time with? Are the law of averages working for me or against me? Begin to identify weaknesses and begin to start making a list and an action plan to identify who it is you wanna become, and who are the people that can help to get you there? Who are living that example in real life and it can help you become the best version of yourself in your life and in your business.

That’s all I have today. I really appreciate each and every one of you for listening to the show. If you receive value in some good takeaways from today’s show, I would love some comments. I think it’s like a 5-star rating thing you can do on iTunes or maybe some likes on Facebook, Stitcher, all these different places where this show is posted. If you feel so inclined, I’d really, really appreciate that. That’s it. Now’s time to just go out and take action and create results in your life and in your business and we’ll talk to you on the next show.

The post Brant Phillips Show 38: Who Are You Hanging Out With appeared first on Brant Phillips.

Welcome my friends to the Brant Phillips show, the show that’s dedicated to results, and proving and creating results that you desire in your life and in your business. And my goal as always on this podcast is to help to inspire you, to motivate, educate, and equip you to go out and take action. So with that being said my friend today I wanna talk to you about that it’s okay to strike out. It’s okay to strike out, and sometimes it’s better to just swing for the fences just to let loose and let it go.

So why am I talking about this story? So one of my kids, my 8-year-old son, my 8-year-old son, Noah, he’s in little league baseball. This is, he played when he was like four or five, took a couple years off ’cause he’s been playing football, and he’s played basketball. So this year we got back into baseball, probably ’cause the Astros winning the World Series, whatever it may be. But this year we got back into baseball. And Noah’s been pretty good, he’s been a really good player this year. And made the all star team a couple weeks ago actually, coach let him know, said, “Noah man, you’re gonna be on the all star team.” He’s been the best player on their team, he’s done really good.

But something happened a couple weeks ago, I think he got a little uptight maybe because he felt like he needed to be better because he was an all star or whatever it was. But the last couple of games his bat hasn’t been working, he’s struck out a few times. He hadn’t struck out all season, and now he’s striking out. So the last couple of games there’s a little bit of a trend, a little bit of a trend going on where he’s striking out.

So last weekend it was the playoff game to go to the championship game. And the team is playing pretty good, the team is playing pretty good. They’re up by a couple of runs. But Noah’s first two bats, my son’s name is Noah, his first two at bats he strikes out. First strike out just didn’t look comfortable, little uptight, went up to the plate; strike one, strike two, strike three. Three swings and three misses. And something was just off, I’m like what’s going on? So I’m talking to him, I’m like, “Hey bud, what’s going on?” You know, he’s like, “I don’t know dad, I don’t know, I don’t know what’s wrong.” So I’m like, “All right, just relax,” you know, “Just relax.” Tell him to breathe, relax, keep your eye on the ball, that kind of stuff.

Next at bat, strikes out again. And he was really getting upset, I could tell, it was really frustrating him, and he felt bad. The other players on his team are hitting the ball. So it comes time for his next at bat, and it was pretty big, they were up by a couple of runs, it’s getting late in the game. And I went to him, and I said, “Look bud, I want you to strike out. It’s okay to strike out. What I want you to do, is I want you to go up there and just have some fun buddy. When you’re going up to the plate I want you to put a smile on your face, I want you to relax and just breathe, and just say it’s okay if you strike out. Tell yourself that. Say, ‘it’s okay if I strike out.’ But I want you to have some fun up there, okay? Can you just promise me you’ll have fun? Even if you strike out, I want you to just swing as hard as you wanna swing.”

‘Cause that’s one of the things sometimes the coach gets onto him, ’cause he swings too hard, ’cause he’s trying to crank it to the fences. I’m like, “Swing for the fences. Do whatever you wanna do up there, bud. Just have some fun.” And guess what he did? The very first pitch, and the coach always tells him to not take the first pitch, he didn’t listen to the coach. He swang at the very first pitch and drove it to the outfield, drove in a couple of runs, had the biggest smile on his face after he was done.

And they won the game, and tonight as a matter of fact, tonight at the time of this recording they’re gonna play in the little league championship game for the area. So that’s pretty cool. So let me ask you this, how does this relate to your life? And how does this relate to your business, to your investments? Do you find yourself being uptight on a daily basis in your life or in your business? Maybe making offers like you’re uptight, you’re scared, you’re nervous, right? You’re not really swinging for the fences because you’re being powered, you’re being controlled by some fear, by this weight on your shoulders, by some type of burden rather than just letting it go. Maybe this is how you’re going into conversations with private lenders, and like I said, marketing for deals, or whatever it may be. But are you just uptight in life in general? Because that affects you my friends.

That is a weight on your shoulders if you’re not operating your life, and your business in freedom because you’re so afraid to fail. Right? And sometimes it’s better to give yourself permission to fail. And another way to say that is sometimes it’s okay to give yourself permission to learn, right? Because after all that is our greatest opportunities to learn are often times those times that we’ve quote unquote failed. When things go wrong.

Now there if course is a difference in still using fundamentals and making offers and doing deals like you need to rely upon what you’re been taught, what’s been proven to work. You just need to let some of the stress go. And I’m not telling anyone to go out there and self sabotage a deal and do a bad deal. But I’m just telling you that giving yourself permission to let go of some of this baggage of fear, or past experiences that haven’t turned out so well can be one of the most liberating things in your life. And can help you, that can literally be one of the things that gives you a boost to go to the next level, because you just let go of some of these things that are holding you back. Your past does not predict your future.

Your past does not predict your future unless you let it, right? My son Noah chose, he chose to not let those previous strike outs that he experienced predict his next at bat. He went up and still used the same fundamentals, he swung how he’s been taught to swing the bat, and he hit it to the outfield. He just removed the pressure that he was taking on previously. It’s the same thing in our lives and our businesses my friends. If you find yourself holding onto this past thing, this past guilt, this past experience that went wrong, that is going to predict your future because you’re allowing it. But it doesn’t have to. Right? It’s as simple as making a choice. It’s as simple as making a choice and acknowledging, right?

If you’re holding onto something just acknowledging that hey, this thing, this experience, this relationship, this real estate deal didn’t go well, but just acknowledging for what it is, and it’s feedback, right? It’s feedback on maybe some things you could’ve done differently. Some things that you could’ve done better, yet you didn’t. But that’s okay, but you can extract that feedback, and extract that lesson and use it in the future. But whatever you’re doing, have fun. Have fun in your life, have fun in your business.

Know that it’s okay to strike out. Sometimes you just gotta let loose and swing for the fences and let the chips fall where they may, and be okay with that my friends. Just be okay with that. So my friend I hope you’ve received a lot of value from today, and I hope you’ll take action more importantly in your life, and in your business, in your investments. Go out and take action and pursue the calling in your heart. And if you received value from today’s show, I’d love some comments. The five star rating type stuff on iTunes, and yes this is my shameless plug to get some love on iTunes, or on Facebook and social media. I think it’s still free to click, right? And give ratings, right? So if you got some time, I’d appreciate that.

Well that’s it my friends. Just go out and take action, create results in your life and in your business. We’ll talk to you on the next show.

The post Brant Phillips Show 37: Strike Out appeared first on Brant Phillips.

Welcome everybody to the Brant Phillips Show. I’m Brant Phillips, and yes, this is the show dedicated to only one thing my friend, results, helping you create results in your life, in your business. Today, I’m going to talk about running your business like Mark Cuban. That’s right, running your business like Mark Cuban. Today, I’m going to start to showoff with a little bit of story time, a little Brant Phillip’s story time for you. I’m going to go back in time a little bit to when I had recently gotten out of college, graduated from college, I moved back to my hometown. My hometown is actually Dallas, Texas, not Houston like some of you may believe, but I was actually born and raised in the Dallas area, moved to Houston my freshman year in high school.

But anyways, I digress. After college, I decided to move back to Houston, and go hangout with some friends, and get a job up there. I became a police officer in the Dallas area. The only reason I’m sharing that story is because after I got back from the police academy, I began working. My parents came up to town. This was right after Thanksgiving, and I believe this was Thanksgiving of 1999. It could have possibly been 2000, but I believe this was 1999. My parents came up that weekend. I talked to my dad. I said, Dad, do you want to go to a Mav’s game. He’s like, yeah. That’s the Dallas Mavericks, so the NBA.

We decided to go to a Mavericks game. The Mavericks were atrocious at that time. They were the laughing-stock essentially of the NBA. They were, just year after year, the worst team in the NBA, or near the worst team in the NBA. However, things were beginning to change because they had recently been purchased by Mark Cuban, I think about a year before. I’m sure, I’m certain anyone listening to this show knows who Mark Cuban is, very extremely successful entrepreneur. I think he’s got a net worth of somewhere between three to four billion dollars. He’s on Shark Tank. I think he’s invested in maybe 100 companies on Shark Tank since he’s been doing that. Yeah, owns a lot of very successful businesses, very, very, very successful entrepreneur, and purchased the Dallas Mavericks around that time.

Here’s the story: My dad and I got some tickets. We got nosebleed tickets up at the third or fourth row at the top of the stadium, like super dirt cheap tickets because the team wasn’t good, but it was a holiday weekend, and it was actually pretty packed though that night. Around half time of the game, I told my day, hey, I’m going to go use the restroom, go grab some drinks, I’ll be back in a little bit. He stayed there. He didn’t want to go walk all the way down the steps and all that kind of stuff from the nosebleeds. I go to go to the restrooms, go to the concession stand, come back, and I’m walking up the stairs, and I’m like, there’s all this commotion going on up there.

I look, and who’s that next to my dad? It was Mark Cuban. I’m like, what in the hell is going on here? And so, Mark yells at me. He’s like Brant, what’s up, dude? I’m like, what’s up? I didn’t know what to say, like Mark Cuban is sitting here with my dad. He’s like giving me a high five. He’s like, come hang out with this man. And so, he hung out with us up in the nosebleed seats for a while, maybe five, ten, fifteen minutes, just hung out. The game had started. He’s yelling. There’s a reason he was up there. The game starts, and he’s yelling at the refs. He’s high fiving the fans, and just telling jokes, and just having a blast. After that, he ends up going around the stadium to other areas. He worked his way around the nosebleed section to just hang out with the fans.

The other part of that story was this, was Mark’s a pretty fiery dude. Those of you who know him, those of you who follow the NBA know that Mark’s a fiery dude. Around that time, he used to sit court side, but he was getting into it with the refs. He was yelling and screaming. He just an emotional guys. He’s an emotional dude, very much like myself. He was getting in trouble. He was getting fined. He was getting banned from games to the point where he couldn’t go to the game for a game or two, or something like that. He was getting fined hundreds of thousands of dollars. So, he started going up into the stands, partially because he didn’t want to get fined, and he could say whatever he wanted from up there because the refs couldn’t hear him. But the other reason was just to kind of get to know the people, like be with his people, his clients, not necessarily his clients, but his customers, the fans of his team, and just to be with them, right? Just kind of feel that energy, and connect with them.

There’s a lot of take aways from that lesson because I’ve never seen another NBA owner, or much less a professional sports owner, that does that. You see some things like this a little bit, kind of, sort of, with this Undercover Boss kind of show, and things like that, but Mark wasn’t disguising himself. He was right there with everybody. I think it’s really important. I think it’s really important to understand the importance of mimicking, and having that mindset of being a successful entrepreneur who doesn’t view themselves better than everybody else, right? This is a very pertinent lesson to real estate investors. It’s really important that you get on the level with the people in the nosebleed seats, so to speak.

Mark was wearing blue jeans and t-shirts. I got my picture taken with him, everything like that, that night. I’ll post it on my website specific to this podcast now that I’m thinking about it. Because a t-shirt and blue jeans kind of guy, and whether you respect everything he says and does, which you probably don’t, but that’s cool because guess what? He remains true to himself, and he gets on the level with the people in the nosebleed seats, and the workers, and just the average Joe people. I’ve seen this parallel in the real estate world with how certain investors treat their contractors, right?

I’ve seen this as a positive side, like we take really good care of our contractors. We take care of them, not only financially, but we have BBQs, we have picnics, invite their families out. We owner finance homes to a lot of our workers, but most important, we just treat them with respect. I see a lot of guys in this business, and they talk down to their contractors. They talk down to other people in their business to their employees. One, I just don’t respect that. Two, I don’t think it’s sustainable. You’re going to lose people. What are you building? Because, when you’re building and investing business, for me, creating net worth, creating cashflow, creating equity, and everything we do in real estate, it’s freaking awesome. But it’s so much more incredibly impactful when you’re doing it and you’re building a legacy at the same time, and creating genuine authentic relationships, right? At the same time, while you’re making money, you also have respect, friendship, comradery with the people that you do business with.

That’s the reason I’m sharing this story. It came up, I was sharing this story the other day in the office with some of my staff. I told them about when I met Mark Cuban because we were talking about Shark Tank, or something like that. I just started thinking about the story. If you want to be like the best, you need to think like the best, right? You need to do the things that the best do. So, that was some of the things that I was thinking about. I saw Mark Cuban, this dude, like I said, respect everything he says, or not, he expresses his mind, right? He expresses his mind, and he doesn’t seem to be worried about the consequences, right? To thine own self be true.

There’s things to take away from that for yourself. It’s like always be willing to express your mind and your thoughts, and not worry about the consequences, leave it all on the table, be willing to take risk. In other words, always be real and authentic. In another one of my podcasts I talked about, you do you. You just do you, and don’t worry about anything else. Don’t worry about the naysayers, my friend. You run your business the way, in your heart, you feel called to do, and you take the risks that you need to take, and you take care of the people. You take care of the people that are going to help you get there because you’re not going to get there alone.

And another thing about Mark, I’ll tell you, the dude, I just know that he works his ass off, he busts his butt. I’m going to share a little quote I found from Mark Cuban I found online. He says, “Sweat equity is the most valuable equity there is. Know your business and industry better than anyone else in the world. Love what you do, or don’t do it.” So my friends, I know, why not be a little like Mark Cuban. Light a little fire, add a little realness to who you are, and your business, and don’t forget the little people, and my friend, I think you’ll be just fine. Well, that’s it my friends. Just begin taking action, and start taking action today in your life, and in your business, and once again, I thank you so much for listening to my show, my friends. I look forward to helping you create results in your life and in your business.

The post Brant Phillips Show 36: Run Your Business Like Mark Cuban appeared first on Brant Phillips.

Welcome everybody to The Brant Phillips Show, the show that is about one thing that we all want which is results. What we’re gonna talk about today is appreciation. Gratitude and appreciation, I’m gonna try to share an experience that I recently had and how this ties into how it’s so important, why it’s so important to appreciate the things that you have in our life ’cause you see my friends, what you appreciate in your life, appreciates, it increases, it expands and it gets even better.

Some of you may know this that I’m a pretty active guy, I take my fitness and my health pretty importantly. Not just for health and fitness reasons but what we experience through our body impacts the rest of our life. How we are showing up in our body, in our health, in our fitness. It is my belief that impacts other areas of our life. It affects not only our health and our fitness, it affects how we show up in our relationships with loved ones, with our kids.

It absolutely effects how we show up in the business world ’cause you see as business people, ass business men and business women, as real estate entrepreneurs, we’re gonna constantly battle fears, adversity, setbacks, problems, pain, whatever it is and if you are conditioned, if you’ve conditioned you are body and your mind to endure these types of challenges and to endure pain physically, like if you know how to deal with pain physically and you experience whatever it may be in the real estate world, it’s typically insignificant compared to things that are going on in your body.

To me, my health and fitness is incredibly important and I make it a point to continually have some type of new challenge or new adventure or something to kind of just push me to get to the next level and just to stay sharp and keep the edge because it’s so important, my friend, it’s so important to keep the edge in life because if you’re not moving up in your life, in your business, that means you are either on a plateau, which means you’re going flat, and that plateau is only gonna go down or you’re essentially dying.

One of the mindsets of a successful, thriving business is you have to be growth oriented and growth minded and always looked up and looking for growth, ways to grow and expand, if not, you’re dying and I believe the same is true for us in our bodies.

One of the things that I recently did, was I competed in an iron man this past weekend. It wasn’t the first time I competed in a full iron man about three years ago and I’ve done a couple of half iron mans since. If you don’t know what an iron man is, it is essentially a full day event. The pros, doesn’t take, don’t take nearly as long as guys like me do, the novices out there.

What it is is this, you start your day, you start your day where you get up, you start your day about 4 AM is when I woke up and you have to get out to the Iron Man site and all this preparation starts depending on the type of training regimen that you have. Some people train for this for a year to compete for this one day. On average, people compete at minimum three months but most, on average, is about six months training leading up to this time.

Getting closer to the event, there’s a lot of things you have to do, get all your gear ready and prep ready. You have to be at the race site a couple of days in advance to get all your gear coordinated et cetera, et cetera. Race day comes, you’re probably up at four, you get to the grounds around five, and start preparing for the race at six, getting in position.

And, it started at seven, so what is the actual race? So the actual race is a 2.4 mile swim, this is an open water swim, with thousands of people around you, so the entire swim, you’re getting hit, kicked, kick ’em with your feet and someone’s hitting your feet. You’re swimming with your arms and you’re hitting someone next to you or in front of you and it throws you off. And you’re sucking in lake water, or ocean water, depending on where you’re swimming at, and I’ve done it in the ocean.

I’ve done it in lakes as well. And it’s, it’s a 2.4 mile open water swim, I don’t know what else much to say about that, and it’s, you know, it’s whatever it is that you make of it and what you train for it to be.

After the swim, that’s how we start our day around 7 AM, get out of the water, you make your way to the bike. So, everyone has a bike, and after that you go on a 112 mile bike ride. 112 mile bike ride, I don’t know how many cyclists there are out there. For some of you, like that’s not that big of a deal. That’s a, you know, five to eight hour thing. But, that’s really what it is, it’s a five to eight hour thing on average for the average novice Ironman competitor. It’s about a seven to eight hour thing at least.

So, you finish the swim, you go on this 112 mile bike ride, and I’ve done it through mountains. I’ve done it in 108 degree heat, on blacktop roads, I’ve done it in high wind, and it’s not easy my friend. Let me just say it’s not easy, especially coming off the heels of a 2.4 mile open water swim.

So, you go on this bike ride for 112 miles, and only then, only then one of the running jokes is, that’s your buy in into the race. After you finish the swim and the bike, that’s your buy in to get into the race, which is the final part of the Iron Man, which is a 26.2 mile run.

That’s right my friends, you finish the Iron Man by running a marathon. So, depending on your training, your age, your experience, your skills, this is a full day event, right? So there’s a 17 hour cut off. It starts at 7 AM, people who don’t finish by midnight, they don’t get to call themselves an Iron Man, and a lot of people don’t make that cut off in time. And, but a lot do. And so, that’s what I went through this weekend on Saturday. I finished my second full Iron Man.

And, you know, I go through challenges like this, whether it be an Iron Man, things I’ve done with Seal Fit, with MMA, with Cross-Fit, opens and things like that. You know, one of the things that I’ve found that’s very useful for me, and it’s just, what a lot of my mentors and great leaders have done, is just, block out time, you know. If not every day, every week, to spend some time journaling and writing down, and sharing some of your thoughts and take aways from your life, and from your experiences right?

Hey this is Brant and I hope you’re enjoying today’s show. If you’re at a place in your life or your business where you just feel stuck, or you just don’t know what actions to take to help you get unstuck or onto the path to creating the results you truly desire. Please take a few minutes and go to my web site. BrantPhillips.com. There’s some really valuable resources and information that may be able to help you out. And if you’re interested in really speeding up results with the help of a coach and mentor, and adding true accountability and guidance to your life and business, please reach out to me from my website as well at BrantPhillips.com. Or going directly to www.brantphillips.com/coaching. Now let’s get back to the show.

As I sat down to write and recollect some of the thoughts that came to my mind during that day, it was just a few days ago, there were a couple of words that just came to my mind, like stood out. More than anything else, it is gratitude and appreciation. And, so yes, I had, you can only imagine, for me it was a 14 hour, almost 15 hour day is how long it took me to complete it, and you’re not allowed to have head phones, there’s no cell phones, you don’t have your little iTunes going the whole time, there’s nothing like that.

It’s just you and your thoughts for the entire day, so I had a million thoughts as you might imagine about business, about my family, you have some time to think. You have a time, you have the time to think about a lot of things. So, I had a thousand, a million things, running through my mind throughout the day. But the thing was, right now where I’m at, at the time when I was sitting down to journal, was really just this feeling of gratitude for the blessings in my life.

And, I’ll explain why I think that was the case. Is because this, so, not very far into the race, into the bike ride, you know, you start experiencing pain, and discomfort and, like, man, what the hell was I thinking? Kind of thing. And I didn’t train nearly as hard for this Iron Man as I did for my first one. It just takes so much time, right? So, I didn’t train nearly as hard.

So, I was on this bike ride and I saw a tandem bike with two guys on the bike, and the guy on the back was blind. So, they ended up completing the entire race, side by side, I later saw them on the marathon. And they were like, you know, they had like a little rope, connecting them together. I’m not sure how they did the swim. But it was simply amazing. So like, man, like a, I’ve got so much to be grateful for, and it took me thinking about, you know, should I even be doing this Iron Man thing.

Some of you have heard me tell the story about many years ago after I had my third knee surgery, and I’ve had two ankle surgeries and all this kind of stuff, that I spoke to multiple doctors, and the last doctor I spoke to told me essentially that I had the knee of a 70 year old man who live a hard life. Is what he told me. And I should, and he said, you should stop running, absolutely, you need to stop cross-fitting, you need to stop doing all this stuff that you’re doing, because you need a knee replacement. Maybe not now, but in the very near future.

He’s like, so you need to just stay off your knee, no more running, none of this stuff that you’re doing. He was basically telling me to like shift down and go into old man mode is the way I took it. Because I was like late 30s kind of thing.

And, and I believed him, like, I took it to heart. I said, I gotta like listen to this dude, I’ve already got arthritis. But you see, my friends, I made a decision, I made a decision to determine what was going to be truth to my life. So, we have like information that we can receive, but it doesn’t always mean that it’s going to be absolute truth to us. Because, see, you can be told that you need to have a job and invest in your 401k and things like this, and that people tell you that, and like, you can accept that as truth, or you can listen to someone like myself that says that job, having a job is insecurity, it’s not security at all.

And that the greatest way to experience the most out of life is to follow and pursue what is in your heart, right? So, that is truth to me. So, I made a decision to go after experiential truth, let me just experience, let me just experience what competing in a half Iron Man would feel like and how my knee would feel like.

Here’s the thing that I’ve experienced. And since he told me that, I’ve, that’s when I went on my journey of competing in four Iron Men now, Cross-fit opens, Seal Fit, MMA cage fights, all this stuff that I do. After that time, none of it was before, because see, after taking this time, taking a year off, after the doctor told me that, my knee still hurts. Right? Like I still have arthritis, like not doing the things that he told me not to do. So, therefore, if I do them, I will likely still have that pain, so why not do them and experience life?

And guess what? The pain now, as I’ve built up muscle and endurance and tissue, I don’t know what it is, but my knees do hurt, and I have good days and bad days, but they hurt drastically less than they did from before.

So, I was going through these thoughts during the Iron Man of just immense gratitude and appreciation to even be in that spot. And then, later on in the race, more pain’s coming through, right? More just battling these thoughts of like, what the hell am I doing here, maybe I should quit, and all this kind of stuff. Just like, this is hard, why did I do this?

And you battle those, right, on and off throughout the day. But I later saw this, a man who is at least 15 years older than me. Maybe even in his 60’s, I’m not sure. And he’s pulling, looked to be like a teenage boy who was disabled, I’m assuming paraplegic, is what it looked like. I’m assuming it’s his son. And that man swam the same 2.4 miles, ran the entire race, rode the 112 bike, ran the 26.2 mile marathon, pulling his, what I’m assuming, his son, through each step of the way.

Very similar to the Dick and Rick Hoyt story, if you haven’t seen their story on YouTube, I highly recommend you YouTube the Dick Hoyt story. Incredibly powerful, about a man who carried his paraplegic son through the entire Iron Man and did this actually for years and years and years, to come, it’s a powerful story. But, I saw this man, doing the same thing, carrying the weight of another person, I’m assuming his son, through this 140 total miles, during an entire day, with essentially no rest. Was absolutely humbling to me, to see this and consider this man’s determination, and really the love, for his son, to take him on this journey through, however long it took them. 16-17 hours, I’m not even sure, and I’m not sure that he finished.

So, any thoughts about my issues, or my discomfort and my injury, and I suffered and injury that day, and I’m still experiencing it now, I’ve got to go to the doctor tomorrow. But there are absolutely minuscule issues compared to what I saw these men go through, and many, many others throughout the day. And, like I said, while I’ve been through other Iron Man events and other physical endurance events, and a lot of these events trigger, just some really deep takeaways for me, insights and inspiration. This experience to me, it was really humbling, and the recurring thought that I had was the thought to remember that I have so much to be thankful for.

My health, my family, my team here at the office, and just the ability to do the things that would not be possible to do without the people in my life and without life in itself, or health. And so, here’s really, getting to the point of this podcast, my friends is, that each day is a gift. So, I encourage you to appreciate the gifts that you have in your life.

Even if, and I know some of you are going through struggles, you’re going through challenges, you’re going through maybe job loss, maybe depression, like addiction, whatever you may be going through. Struggles in your business, appreciate what you can appreciate. Appreciate the things that you can appreciate because, understand this, I learned this from a good friend of mine years ago. A very simple sentence statement, very simple statement, but very powerful.

What you appreciate, appreciates. What you appreciate, appreciates. That means it increases and it grows and it expands. So, even if, like, if you’re going through a time and it’s hard to find some things like, find some things to appreciate because they will grow, and they will expand, and what you appreciate, appreciates.

So, like I said, a lot of things came to mind during that particular day, during that Iron Man, but these are just a few things that I wanted to share with you. Some things that I journaled about, and that’s what I wanted to share on today’s podcast. And lastly to say, I appreciate all of you, my friends, for taking the time out of your life and your schedule to listen to this show. And I encourage you to go out and take action, appreciate the things in your life that you can appreciate. Go out and create results. Take action, take massive action to create the results that you desire in your life and in your business.

And with that, I’m signing off. This is Brant Phillips, and I wish you all the best.

The post Brant Phillips Show 35: What You Appreciate Appreciates- Stories from Ironman appeared first on Brant Phillips.

Welcome my friends to the Brant Phillips Show. The show that’s dedicated to results, improving, and creating results that you desire in your life and in your business. My goal, as always on this podcast, is to help to inspire, motivate, educate, and equip you to go out and take action. So, with that being said, my friend, let’s have a little conversation about “You’re Fired.” That was horrible Donald Trump impression there. But, that’s the focus of today’s podcast.

So, many of you remember Donald Trump from the Apprentice days, not from his Presidential days and we’re not going to have a political conversation right now. But, from Donald Trump from The Apprentice, from the Celebrity Apprentice, from the Apprentice, from back in those days. Where he used to end every show with the famous quote of, “You’re fired.” So, that’s probably not something you would want to hear if you’re dependent upon your job. But, I will tell you this, actually, that I have seen first hand from many, many, I’ll call them, accidental entrepreneurs that have used their forced unemployment, with air quotes again if you will. And they used that forced unemployment and they became accidental entrepreneurs. And they used it to find their focus and to gain strength while their back was against the wall. And go out and create some incredible, incredible results. They say that necessity is the mother of all invention. And they use it to their advantage. Their termination turned out to be the genesis of their inspiration. All right?

And so with that being said, I’ve also seen the opposite, of course. I’ve seen this so many times, I’ve seen so many others who have allowed an unexpected layoff or termination, or downsize to completely devastate them, to ruin them financially, mentally. It destroys their marriage, their health, everything, their entire life. And I even saw not to that extreme, but I saw this first hand in an early age, whenever my father lost his job for a long period of time. We went into a period of bankruptcy, and foreclosure. We lost our house. We had to move. We ended up renting this little house. And we lost everything. Right?

So, it was really hard for my parents. But, I saw them stick together. They stayed together. They’re still married to this day. Right? And they bounced back from all that. But, I saw some of that pain, and that struggle. For not being prepared for hearing those words, “You’re fired.” Right? And so, I want you to consider something, maybe you’re a W2 employee, and you’ve got this job, and you’ve got this career, and we’re not going to talk about whether you love what you do for a living, or whether you hate it or not, right now we’re going to talk about those things in a minute. But, just consider this. Consider that no one is forced to be dependent upon a job. Right? You’re not forced to be dependent upon a job.

Being dependent upon a job, is a choice. Right? Because I see that a lot of people view, they view having a job or a career, and it used to be having a college degree in this profession, as that was security. My friends, job security in today’s day and age is a farce. It is an absolute lie. And it is a misnomer that is still being bought and sold by the masses. It’s like they need this job security. But, it’s really oxymoronic if you think about it, especially in today’s day and age. You see how so many jobs are being outsourced to technology. These big companies are moving in and wiping out entire industries. We’ve seen it with Airbnb. We’re starting to see it in the car business. We’re seeing it now with online shopping, the big box stores going out. All of these things, right? And so, to me, it’s the opposite. Having a job and not having a back up plan, is insecurity. Because it means that you’re dependent upon someone else. And that someone else is the person in control.

Your employer is the one in control. And they have the ability to pull the rug out from under your feet at any given time. And so, I’ll tell you, whenever I was in the corporate world, I was very distrusting of them to begin with, because I saw what happened to my father. Right? And so, I remember one year, this is economy was starting to tank, like tank big time. And they had a big pep rally, rah-rah. Hoorah kind of speech. And they were talking about how strong the company was. And this was a Fortune 500 company that had never had any major layoffs. And they were rallying the troops to come together, stick together, etc., etc. Because we weren’t going to have any layoffs, we were going to stick together, we were going to hit our numbers. And so, that the company could prevent layoffs. And I did my job. I always hit my numbers. I hit my sales targets. I always finished number one or number two. So, I never got laid off. But, what happened the following month after the big rah-rah, pep rally?

Guess what. Massive layoffs. Massive layoffs. The company was trying to hit numbers. Maybe the had good intentions, maybe they didn’t. I don’t know. I don’t even really care to judge. The bottom line was, they had a big pep rally pushing for the end of the year numbers to hit it, to look good to the shareholders. Didn’t hit numbers, following month massive layoff. Right? So, a lot of people still are upset with that company. They’re upset with big companies and the layoff game, and chopping heads, and things like that. But, think about it, that’s what companies are supposed to do. Companies are supposed to generate profits and look for ways to save money, and save costs. And there’s no bigger way to cut costs than labor. So, that’s what they do.

So, if you find yourself in a job, that’s okay. If you’re okay with having a job. But, to me it’s not okay putting yourself in a vulnerable position for you and your family where if that rug gets pulled out from underneath you, you don’t have anywhere else to turn.

Hey this is Brant, and I hope you are enjoying today’s show. If you’re in a place in your life or your business where you just feel stuck, or you just don’t know what actions to take to help you get unstuck or on to the path to creating the results you truly desire? Please take a few minutes and go to my website, brantphillips.com. There’s some really valuable resources and information that may be able to help you out. And if you’re interested in really speeding up results with the help of a coach and mentor, and adding true accountability and guidance to your life and business, please reach out to me from my website as well, at brantphillips.com, or going directly to www.brantphillips.com/coaching. Now let’s get back to the show.

You know accepting a check, and accepting benefits, all these things from a company is fine, but I would have you consider that you don’t have to give them full control over your finances, and over your future in the event that that job is no longer available to you or your family. Because, if you have the fundamental skill sets necessary to invest in real estate, then you have the ability to make money no matter what happens to you with your job. And that’s one of the things that drew me to real estate. Because it was something that I could do while working my job. It was a part time business that I could invest in real estate while working my job.

Now, I was in the category that, I did not like my job. I did not want to stay at my job any longer than I had to. I wanted to leave my job as soon as possible. Took me a little over two years after I bought my first property, to go full time as a real estate entrepreneur. But, that’s what I quickly learned, was that wow, not only did I no longer have to dependent upon this job, but I had viewed and I had seen so many other people view their job as security, but it was really insecurity. Because, job security for me, it really came when I learned how to invest in real estate. When I learned how to develop these fundamental skill sets. I call them the seven fundamentals of real estate investing. When you can make money in any market in real estate, whether the market is up or down, and when you have these skill sets, my friend, you’ve created the greatest security in the world. Because you have the ability to go out and make money, and you’re not dependent upon anybody else. You’re future is not relying upon anybody else, or any other job.

Nor do you care about what the market does, whether it’s up or down, and it doesn’t matter. And I’ve coached and trained so many students who chose to invest in their education by learning to invest in real estate while they were working, in the midst of their career. And guess what’s happened to some of them. They’ve been laid off. They’ve been let go. And guess what they had. An investment business that they could fall back on and survive. And not only survive, but thrive. And then I’ve worked with other students who haven’t been laid off, and they’ve just decided, man I’m doing pretty good with this real estate thing, I think I’m going to go ahead and do this full time. I actually have one of my good friends and students just left his job this month, or he’s leaving his job this month, at the time of this recording. He was texting me last night.

And then I have some students that, they’re like, I love my job. And I love my net worth now, and I love the cash flow that I’ve created while investing in real estate the same time. And that, my friends, is just called fore site. It’s called wisdom and planning. And so, I want you to consider that if you love your job and it’s something that you’re passionate, something that you enjoy, then by all means, you should continue on that career path. But, don’t put yourself in this vulnerable position where you’re not prepared in the event that something happens, if your company has to lay you off, or something happens to your health, or whatever situation. And then really ask yourself, is that job, is that plan even that you’re executing now really going to give you the life and the finances that you desire to provide the things for your family, to give back to others, and just to go out and do the things that you want to do in your life.

And just ask yourself, and just be real, and raw, and honest with yourself. For those of you listening to the show, are you prepared to survive if you hear the words “you’re fired”? Right? And better yet, for those of you who do not love what you do for a living, how would you like to be able to walk into your boss’s office tomorrow and tell “you’re fired, man” because I don’t have to work here anymore. And that’s what I did. And I didn’t do it like that. I had a great relationship, actually, with my boss. But, the point is, I got to the position where I was able to walk away and do something that I enjoy. Set my own schedule. And just continue since that time to continue to create a life and a business that I enjoy. Something that I love to do every day. And I give back, and get to do the things that I enjoy. Right?

And I know for some of you guys that may sound completely out of reach. If you’re starting, you don’t know anything about real estate investing, or just scary, or you’ve got … I’m going to call them excuses, but a lot of things I hear people say, “Well, I don’t have the time.” “I don’t have the money.” “I don’t have the support of my spouse.” “The market conditions aren’t right.” Yada-yada-yada, excuse, excuse, excuse. My friend, I’ve heard these all before. Right? And I’ve said this statement before, and I’m going to say this again, that our thoughts become our things. Our thoughts become things. So, your thoughts will become things.

So, whether you, as Henry Ford said, “Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right.” So, the thoughts that you meditate on, and that you believe upon will become true. So, whether you think you can, or whether you think you can’t, you’re right. And so wherever you find yourself in this conversation, job, no job, dependent upon a job, not dependent upon a job, currently investing in real estate, not currently investing in real estate. Wherever you find yourself, you owe it to yourself, you really do. Don’t allow yourself to stay dependent upon someone else. Don’t live your life in the fuzzy golden handcuffs to that J-O-B that could vanish tomorrow.

Take control. Just take control. Go out and take action. If you desire to pursue real estate, do it today. If there’s something else in your heart you feel called to do, go out and take action on it. Don’t wait until you’re back is against the wall, until that rug gets pulled out from under you. Start today. Use the wisdom that you know that you have inside of you to prepare yourself for tomorrow. Like I said, even if it’s not real estate just begin preparing yourself and your family to be in control of your destiny, instead of allowing someone else to be at the driver seat.

Well, my friends, that’s all I have for today. I appreciate each and every one you for taking, investing your time to listen to the show. It means so much to me. Appreciate all the love and support I get from you guys. And until then, I’ll see you on the next show. And I’m encouraging you to go out and create results in your life and in your business.

The post Brant Phillips Show 34: You’re Fired! appeared first on Brant Phillips.

Welcome, my friends, to the Brant Phillips Show, the show that’s dedicated to results, because you know, if you’re not getting the results that you desire in your life, in your business, well then, my friends, why not? It’s time for some change. It’s time for some motivation. It’s time for a new direction, time for a little inspiration. So that’s my goal, that’s what I try to do on this podcast is help to inspire, motivate, educate, and equip you guys and gals to go out and take action.

The focus on today’s podcast is this: the number one pick in this year’s draft is you. Is you. What if you were picked number one by you? Let me share a little story with you. Last night I was watching the NFL draft with my boys, my older boys. One’s 14, one’s eight. I’ve got a three-year-old also. I’ve got a lot of kids. So I was watching the draft with my boys, and I’ve got a little joke I used to pull on my 14-year-older when he was younger. He doesn’t go for it now, but the joke was this with my eight-year-older. A couple of weeks ago, we were talking about the NFL draft, and my eight-year-old, he is a sports fanatic. He loves baseball, football, basketball. He plays them all. He loves watching them. He loves watching the NFL Channel and reading about the draft and things like that.

And so the joke was this, was we were gearing up, talking about the draft a couple weeks ago, and I was like, “Buddy, I gotta keep my phone handy while we’re watching the draft. I gotta make sure my phone is nearby.” And he’s like, “Why, Dad?” And I’m like, “Well, in case I get drafted.” He’s like, “You think you could get drafted?” And I’m like, “You never know. You never know, son. You know I played high school football.” The joke didn’t last for long, but that was the joke. I mentioned it last night. I’m like, “Hopefully my phone’s going to ring. You know, the Cowboys are picking now. Maybe I’ll get drafted by the Cowboys.” So that was the joke about me actually getting drafted. I’m a middle age, 40-year-old, average athletic skilled dude. I don’t think that’s gonna happen.

So here’s how I’m gonna relate this to today’s show on the podcast is this: we were watching the NFL draft, and we’ve watched a lot of the draft buildup, for those of you who follow the NFL and see all that goes on. There’s some sheer insanity, I’ll just say that. Well, there’s some sheer insanity with the amount of coverage and attention that these college players get before they go to the NFL.

And these NFL teams, they spend millions and millions of dollars through research, through their staff, through doctors analyzing these people. They treat them like lab rats, essentially, but there’s a lot of time and money spent before they make a pick. There’s a lot of investment into these players who are essentially not much more than teenagers coming out to the NFL, who they’re gonna pay millions of dollars to, for obvious reasons, because these NFL teams, these executives, these scouts, these GM’s, their future, their jobs, their success, some of them their legacy, depends on the picks that they make.

So there’s a lot of time investment. But my friends, you know, I don’t know if any of you are going to get drafted in the NFL … I suspect not … or any other professional league or any other organizations that’s looking to draft you and pay you millions and millions of dollars of guaranteed money. So that begs the question, who does your future depend on, and would you pick you to create the results that you desire in your life or your business? Would you pick you? If you had the number one pick in this year’s draft to go out and create the results that you desire, could you look yourself in the mirror and pick you?

So I want to also share this: leading up to the draft, I mentioned what the NFL teams go through, the executives go through, but the players go through a lot. They’ve gone through a lot, many of them, the last five, 10 years of their lives, starting back in middle school and high school, through working out and practicing and the games that … The amount of work that they do is just insanity, just insanity. I’m competing, actually, in a full iron man tomorrow, so I can relate a little bit, but not fully to the extent of the time and commitment that they put into investment into themselves, into their bodies, into their minds to put themselves in this position.

So here’s one of my takeaways for you guys, is this, is that yeah, they get the spotlight and they get the glamour and they get the big stage with the draft, but my friends, we can do that as well in our lives and in our businesses. If you are willing to do the work, if you’re willing to do whatever work is going to help you to get the results that you desire in your life and in your business, that’s what you need to be working on. My question is, are you doing that work to help you create the results that you want? Can you look yourself in the eyes each and every day in the mirror and say, “Hell yes, I would draft me”?

Hey, this is Brant, and I hope you’re enjoying today’s show. If you’re at a place in your life or your business where you just feel stuck or you just don’t know what actions to take to help you get you get unstuck or onto the path to creating the results you truly desire, please take a few minutes and go my website, BrantPhillips.com. There’s some really valuable resources and information that may be able to help you out. And if you’re interested in really speeding up results with the help of a coach and mentor and adding true accountability and guidance to your life and business, please reach out to me from my website as well, at BrantPhillips.com, or going directly to www.BrantPhillips.com/coaching. Now let’s get back to the show.

I’m dependent upon me. My friends, nobody else is gonna do the work for you. Nobody else is gonna do it for you. You have to look yourself in the eye each and every day and be willing to make that commitment, be able to make that commitment to go out, bust your ass each and every day and do the work required to create the results that you desire. You need to read the books. You need to go to the workshops. You need to do the training. You need to go out. You need to make offers. You need to build your team. You need to find the right coach and mentor. You need to begin doing deals. If you’re an investor, which most of you are listening to this show, it’s like go out and make the offers, analyze the deals, raise the capital, build your team.

Do that work. Make yourself your number one draft pick. So each and every day when you’re having that little heart-to-heart time, you’re honest and real with yourself, knowing no one’s gonna do the work for you, but also being very confident and assured that you don’t need anyone else to do it for you, because you know that you are gonna go out and do it, that you’re gonna go out and create the results that you want, knowing full, full well, no one’s gonna do it for you.

So my friends, in this game of life and in this game of business, each and every day, each and every day, essentially we get to walk onto the stage, right? If you view life as a gift each and every day, my friends, live it to the fullest. Look yourself in the mirror each and every day and make that decision to make yourself your number one pick. Do the work, go out, create results. My friends, that’s what it’s all about. So I appreciate all of you for listening to the show. I love your reviews, your positive reviews, on iTunes and all of your support. Any feedback I get from you guys, I truly appreciate it. And so with that, I’m gonna sign off and just encourage you, my friends, to go out and create the results that you desire in your life and in your business.

The post Brant Phillips Show 33: The #1 Pick in this Year’s Draft is You appeared first on Brant Phillips.

Welcome my friends to the Brant Phillips show. The show that is all about results, and you know that already my friends so let’s just dive right into this thing.

So look, the other day I got a call from a friend of mine. A friend from way back. And he was telling me about his new job. He got a job, letting me know what he was doing, in case I was interested in his services. It was kind of like a sales job. Semi-related to what we do where we could maybe be a client. But also you know, he asked if I could put his name out there to people I know and have a lot of connections and things like that. Of course, I told him, “Yeah sure buddy, you know be glad to do that, glad to do that. It was good talking to you again man. Wish you the best in your new career and hopefully we’ll connect pretty soon, man.”

And that was it, you know we hadn’t really talked in many, many years. But here’s the thing, my friend, he didn’t sound too happy. He didn’t sound too happy and see my friend was an entrepreneur, and an entrepreneur at heart, but he fell victim to one of the most vicious statistics of business. One of the most vicious statistics of business is this, is what, nine out of ten businesses fail. Like think about that for a minute, especially if you’re a beginning entrepreneur, you’re a beginning real estate investor. You need to think about this statistic, and you need to understand it. Because when you begin to understand something, then you can begin to overcome it if it’s a negative factor like this is.

But nine out of ten businesses fail, so this has always jumped out at me because it’s such an incredibly high failure rate. Now, yeah I get it, like you can have this mindset that, “Well I’ll just fail nine times until I make it or whatever.” I’ve heard that said, some mindset training, and that’s cool. That’s cool if you make it to number ten, and you succeed, and I get it, like there’s a lot of failure that comes in business. But when you fail in business, when you fail at a venture, when you have an investment property that goes sideways and you take a loss on it, it’s a punch in the gut, you know, honestly. And that’s why most entrepreneurs don’t make it back, especially when they’re just starting out.

I’ve seen a lot of real estate investors come into the market, and they’re just starting out, and they don’t know what they’re doing, and the don’t have proven systems. And they go into a deal and they use their you know what, and it’s incredibly painful for them. It’s sad to watch, and it can be devastating, right? And that’s where they kind of unfortunately have to go back to get a job, go to a career, kind of settle. Settle, and that’s what it is. That’s what my friend was doing I suspect, ’cause that’s not what he wanted to be doing, he didn’t sound happy and it didn’t sound like a very fun item that he was selling to be quite honest with you.

But anyway, so my friends, here’s the question that I’m gonna pose to you. What if there was a way to reverse that statistic, about nine out of ten businesses fail? And completely switch around to where nine out of ten businesses succeed. Would you be in? If nine out of ten businesses succeed, then everybody would be an entrepreneur. So here’s where I’m going with this. So I was rereading The E Myth by Michael Gerber recently, and I think like the third or fourth, maybe the fourth time. And something I heard over and over again jumped out at me that I’ve heard a dozen times before at least.

But it was a little bit differently, heard a little bit differently, and I applied it with the lens of real estate investing instead of just general entrepreneurship, which you know Michael Gerber’s E Myth book is really about general entrepreneurship. But I started looking and kind of taking in what I was reading through the lens of being a real estate investor, and about our business model and how we do real estate with our companies. So you know, you see in The E Myth, Michael Gerber explains that the franchises, and I’m talking about your bit franchises, they have a model and they have a success rate of somewhere, you know I’ve read statistics that say, franchises have a success rate of around 90%. Around 90% compared to only about 15% of businesses that are started from the ground up. Maybe 10%.

So this is that statistic reversed. Instead of nine out of ten businesses fail, some studies show that franchises have a success rate of approximately 90%. This is the McDonald’s model. This is the franchise model, and I get it, like I’m using the word McDonald’s and I know not everyone loves McDonald’s but no one can argue with their success. With their system that they’ve built that has stood the test of time. And this concept has been proven over, and over, and over again, and quite frankly, it’s ran by a bunch of teenage pimple face kids, right? And McDonald’s is the epitome of this system, right? Of the franchise system with, they’ve got restaurants in, I don’t know, a hundred and something countries, and they serve 50 or 60 million hamburgers or customers a day or whatever it is. So it’s crazy, like 30 to 40,000 restaurants.

And my point here is that they’ve proven this system, this franchise model. If you go out and just start your own hamburger stand, or hamburger restaurant, compared to a McDonald’s, that McDonald’s is gonna beat you. Like 99% of the time, that McDonald’s is gonna be more successful than any of these other mom and pop little hamburger restaurants that pop up. So that is the franchise model. So my question to you today is, what if you applied a franchise model to your flipping or your investing business? What if you applied a franchise model to your flipping or investing business? And first let me break down why flipping.

Let’s talk about flipping for a minute. Let’s talk about why is it is an ideal business model and how could we, how could there be like a franchise model to it? So let’s talk about something I like to talk about with my students, about when it comes to real estate investing, we aren’t looking for just any average little deal. We’re looking to take, we’re looking to take and create an unfair advantage in the market place with each and every deal. I’ll say that again, we’re looking to take advantage and take an unfair advantage in the marketplace with each and every deal. So how is this possible?

Hey this is Brant and I hope you’re enjoying today’s show. If you’re at a place in your life or your business where you just feel stuck, or you just don’t know what actions to take to help you get unstuck or onto the path to creating the results you truly desire, please take a few minutes and go to my website, brantphillips.com. There’s some really valuable resources and information that may be able to help you out. And if you’re interested in really speeding up results with the help of a coach and a mentor, and adding true accountability and guidance to your life and business, please reach out to me from my website as well at brantphillips.com or going directly to www.brantphillips.com/coaching. Now let’s get back to the show.

So let’s take a look at our competition. When we go into a subdivision to buy a home, our competition are homes that are owned by families, right, so they’re occupying these homes. So you know there’s gonna be little Johnny has took the crayons, or the marker, or the sharpie and wrote on the wall, while they’re trying to list and sell the home, or you know the little dog Fido’s got pee stains on the carpet. And there’s just deferred maintenance, and there’s all these things, and most likely this family, maybe they lived in the home for a long time, maybe they only been there a few years. They most likely paid full price, and they’re most likely trying to squeak every single dollar they can out of that home for their next home, for their next purchase for their move.

So that’s our competition, right? So when we go into a marketplace, we’re never paying full price. The day that we buy, we have equity. We have substantial amounts of equity. So that’s the first thing. Number two, with our business model, with our business model we can leverage private money. We can leverage financing to finance a hundred percent of our costs. Show me some other start up business model or franchise where you can finance a hundred percent of the money required to go into business. It doesn’t exist. And then so we do the repairs, we do renovations, we do all that kind of stuff. And oh by the way, a hundred percent of this business is outsourceable, like you can train and delegate everything, so you’re just the business owner from day one. Tell me what other business you can do that in. I’d love to hear that.

But so then we get to the listing part, right? So it’s time to list our property to sell, maybe it’s time to rent a property, whatever it may be. But when it comes time to list, we are the best product at the best price on the market. We are the best product at the best price on the market. So we have an unfair advantage in the marketplace. We’re literally, and I’ll use a little air asterisks, competing against inferior products, right. But we’re really not competing, because our home is better. It’s completely renovated and updated. There’s none of the crayola writing on the wall or pee stains on the carpet, or any of that kind of stuff. Our house is nice. I can’t say that it’s new but it’s like new. It’s freshly painted, it’s got new flooring, it’s got new countertops. Everything a potential buyer wants and most likely, we’re priced equally and a lot of times slightly less than our competition. Why? Because we want to sell our houses fast.

So that is the unfair advantage in the marketplace, and so I want you thinking about your business like that. Are you a part of the statistic where nine out of ten businesses fail because you don’t have a proven model and you’re just trying things out? Or do you have proven fundamentals? And I’m not trying to say that I and my company are the McDonald’s of house flipping, ’cause we’re certainly not. But we’ve done several hundred deals using our particular system and it’s based on proven fundamentals and we know that it works. And my students who’ve gone out and executed know that it works, and knows there’s a lot of good systems out there. We know ours works. It’s like a franchise model, ’cause after doing it hundreds and hundreds of deals, it works.

So my friend, let me ask you this. Especially if you are an aspiring real estate entrepreneur and you’re going out there, are you trying to reinvent the wheel? So because if you are, think about what you’re doing right now because most likely you may be on that path to becoming a fail statistic. Are you using a franchise model? A proven system. Seven fundamentals. Are you taking advantage of the unfair advantage that exists in your marketplace? It’s afforded to you, it’s given to you. You just have to know what to do and take advantage of it.

My friend, I always encourage my listeners to go out and take action, but I wanna clarify that today and I wanna say, that I want you to go out and take the right actions, the appropriate actions, that have been proven to be successful, over and over again, and use a franchise model to flip houses, right? So our system is based on seven fundamentals. We actually have a new training program coming out soon. It’s not ready yet. It’s called Flip Fundamentals. It’s coming out really soon, but regardless of that, make sure you get, you know you understand this concept that I’m sharing with you, and you take it to heart to base your business, your investing business, on a franchise model. To flip, to invest, to do whatever you do, use a proven formula. Use a proven formula to flip houses, and that will be your formula to freedom.

You can build it to succeed from the very first day, and when you do that you can build it to last. And you build it to create, not just making money, but your ideal lifestyle, ’cause that’s what this is all about. So my friends, I appreciate each and every one of you. I really appreciate those of you who give us a five star rating on iTunes. We love you guys. I thank you for listening to the show, and until next time, I look forward to helping you create results in your life and in your business.

The post Brant Phillips Show 32: Flipping with The Franchise Model appeared first on Brant Phillips.

Welcome my friends to The Brant Phillips Show. You know what this is about. This is about the one thing, the one thing that matters, it’s the one thing that you want, it’s results, a show dedicated to all about results. What we’re going to talk about today in order to help you achieve the desired results that you want in your life, in your real estate, in your business is about you doing you. That’s right, you do you.

Why are we going to talk about that? What does that have to do with this podcast? Yesterday I finished up. I went on a little eight mile run, getting ready for my next Ironman that’s coming up in about a month or so. The cool thing about Ironman training is this. First I’ll say, there’s a lot of things that suck about Ironman training to be quite honest with you. There’s a lot that sucks but we have to embrace the suck, that’s how we get the results. Look, so with Ironman training is this, you go on these long runs, you go on these long bike rides, you go on these long swims. Today I did a 2,000 meter, 2,400 meter swim something like that so it was like a couple, it was like an hour almost. I’m not a very fast swimmer, don’t judge me. I see you judging me, like stop.

Here’s the thing though, when you are going through your Ironman training on these long runs and these long bike rides, good Lord the bike rides are so long, you have a lot of time to think. You have a lot of time to think and trust me my friends, you have a lot of thoughts. I’ve read that the human brain has somewhere between 40 and 60 thoughts a day so, you have a lot of time to think about things whenever you are going through Ironman training. Some of these are very useful thoughts and some are not so useful thoughts.

Yesterday on my eight mile run, I had a lot of time to think. I had time to think about a conversation that I had with a friend and a mentor recently. I had time to think about some books I’ve been reading, things that’s been going on in my life and with some of my businesses and I was thinking also about a Facebook post. A Facebook post that I had made recently about the CrossFit Open games. If you’re not familiar with CrossFit, CrossFit is … you’re probably familiar with CrossFit but CrossFit is like it’s an exercise thing and so it’s getting pretty big now, it’s catching on. Every year, they have a CrossFit Open. It’s called the CrossFit games, CrossFit Open and this is the 18^th year that they’ve done it. I started doing it I think about three or four years ago.

So, this year I finished, essentially top 15% in my region. I think I finished about 15-20%, top 15 or 20% in the world for my, definitely for my age group and honestly I don’t really know where I finished up in the world but 15% in my age group and so which is not bad if you look at it that way. Here’s the thing. So, we made a post on Facebook. My marketing director posted it. I had shot a video of my last workout, took a screenshot of my ranking in the world or whatever, just to encourage people and just to get some conversation going. She made the post and she put, “Numbers don’t lie.” I think that’s what she put, something like that, like numbers don’t lie.

Here’s the thing, that’s a vague statement. It maybe sounds a little bit like I’m bragging or braggadocious but at the same time like numbers don’t lie, that could be saying like numbers don’t lie like I suck, like I could have done a lot better, because it’s somewhat vague and nobody really knows what I meant by that but people began commenting and I think they were perceiving it like, “Man, you did great. That’s a good job, that’s awesome. Way to go.” Whatever, stuff like that.

If you look at the stats, I finished in my region in my age group like I mentioned I was like 4,000 out of like 28,000 people for like 45, 4,800, I don’t know maybe 5,000 out of like 28,000 people. You can look at that as good, you can look at that as not so good. Then I looked at what I ranked in the world, I was like almost, I was like 59,000, like 60,000nth place, let’s just round up. I was essentially 60,000nth place in the world in the men’s group because this is like a worldwide competition, people do the same workouts or they do a different workout but everyone does the same workout. Each week it’s a different workout for five weeks, you record your scores, you have to be judged. I had a person judge me each week.

I finished 60,000 in the world in men, but there’s like three or 400,000 men, like 350,000 men that do it. Make sure that you understand like you can say like dude like that’s pretty good but you could also say like you know a part of me is like, “Man, Brant like that’s pretty good like you finished in the top 15%.” I caught myself, I was thinking about it in the run, thinking about this post. I’m like, “But then again like 60,000 guys finished ahead of me, like 60,000.” I’m like, “Damn, like I kind of suck, like I could have finished like 50,000 or 40,000.” Right? Granted half these dudes that I competed against are like half my age and like freaking rip to the core and things like that but the fact is that like 60,000 dudes beat me. Right?

Let me ask you this. Does it really matter? Does it? You see, I caught myself at times being proud of my accomplishment but also being disappointed looking at how many people finished ahead of me. But also then I started thinking about the amount of surgeries I’ve had. I’ve had three knee surgeries, two ankle surgeries and doctors have told me, a number of doctors have told me I need to stop doing all the stuff that I’m doing. Hell, I sure as hell shouldn’t be doing an Ironman, but who listens to doctors? Like really for real? So I don’t, either good or bad I don’t.

Here’s my message and here is what I want to share with you. Just focus on you. Listen to me. I’m going to say this again. You do you, you do you. Don’t worry about what other people do. Don’t worry about people that finished ahead of you and behind you. Don’t worry about people whose bank accounts are bigger than yours and people who are smaller than yours. Focus on you being you. You just do, wherever you’re at in your life, wherever you’re at in your investing business, wherever you’re at in your health and your fitness, in your finances, in your real estate business, stop comparing yourself to others.

Comparing yourself to others is one of the biggest drifts I see people do in life because when you’re comparing yourself to others, that means you’re looking at other places rather than straight ahead. When you are looking at someone else’s results, you’re looking away from whatever your goal or what your target is. How about looking at yourself in the mirror and holding yourself accountable to who you need to be? Who do you need to become to get what it is that you want to get? Who do you need to become to get where it is that you want to go? Stop looking at other people and just be you. Consider that you will obtain the greatest results when you are focused on you doing you. So, stop worrying about them, stop worrying about me, stop worrying about whoever it is that you’re comparing yourself.

When I was doing that run, I was doing an eight mile run when I was having all these thoughts a couple of days ago, and so I’m getting ready for my Ironman because I have an Ironman coming up in the next 30 days or so. I’m doing this training and I’m going to get to the Ironman like in the next 30 days or so whatever it is. For the record, I’m not training nearly as hard as last time and guess what? That’s okay. Where I’m at right now in my life, at my age, where I’m at with my business, we’ve hired a lot of new staff, I’m doing a lot of training, I have a lot of things going on.

So, where I’m at right now in my Ironman training, this is just me being me. That’s what I’m doing and I’m going to get to the Ironman. I’m going to show up and I’m going to finish the damn thing and I’m going to finish strong but I’m going to finish my time. There’s going to be like old dudes and old girls that are going to pass me up on the bike. It’s happened before, numerous times throughout my Ironman stuff like you think you’re going pretty good and you may feel pretty good, you may feel down, one of the two because you go through all these emotions during the Ironman and someone like 10, 20, 30 years older will fly past you on a run or on the bike and it’s very humbling to say the least. But guess what? I’m going to show up to the Ironman, I’m going to finish and it’s going to be cool. Whatever my time is, it’s going to be cool and I’m going to be cool with that because I’m just going to be me. That’s it, and they will be them, I will be me.

In my business, in my real estate business, it’s late March at the time of this recording and we were doing some numbers and looked at like we’ve bought 16 houses so far this year. We’re on track to do about 50 deals-ish and that’s our goal for the year. That is our current capacity. That’s where our staffing is, that’s our goal. Could we buy a hundred houses this year? Probably. I have multiple close friends that do that but that’s not me. Honestly I don’t desire to do that. Our goal is 50 houses. That’s our capacity and that’s who we are. This is in the ideal business for me that we’ve created and so we’re going to do us as a company. I’m not going to worry about my friends. I’m not going to worry about my friends who buy 100 houses that do a lot bigger deals than us because this is who we are as a company right here and right now. So, we’re focusing on us as a company growing but growing on according to our targets and our pace and our current capacity, creating the ideal business and the ideal life. That’s what we’re doing.

Guess what you should do? Just do you. If you’ve never done a deal, don’t compare yourself to me, don’t compare yourself to anyone else. You do you. If you’ve never done a deal before, don’t focus on doing 10 deals this year or 50 deals or 100 deals or whatever it is. You may end up doing a bigger capacity than you first focus on, but you know if you do one deal then do one deal and you freaking celebrate. You be you. If you desire something more, like if you do one like I want to do 10 or I want to do 50 deals or I want to do 20 deals, then you do that.

Freaking level up, level up, step up, do more, be more, suck less, do more work, do the work that’s required, focus on you and what you need to do because the more that you focus on you, the more and more you’re going to find that you are getting closer to the real results that you desire and that’s the important takeaway here, just be real with yourself. Just honor and appreciate yourself wherever you’re at in life, wherever you’re at in business, just be okay with that but know if you’re wanting more then you do you, you do it at your pace and you level up and you do the work and you look in the mirror but stop watching others and focus on creating the greatest version of yourself in life, in real estate. I encourage you to be the greatest version of yourself in all areas of life.

My friend, you do you, I’ll do me and guess what? We’ll all be better for it. If you can just do you, stop focusing on others, I think you will find you will be on the path to creating the results that you desire in life and business. So, that’s it my friends. Once again, I thank you for listening to the show. I thank you for liking the show, I thank you for your reviews and I just, I appreciate you listening from the bottom of my heart and I hope this is helping you to create the results that you desire in your life and in your business.

The post Brant Phillips Show 31: You Do You appeared first on Brant Phillips.

Brant: Welcome everybody to The Brant Phillips Show, the show that is about one thing. You know what it is, it’s all about creating results and today, today my friends I have a very, very special guest. On the show, I have arranged an interview with Steve Davis. If you don’t know who Steve Davis is, he was the Vice President of Lifestyles Unlimited for over 27 years. He was one of my personal mentors when I first got into real estate investing, not always like a one-on-one mentorship, just vicariously I was following everything that Steve was doing through Lifestyles Unlimited.

He was a radio host of the Real Estate Investor Radio Show. For over 15 years, I used to listen to Steve on the radio. He’s a real estate and entrepreneur through and through. He’s created over $800,000 a month in sales and he’s mentored over 100,000 families over 30 years, helping other people to create their dream life to learn how to properly invest in real estate to create not only financial success but just to create like that well-balanced lifestyle success. He’s also author of an upcoming book that’s coming out very, very soon called From Middle Class to Millionaire. I’m going to just tie this in right into the interview where Steve and I start and I hope you get a lot of insights from this and get just encouragement and motivation to begin taking action to create the results that you desire in your life and in your business. Hey Steve, how are you doing today?

Steve: Excellent. Excellent.

Brant: Great, man. I appreciate you coming on. It’s an honor to me. We were discussing before we fired this up. I was just thinking about it. That in 2010, which was my second year in real estate, I had done about 25 deals at that point in time and you were one of my mentors who I had tremendous amount of respect and just looked up to an incredible deal. I asked you, you didn’t know who I was at the time and you were gracious enough to come on to a YouTube interview we did back in the day. I think YouTube had maybe been around for a couple of years, I’m not quite sure. Here we are eight years later. So, what’s going on in your world these days?

Steve: Well, I really appreciate you inviting me to do this interview because I really enjoy talking about this material. I appreciate the kind words about being your mentor but you need to take some credit because so many people enroll in the program and they do two or three houses their first year. To see somebody come in, take the material, believe it and then execute it the way that you did is just phenomenal, you did a great job.

What’s going on in my life right now is really I’m focused primarily for these next two years on writing a book and then publicizing it, which will require a lot of travel which is funny because that’s one of the things that I’m against in business, is travel. Because it takes you away from your family, it takes you away from leading a balanced life in some cases but we’ll talk about that probably later in the interview.

I’m writing a book called From Middle Class to Millionaire where I share a group of beliefs that I gleaned off of a group of highly successful financially independent, many of them millionaires, how they think about money, how they think about investing, how they think about leading a balanced life. It’s so different from what I was taught growing up in a poor … I’m sorry, that’s not the right word. I was in a lower middle class family, lower middle class family and I was given a group of beliefs about money. I struggled and struggled and it was very, very painful for me psychologically, emotionally. I came up with this mission statement that I want to educate, empower and motivate others so that they don’t feel the same fears and insecurities about money that I did and that’s what this book is all about.

Brant: Man, that’s awesome. I’ve seen the same thing. My background was very similar. Growing up we were right [smack down 00:04:59] probably in the middle of middle class until my father who relied on his job all his life lost his job. We lost our house. My dad was unemployed for about 18 months, bankruptcy the whole nine. I got to experience a lot of things in my life at an age where it impacted me enough. This is like the middle school time of life. It impacted me enough to know that to this day I carry that with me that those were things that I never wanted to experience again or for my children.

Now, I believe that I’ve fully shifted out of that, this middle class mindset. I see it all the time, the further I get away from it, it becomes more obvious the distinctions between the mindset of middle class and millionaires and it’s impacted me so much. Our coaching program is called The Wealth Passage because I believe that creating wealth is not just about doing deals, it’s not about owning rentals or apartments or anything like that. That can create financial wealth but it’s this whole other mindset you really need to have to create impactful lasting wealth that impacts all the areas of your life.

Steve: Yeah. It’s really interesting Brant that you went through that which was obviously very, very painful. Then you went on to prevent it from happening to you. I made the mistake of watching it happen to my parents and then letting it happen to me too. That’s a sign of extreme, in my opinion, extreme intelligence when you don’t wait for the catastrophe to happen, you prevent it. Where most people including myself, I waited for the catastrophe to happen. I won a national sales contest, they sent me to Hawaii for a week. I got back from Hawaii, they cut my pay by $20,000 a year and that woke me up. I should have woken up because I had seen that it didn’t work for my parents, I’d seen that it didn’t work for my grandparents but I did it anyway. It’s really an interesting concept that we’re following paths that we do know don’t work. We know that it didn’t work for our parents, didn’t work for our grandparents, and then we go and do the exact same thing.

Brant: Yeah. I did too as well. I wish I could take credit that I didn’t but I went into law enforcement for seven years and figured out the grass would be greener on the corporate side of life so I went into corporate sales and did the whole thing. I was winning awards for sales. I hated sales and I just made a decision. After about four or five years of … about year three in the corporate world that’s when I started taking action. I realized day one it wasn’t for me. I remember coming home the first day of my corporate job and my wife is excited because I have normal hours, I’m not a police officer anymore. She said kind of, “Honey, how was it?” I said, “I absolutely hate it.” I said, “This is not for me.”

Steve: Oh my God.

Brant: I told her, “Don’t worry.” I said, “Don’t worry, I’m not going to quit. I’m going to do well, I’m going to perform, I’m going to pay the bills but I’m going to find something else. There’s got to be more to life and to making an income and just…” And that’s what led me down the rabbit hole. It took me about 10 or 12 years too before I really began taking action after the time I got out of college. One of the things I believe that you’re going to be covering in your book is what we’re talking about. It’s this mindset that leads to a result which is something like you mentioned like 95% of Americans fail to retire by the age of 65? Speak on that a little bit and what you see the middle class migrating to like the flock of the middle class I guess you’d say.

Steve: Yeah. It’s the US Department of Health, Education and Welfare that figured that out, the US Department of Health, Education and Welfare. What they did is they followed a group of Americans from I think age 18 to 65. What they found was that by age 65, 54 were living off of the government or family support. In other words, they were a burden to their family. Five were still working because they had to, and I think that statistic has gone way, way up. I’m not sure what year these numbers are coming from ‘13 or ‘12 or somewhere around that time frame but I think there’s been a market change and it’s probably 10 or 15% are still working. Then here is the shocking one, 36% are dead by 65.

Brant: Yeah.

Steve: So, the golden years, they’re just a golden [lock up 00:10:47]. It’s not happening. They show you in the commercials the elderly couple on the cruise ship or walking the beaches of Greece or flying across the country to go visit the grandkids. That’s not happening. These people can’t afford that. They’re barely getting by. I read one statistic that said that the 54% were actually living at or below poverty income levels, at or below. Only 5% of Americans retire well-off or wealthy. I’m not sure what the difference between well-off and wealthy is but only 5% retire successfully. Again, this book is discussing the belief systems. I just basically studied that 5% over a 27-year period to come up with this group of beliefs.

Brant: Yeah, and what you said about those who do retire are deceased within a couple of years, it brings back an experience I had in my life was, when I was at the police department, it was really … it was actually pretty depressing hearing my co-workers, other officers in that essentially a state job, right?

Steve: Yeah.

Brant: It was a 20-year retirement at that point in time. I don’t know what it is now, meaning if you serve for 20 years you can retire. So, everyone at the police department were always counting their years. I’ve got eight years left, 10 years left, five years left until they could retire. I had and a lot of guys would work longer a bit after their retirement and what have you. I had a lieutenant that passed away and he died less than 30 days later right after that he had a heart attack and he passed away. I wasn’t really close with him so it wasn’t like someone close to me but it was just like wow, like he worked here for 30 or 40 years, I don’t recall and then just died. I would hear guys saying this all the time and I caught myself doing it, like 17 more years and I’m like, “What are you doing? That is a long time.”

My police department was right by the hospital and here in Houston, it was Texas Woman’s Hospital. We had our first child at Texas Woman’s Hospital while I was still at the police department. We’ve had three other children over the years all at the same hospital so I’ve been back to my particular police department three times each time we’ve had a child. Very little had changed there. I went and saw the same people and it was this … Every time I went back I just, I could see it more clearly. It was a really … It was good to see my old friends and things but it was a gloomy atmosphere and they were talking about counting down their years to retirement.

I think that a lot of people too, they view retirement as like this finish line and it’s going to be all sunshine and rainbows and all these types of things but they don’t have a lot to live for is what I’ve seen in a lot of people, like what’s next? Then unfortunately what’s next for a lot of people is not only can they not travel the world but they’ve got a tremendous amount of either health issues or financial stress and it just takes a toll, it just takes a toll on everybody.

Steve: Yeah. The statistic you referred to I know is the white males. White males’ life expectancy after retirement is three years. Black males is less than that and I don’t know the other statistics. Retirement is, it’s again, it’s the big golden line. It also when you bring up that story about people counting down to when they retire, then they’re not in their calling. They’re doing something just to bring home a paycheck instead of … like my father was a police officer and it was his calling, never once did I hear him counting down the days. It was a joy to him. That was different obviously for these or most of the people that you were talking to and if people would go to their calling … it’s like people who say this to me, it will be a Wednesday, right?

Brant: Mm-hmm.

Steve: And they’ll go, “Woo-hoo, hump day. Only two more days to the weekend.” I’m like, “Are you kidding me? Is your life so bad that the only two days out of a week that you’re happy about are the weekend? Maybe you should change jobs.”

Brant: Yup, I agree.

Steve: If you’re counting down the years or hump day is a big deal for you you’re not in your calling.

Brant: Yup. No I agree and I don’t want to take a deep spiritual turn here but I do want to … what I’ve gleaned from this and my own experiences in life is that call it whatever, everyone out there has their own beliefs like God or the universe or whatever. I believe that we were created by some type of infinite creator, right? This design that created and that somewhere inside each and every one of us is like this desire to create, to be creating new things and new experiences.

With me, the thought of retirement is like it’s equal to like dying or decaying or just stagnating, the word in itself. And so that’s why, I don’t like the word and my father just retired and it scares me a little bit so I’ve been bringing him to the office to do some work with me because I think like, that’s my thoughts on it, is like people … It’s not just health that they die and I’m sure there is some stress but it’s they don’t really have a purpose or something to keep them moving forward. It’s just this, this desire or this innate calling to create, create … For us it’s business or it could be deals or motivating people and encouraging people, whatever it is but it’s definitely, there’s people who you’re right, like your father and … I had friends at the police department who they were born to be police officers. They were in their element. That was their calling and it wasn’t mine. It’s just something like, even if someone desires to retire, my thoughts are have something else to take some space of, to fill that space or time that you have because if you don’t, that’s where I see where people start the decaying process really.

Steve: I think you’re absolutely right. That there is a purpose for every person. I think some people have multiple purposes. I can’t think of an example of one but what I mean is I’ve known these people that were happy at two or three types of careers. They were just happy people and it seemed like they always chose the right thing to do. They understood what made them happy. I saw them throughout their lives even though they were in different careers at different times, they were happy. The people that do find their calling, they live longer. There’s a book, The Purpose Driven Life, I forget who the author is but what a wonderful book. It actually addresses that issue that once a person loses their purpose their life expectancy drops dramatically. If they don’t have a reason to get up in the morning, their life expectancy drops.

Brant: That was yeah Rick Warren, I had to look that up. Yeah that was a great book and it’s the principle, I believe it 100% to be true. There’s something I wanted to talk to you about. One of my things with my coaching students is I’m really big on we get, these new students come in and some of them are really eager and chomping at the bit obviously to get started doing deals, maybe to quit their job, whatever, hit their goals.

While there’s a speed element to building a business and you and I both know that we’ve seen guys come in and do five deals a year, 10 deals a year or 20 plus deals their first year so there’s speed to it but one thing I always encourage them to do is, creating wealth is a long-term game. I was reading this weekend and not Steve Jobs, Bill Gates. Bill Gates said, “We overestimate often times what we can do in a year but greatly underestimate what we can do in 10 years, over the long-term.” I want to talk to you about this idea of getting rich quick because I think you’ve got a little bit of a different spin on it on a way for people to get rich quick.

Steve: Yeah. I think it comes down to and this has been talked about by multiple, multiple people over the decades, over the last several hundred years. The middle class have a distinct, everyone can call it belief and you mentioned it. There’s no such thing as get rich quick. When you look at the millionaires and the billionaires and the thought leaders in the [inaudible 00:21:31] industry, they actually say the opposite. That there’s actually no such thing as get rich slow.

Part of that or at least the part that touches me the most is what we’ve just been talking about, it’s your biggest asset is not money, it’s not credit, it’s time. What so many financial planners are doing is they’re telling people that you’ve got to put your money in the stock market, you got to put your money in IRAs, 401ks, put it in stocks, mutual funds and leave it there till you’re 65 and then you’ll have a million bucks and they tell you how much you have to put in every  month or how much you have to put in every year and what rate of return you’re going to get based on your averages and all of this stuff.

Let me tell you something Brant. I don’t give a rat’s ass about being rich at 65. I want to be rich now because at 65 what’s gone? Your time. Not only that, your health is not the same, your energy levels are not the same, your sex drive is not the same, it’s not the same. Getting old sucks. I’m 54, I can attest to it, I’d trade every dime I’ve got, I’d trade my Ferrari, I’d trade my boat if I could go back and have my body from 25 but there’s nothing we can do about it but you can do something about when you get rich.

Brant: Yeah.

Steve: And that is to focus on things that make a difference today that produce cash flow today. This can really be any business but it has to be a business not just self-employment. If you buy a business, it could even be multilevel marketing. I even interviewed six or seven people who have down lines that they produce, I think that’s what they’re called and they’re making between six and 25,000, the people that I interviewed, they’re making between six and $25,000 a month doing nothing. We can even work with that. I obviously did it with real estate, you’re using real estate, something like 70% of the millionaires in America used real estate so obviously real estate is the great vehicle for that but there’s no such thing as get rich slow because your life is gone.

The other thing Brant my dad died at 65 and my grandfather died at 65. Do I really want to wait till I’m 65? No. At 27 I wanted to be rich then, right then, and so I started my real estate career, three years later I built a small fortune and for most people the definition of it I retired. I kept working but I had enough income that I didn’t have to work.

Brant: Yeah, and I mean that’s what I learned from you when I started 10 years ago and from Lifestyles was that you can have both sides. You can have the money and the lifestyle and the life right now. I was 32 so you actually beat me by about five years. I was 32 when I made up my mind I’m like, “No. I can do this. I can create wealth and take trips to Mexico and travel and do all the things that I wanted to do when I was still at a relatively young age.” Man, just the, you said you still worked and you still work today and I know that you don’t have to work and I know that yeah I probably still do have to work.

I don’t have to work as much as I do but that’s the thing it’s whenever you build … when you’re doing something that you enjoy, it’s true like it’s like you’ve never worked a day in your life. Or you just build the business to where you’re doing the things that you enjoy doing and that you can structure it around, like what is the ideal life? I’m heading out to the beach tomorrow to hang out at my beach house for a couple of days and I know that things were getting done and I’ll do some writing and reading and “Working down there” and come back in a couple of days. You can build it any way really that you desire to but you’ve got, I think a lot of people just don’t believe it or they don’t see it because it just comes back to their middle class mindset. It’s like, “Well, I’ve got to do this or do something until I’m at least 65.” And it looks like that number is even getting older, it’s like getting, pushing 70 quite frankly.

Let’s change subjects a little bit but not too much and talk about diversification. I know this is one of those buzz words that we hear all the time that I know neither you or I really buy into but I’ll let you talk about that a little bit.

Hey, this is Brant and I hope you’re enjoying today’s show. If you’re in a place in your life or your business where you just feel stuck or you just don’t know what actions to take to help you get unstuck or on to the path to creating the results you truly desire, please take a few minutes and go to my website brantphillips.com. There are some really valuable resources and information that may be able to help you out. If you’re interested in really speeding up results with the help of a coach or mentor and adding true accountability and guidance to your life and business, please reach out to me from my website as well at brantphillips.com or going directly to www.brantphillips.com/coaching. Now, let’s get back to the show.

Steve: Sure. This is another one of those things and just like with this that I said the middle class can all quote this. “There’s no such thing as get rich quick.” That’s their belief system. There’s a belief about diversification that every single person really probably in the United States middle class, upper class, poor can quote and it’s this quote. “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.” Andrew Carnegie, a billionaire had a comment over 100 years ago about diversification. When I go into a room and I’m speaking to 3,000 people, I’ll ask that 3,000 people or 5,000 people, I’ll say, “Don’t put all your eggs what?” And in a chorus they all say, “In one basket.” Then I ask them, “How many people in the room know what Andrew Carnegie said about diversification over 100 years ago?” You know Brant, I won’t get but maybe five hands. Out of four, three, four, five thousand people, I’ll get five hands. Then I’ll say, “What Andrew Carnegie said was to put all your eggs in one basket and spend your entire life making sure nobody kicks over your basket.”

It’s just funny that everybody knows that middle class belief but almost nobody knows the billionaire belief. Every single millionaire that I know is focused. They are not diversified. They are mastering one thing. When I look at you, you are a master of single family real estate whether it’s flipping, renting, owner finance, you’ve mastered it. Because of that laser like focus you’re exceling and building wealth that’s permanent residual income for the rest of your life, so focus is it. If you go back to diversification which we’re supposed to be discussing, I’m sorry I got off [crosstalk 00:30:44].

Brant: It’s all right.

Steve: Follow the rabbit. A word [inaudible 00:30:50] that Peter Lynch and Sam Walton all billionaires call it diworsification in most cases. Now my anti-diversification rant is a rule, meaning there are exceptions to it but not for most people. We’re talking maybe a few people should be diversified, five-10% but I think 90% or more of Americans should be focused on how they’re going to be helping serve other people because that’s the only way to make money. You focus on how you’re here to help and serve other people and you do it the best, the fastest and focus on it. You look at the athletes, you look at the actors, they’re not diversified, they’re focused. Ellen makes, I want to say Ellen makes somewhere around $25 million a year. It’s Ellen. Everything Ellen. She’s amazing, amazing marketer.

Brant: Let me ask you this and we’ve probably answered it already in one of these conversations but so after the last 30 years that you’ve been helping people probably over 100,000 families over the years and members. What is it? If you had to boil it down to a couple of things that you’ve seen. What are some of the common denominators that you’ve seen from the people who just go out and absolutely crash it and those who don’t? Is it something like almost like tangible like you can see it and sense when someone is going to create success or?

Steve: Yes.

Brant: Talk about that a little bit because sometimes I think I’ve seen that too where I get feelings like this guy is going to absolutely crash it. I can tell, I can sense it or there’s uncertainty in people. Talk about your experiences like helping other people.

Steve: I think the three that I like to put at the top are integrity, honesty and personal responsibility. The integrity and the honesty are easy to describe because they’re so simple. They tell the truth, they live the truth, they are who they say they are, they don’t pretend they’re something they’re not. If they shake your hand and tell you that they’re going to do something, they do it. They are honest to their families. In other words, they are in committed relationships, and not that the single people don’t succeed. I’m just talking about the ones now that are in relationships. They’re committed to that relationship, they’re committed to it with every level of honesty that they can get.

Every business person that I’ve ever done business with … I’ve done 20 plus handshake deals over the last 27 years, 20 plus. Do you know that only one of them didn’t keep their promise, only one? These people are high, have high, high levels of integrity and honesty and oh humbleness, there’s a fourth one and they’re humble. The reason that humble is so important is because that makes them easy to teach. See like you came in with a very humble attitude so you were easy to teach. You picked up the material, you accepted it, said, “I don’t know any better, I’m going to go do it and you did it.”

Brant: I didn’t. Yeah.

Steve: Some people are arrogant. They may think, “Well, I know the right way, I’m going to do it my way.” They modify it a little bit and destroy the business model, but then the fourth one, this is probably equal to the other three is they just take personal responsibility. I was with a multimillionaire and got into a car wreck. He got hit from behind and I was in the passenger’s seat. Do you know he got out of the car and tried to figure out how that was his fault? Now that’s an extreme example.

Brant: Yeah.

Steve: He got out of the car and asked if the guy who had hit him was okay, told him immediately that he’s fine and not to worry about it, nobody is injured, we’re all safe, let’s not worry about it and said something to the effect of, “I was following the car ahead of me too close and I had to slam on my brakes,” when really obviously the guy behind him was following too close and he didn’t slam his brakes off but it was just, it’s just the sense of, “Man, what can I do better next time? How can I improve? What?” They don’t rely on the government, they don’t rely on financial planners, they don’t rely on jobs, it’s all personal responsibility. “I am going to make it happen, I’m going to do it.” They put together teams to do that and get out there and take responsibility for their lives. I would have to say that’s probably number one but they’re all so close I’d hate to put, I’d hate to put honesty or humbleness below that. I guess I’m going to have to say they’re all equal. You’ve got to have all four of those things to really succeed in the business world in America.

Brant: Yeah you do. You definitely do. The humility thing, that’s something that I’ve seen from being a coach where all of these are really, when you look at all of them they’re all, if you don’t have them, for me as a coach to work with somebody, they’re non-negotiable, you have to have all of these characteristics. I’ve seen it first hand, the humility thing you mentioned that it’s … I’ve seen that with people who are seeking coaching and mentoring and they’ve given their time and they’ve spent a substantial amount of money and they don’t want to listen, they don’t want to see. I’ve had that conversation, I’m like, “There’s a lot of coaching programs out there, this is our model, we’ve done this hundreds of times and it works if you do it like this but you want to do it like that. I’m not saying it’s not going to work but it’s not in our model, it’s not proven, why do you want to do that?”

We have students who veer from what we do and often times it doesn’t work out. It doesn’t work out well at all. Sometimes it’s quite ugly because they’re recreating a wheel that probably doesn’t even roll properly. But yeah, so integrity, honesty, personal responsibility and humility, absolutely. I agree wholeheartedly with that. Those are the things that need … they need to have to be able to create success. Man, let’s talk about your book. Let’s wrap it up and talk about your book From Middle Class to Millionaire and anything else that you want to share with our listeners.

Steve: Well, I think that you hit on some really good topics today. If people want to learn more about those topics then my book which won’t be out until at the latest July 1^st we may get it out a month or two earlier. It just depends on a couple of things that are going on with my book writing mentors. I happen to be lucky enough to have Jack Canfield of Chicken Soup for the Soul helping me write the book but yeah timing, it will be out the latest July 1^st and maybe a month or two before that. If people would get on my tip of the week email list or follow me on Facebook, I’ll announce it right as it comes out. My website is getrealwealth.com, getrealwealth.com and the name of the book is From Middle Class to Millionaire, the Belief System of the Millionaire. I guess that’s as much as I have to say about that.

I just think that people need to be constantly reading whether it’s my book or other books. There’s so much out there. There is nothing out there that you want to do that there’s not two, three, 100 or more books on so that you don’t have to make the mistakes, you don’t have to trial and error through life. Go read, read and read some more until you master it.

What happened to me was right after they cut my pay, I still had some credit cards left and that’s all I had but I was so committed to getting out of corporate America and out of that situation that I literally spent $25,000 on books, CDs, DVDs, boot camps, workshops and it finally jelled, it finally clicked in my brain. Now, a lot of you won’t need that much but … I don’t want to pick on myself but I feel like I’m a slow learner. I have to hear things 10 or 15 times before they sink in. That’s why I always read the same book. I’ve read the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Dr. Stephen Covey probably 15 times. I’ve listened to it 10 times. So, it took that much for me. I’m not telling you you have to go spend $25,000. I’m just saying that start reading. Jim Rohn said it best. He said, “Formal education, which is high school and college is there to get you a career. Self-education is there to make you wealthy.” And that’s reading. So they need to read your book, they need to read my book, they need Stephen Covey’s work, they need, they get out there, whatever subject, whatever business they want to get into, start reading every book you can get your hands on.

Brant: That is also one of the habits of the wealthy. I was reading this weekend, I was reading this weekend a business book and it spoke exactly about that. It was talking about, oh no, I think this was something I was reading online but it was talking about how much to this day that Warren Buffet still reads. You know how much time he’s allocated per day to read, how much Mark Cuban reads, all of these just incredibly successful entrepreneurs and how important reading is. It’s one of their habits. It’s their daily habits that is just instinctual that this is … there’s not a finish line, just like with our education like there could be a finish line but for me for you I know for like the truly wealthy, it is a habit of success that there’s, you never cease in learning because when you cease in learning like you cease growing, you begin this decaying dying process. So, I agree wholeheartedly.

In today’s world, it’s a lazy excuse if you’re not reading books like … there’s talk radio, there’s cable television that is essentially potato chips for the mind for the most part. Where we’ve got audible, we’ve got YouTube. There’s all of this that we can download. There’s podcasts, there’s iTunes. There’s all of these out, these sources where we can be taking in content every day and just improving ourselves.

As a matter of fact, I remember you talked about books and CDs. When I first made up my mind like I was going to go this, I was working in the corporate world and I remember Seven Habits of Highly Effective People was one of the first personal development books that I ever read and it literally changed my life, it literally changed my life. It was like, it just changed my life and I began seeing things in a whole new light.

I remember I got CDs, like a CD series from Robert Kiyosaki and man, I used to put that thing in my CD player, in my car and we lived out in West Houston off Bear Creek and I used to sit on Clay Road for 30 to 45 minutes every day going into work and I would listen to that. What I tell my students today was that to make that transformation like your book says like From Middle Class to Millionaire, you really have to change who you are, you have to rewire your brain and change that mindset and that’s …

Man, all those last two and half years while I was doing real estate working my job, it was hard. It was really hard doing 10 deals a year and managing and managing rehabs, getting the finance and doing all that stuff and working a full-time job and with a wife and kids. Man, it was really hard but I look back on it and I’m so grateful for that time sitting in that car listening to Robert Kiyosaki and anything else I could get my hands on to read because that’s where I was … I was rewiring my brain. I acknowledged there is a problem, I knew I had desire to sell more and I couldn’t get it the old way of doing things. So yeah just talking about that and how important it is I guess that’s my encouragement. One of the encouragements for people listening to this is like just make it a habit just like brushing your teeth like make it a habit to consume content that’s useful in getting you where you want to go and the results you want to get because it’s out there, right? There’s the maps have already been created for us, thank goodness.

Steve: One thing I want to share with you. My son shared this with me the other day, he’s a fan of Dwayne Johnson, The Rock. Dwayne Johnson said this, he said, “There’s going to be pain in your life no matter what you do.” He said, “But you can have the pain of discipline or the pain of regret.” The pain of reading those books, the pain of listening to those audio CDs if you’re not like you and I who love it, but for a lot of people it’s hard, it’s a pain. Think about this, you can either have the pain of the discipline of listening and learning and changing your life or you can have the pain of regret that you never did it.

Brant: Man, Steve, I really appreciate you coming on today and sharing everything with our listeners.

Steve: I appreciate it. Thank you so much for having me.

Brant: Yeah. Looking forward to you coming out to Reaction next week. We’re going to have some good times out there next week so looking forward to that. Everybody, find Steve Davis, getrealwealth.com, getrealwealth.com. Look him up on Facebook. Anything else you want to share in terms of getting in touch with him, Google him in the next month or two also From middle Class to Millionaire to make sure you get a copy of Steve’s book that’s coming out.

Steve: Yeah. I’ll keep everybody posted through Facebook, just remember to like my, when you go to Facebook, like my public figure page. I’m already full up on my regular friend page so everybody needs to go to the public figure page, Steve Davis.

Brant: We’ll get all those links posted here on the website in the show notes. All right Steve. Thank you. Once again it was an honor and I appreciate you coming on the show.

Steve: Thank you.

Brant: And encouraging me and encouraging all of our listeners.

The post Brant Phillips Show 30: From Middle Class to Millionaire, Steve Davis appeared first on Brant Phillips.

Welcome everybody to The Brant Phillips Show, the show that is about one thing, one thing only, about results. What we’re going to talk about today is about creating results in your real estate investing business that last. Building results that last. The reason this is coming up is because I was preparing to do a webinar. Actually tomorrow I’m doing a webinar about built to last, about how to create an investing business that has built to last. Not just built to do one or two deals or built to thrive for a little bit while maybe the market’s up or you’ve got a favorable supply and demand issue in your area, whatever it may be but building a business that is built to last.

Some of you may be familiar with a book written by Jim Collins and I think there was a co-author but I can’t remember his name. If you’ve ever read any of Jim Collins’ work specifically Built to Last, you know that Jim Collins is very, very, he goes very in-depth with his research and his analysis. Basically what this book was about was they went to do research to determine what were some of the key characteristics of the companies that had proven over time that they were built to last and to sustain market fluctuations, decades and decades of time, different leadership, which is really important for big companies to be able to handle that transition from different CEOs and what not, just different leadership.

One of the things that they found was that they went in with what they believe, their summations, what they believe were they were going to find. They thought things like that a great company that’s built to last needed to have this great idea and that they needed to have this outspoken, very charismatic leader to lead the company and that the bottom line like absolutely maximizing all their profits was the dominant goal and that they would spend a lot of time, focus on beating their competitors and just other things like that.

What they really found is that none of those things were true. None of those things were true or that important to create a company that was built to last. I’m going to tie all this back into a real estate investing business here in just a minute about some of the things that I’ve seen that a successful real estate investing company will, some of those key characteristics.

Here’s what Jim Collins in Built to Last cited as some of the key characteristics of these companies. One, he said he found that they preserved a core ideology, a core ideology and this could be like your mission statement. Personally for you, this is like your why? This is, who do you identify yourself as like? What are you called to do? What are you doing?

Another thing was that they had, you’ve heard this, it’s called BHAG, Big Hairy Audacious Goals concept. They believe in setting these really big goals that quite frankly may not even be achievable but something to drive them, something to help push them further and just to really have paradigm shifts on what may even be possible by looking at things through a different way. These companies owned a cult-like culture, like the people that work there and that create the company and the leadership are, they’re playing all in. They’re playing all in with their company, with what they believe in and what they’re doing, what the mission is and they create a cult-like culture, it’s really important, extremely important. I think you’re starting to see how this could tie into your own business.

They consistently try new things. They consistently try new things. They’re never satisfied with just good enough. They’re always looking to improve things. They actually refuse the idea of having a great idea. Not that great ideas aren’t good but they don’t think that some great idea is going to be their salvation and save them. They believe that being consistent, consistently innovating, trying new things, setting big goals and just doing the work on a day in, and day out basis are actually the things that are going to help them last, be built to last.

They worry very little about their competition, and their competition, they worry very little about them. Rather they stay focused on their core ideology. They concern themselves with what their beliefs are. They focus on the things that they want to manifest and create with their business. So that’s so much more important to them when they continue on. They set really big BHAG goals. They set super goals like I said that may be nearly impossible, or maybe even impossible but because they have this cult-like culture, there’s like this indoctrination that people go through and it creates this tightness and this unity in the culture which creates a synergy and a power that helps them to just go out and experiment new things, try new things and just consistently innovate. Those are what Jim Collins findings were in Built to Last.

Now I want to talk a little bit about what I have seen successful real estate investors, what I’ve seen them do. What are some of the key characteristics of a successful real estate investing business, things that have been extremely important to me and I’m going on 11 years now, going into 12 years of doing this. Quite frankly, I’ve seen a lot of people come into this business and succeed and do well over time but I’ve seen a lot more come in, do a deal, maybe last a year or two, maybe one market cycle, they last and then they’re out.

What are some of those characteristics? I think it all begins with clarity. Just being clear on what it is that you want, being clear on what it is that you’re going to do, what are your investment goals, beginning with the end in mind, because if you’re not clear on your goals and what your business model is, then I would be very concerned my friend, I would be very concerned my friend. Ye are the one that is chasing two rabbits and will catch none.

You have to be really clear because there are so many opportunities in real estate to make money, there are just literally hundreds of opportunities in real estate when you look at actual deals, like properties, investment opportunities. There’s thousands, and thousands and thousands of opportunities and you’ll learn very quickly the difference between opportunities and opportunity cost because anything that you set your focus on is costing you something. So if it’s not providing the return that you’re seeking to help you quit your goals, or to reach your goals you will be out of business and you will quit and give up really, really quickly. Your clarity on who you are and what your business goals are, the specific type of deals that you’re doing is so important. We specifically, we have a business model that we identify and target the exact properties that we want to buy.

Hey, this is Brant and I hope you’re enjoying today’s show. If you’re in a place in your life or your business where you just feel stuck or you just don’t know what actions to take to help you get unstuck or on to the path to creating the results you truly desire, please take a few minutes and go to my website brantphillips.com. There are some really valuable resources and information that may be able to help you out. If you’re interested in really speeding up results with the help of a coach or mentor and adding true accountability and guidance to your life and business, please reach out to me from my website as well at brantphillips.com or going directly to www.brantphillips.com/coaching. Now, let’s get back to the show.

Because we’re really clear, because we know how important that clarity is to help us sustain success and sustain our business year after year. After clarity comes commitment and you need to understand that commitment and creating success, there’s a price. There’s a cost to commitment and there’s also a cost from your lack of commitment.

You need to be willing to serve your commitment for a long, long time quite frankly until that commitment will serve you. Meaning you need to be committed to your business, to your clarity, to your purpose, to your business model, building your teams, building your systems to a point until they will begin to serve you. There’s a lot of work that’s involved to do this but when you have that commitment, this playing all in attitude no matter what and when you’re committed to the right things, over time, the pay off my friends, it’s going to be well-worth what you endure but you have to be committed. Because if you come into this business with a lack of clarity and a lack of commitment, exit stage two. You are done. you’re done before you even start so just don’t even start until you get clear and you make up your mind that you are committed to endure the good, the bad and the ugly and keep going because when you keep going, that’s when the reward’s going to come my friend.

Another thing that I’ve seen successful businesses do that are sustainable businesses is they build a solid team, they build a solid team. They acknowledge and identify that you can’t do this alone. None of you are going to do this alone. The ones that do it really well, they consider everyone a team member. I know investors that look down on contractors. I view contractors as a member of our team and they’re absolutely critical. Not only employees, not only our staff members that are commission-based, like those are all team members but so are our contractors. Our private lenders are our team members.

I don’t know if you guys have heard kind of the conversation A players versus B players but I’ll tell you that I’ve worked with both. I’ve worked with some C players which are not viable at all. I’m building a team of A players. I want a team of elite A players that play at a high level. They are going to help you not only be more profitable but make your life and your business more enjoyable but they help you create this business that will last and sustain multiple markets.

Another thing, another key characteristic is marketing. I see so many people come into this business and they rely on others for their deals. Not that you don’t want to build a team of others to help you to create deal flow but if you can’t market in this business, I’m telling you it’s just a matter of time before you’re going to be extinct. You have to become a marketer, absolutely non-negotiable. You have to become a marketer to build a business that is built to last. You have to understand marketing, you have to know your marketing costs, you have to know what type of marketing is going to drive you the deals that you want. If you can’t market, you’re not going to be able to sustain market shifts and different market cycles. You may be able to make it in certain cycles, in certain markets for certain periods of time but not for the long-term. Commit to learning marketing, commit to being a marketer.

Financing, especially for my friends in the single family home, house flipping, landlording, owner financing, my friends, you have to master the art of raising private money, you have to master the art of raising private money. Robert Kiyosaki calls this the number one skill of an entrepreneur. In just like the rule of marketing, it’s true for financing. You have to master the art of raising private money because you can’t rely on the banks. Hard money lenders will kill your deals. You have to learn how to create win-win scenarios, how to raise private money in any market so that money is not an option, like the lack of funding is not an option I should say because you always have money for your deals and this is how you create a business that is built to last.

Last but not least and definitely not least all these are all equal, I would say equally important, equally important. They all intertwine together but one of the core, core beliefs in our business is that every deal you do needs to have multiple exit strategies. Every deal that you do needs to have multiple exit strategies. One-trick ponies will not last very long. You need to develop the skillset so that you can thrive, succeed, sometimes just survive in any market that the deals that you do, you target your marketing for deals that you could flip, that you can rent, that you can owner finance or that you could just wholesale. Either way, you have multiple ways to make money, multiple exit strategies, multiple ways to generate income with every deal that you do.

My friend when you do that, when you integrate these key characteristics of being very clear, being committed, building a strong team of A players, develop the ability to market, to raise private money and to identify and target deals that provide you multiple exit strategies so you don’t care if the market’s going up or down, well, then my friend, you have built a business that is built to last. Well, that’s all my friends, that’s all I have to share today. I hope this was impactful for you and I want to encourage you to go out, take action, take massive action to create the results that you desire in your life and in your business. With that, I’m signing off, this is Brant Phillips and I wish you all the best.

The post Brant Phillips Show 29: Real Estate Investing That Is Built To Last appeared first on Brant Phillips.

Welcome everybody to The Brant Phillips Show. Yes, I’m Brant Phillips and yes this is the show dedicated to just one thing, results my friends, helping you create results in your life and in your business and in your real estate investments using proven tactics, strategies, information to help you not only create results but speed up results. What we’re going to talk about today is very specifically geared to help you not only create results but give you a method. What I call four X factors when combined can drastically and rapidly help you improve creating results.

Look, we’re all bombarded with all of these self-help books and programs like all over the place. Most likely, if you’re listening to the show, you’ve probably read some self-help books, some investment books and there’s nothing wrong with that, you should receive and read that type of information, but if you’re reading a book, like a self-help book or even an investing book with the expectation that just that information alone is going to help you get what it is that you really want, like what is that result just from reading that book, then you’re going to be in for a rude, rude surprise my friend because that is not going to be the case and most likely you’re not going to experience what it is that you truly want to receive or the result that you truly want to create. I get it, we’re all bombarded with all these self-help stuff, how to quit smoking, drinking, make more money, lose weight and a million other things.

Unfortunately, pretty much almost always, the self-help is just going to become a revolving circle and you’re most likely going to end up exactly in the same place that you started from without adding, without adding some additional ingredients, some additional X factors. You see that self-help book, that self-help information alone is not going to help you get where you want to go.

Let’s talk about some of these other factors. I like to call them the X factors, these X factors that can help you create real and lasting results in your life or certain aspects of your business of whatever it is that you want to focus on. Because you see, during my journey in explorations as an entrepreneur, I’ve invested a lot of time and money in pursuit of what? Creating a better business, creating a better life and I’ve realized that there are these four real true tangible X factors that create true and lasting results and create success and it’s a proven model and there’s a proven system and so that’s what I’m going to share with you on today’s show.

Let’s talk about the first X factor. We’re going to call these X factors to creating success. The very first X factor that you need to have in order to create success before you pick up that self-help book and once again I’m not telling you not to pick up the self-help book but make sure you have this. One, mindset. You need a committed mindset because without the commitment, you’re going to be dead before you even start and there’s no need to proceed any further at all. This is like the thing where when the student is ready, the teacher appears, which you need to be ready.

I have a lot of people that email, call, whatever, come to events that I’m speaking at and they’re talking about like, “How to time the market, is now a good time to get started?” Quite frankly, whether we’re talking about real estate or any other business venture, more times than not, pretty much always that the best time to start a business has really nothing to do with the market at all. The best time to start a business, the best time to start real estate investing and the best time to start flipping houses is when you’re ready to play all in, that’s when it’s time to get started, when you’ve got this committed mindset, so that’s the first X factor.

Now, let’s talk about the second X factor which is skillsets. Yes, this relates to you picking up those books and reading those books because you absolutely need to be picking up and reading books. Skillsets relates to information. You have to actually know how to do the stuff, like the day in, day out stuff of creating a business, of creating a great relationship, of creating certain results maybe in your health and fitness. You have to know how to do the stuff so this is related to skillsets, to information.

When you combine that committed mindset with the right information that turns into tangible skillsets that you have, you’re going to the next level, you’re not just reading a book, you’re combining with actual skillsets, but I would have you consider my friend that in today’s day and age, information is grossly overrated. It’s grossly overrated. Why? Because we have access to so much information. The value of information has been greatly, greatly decreased just because of its abundance, simply because of its abundance.

Before, you go back 20, 30, 40, 50, 100, 1000 years ago, that wasn’t the case. We’ve all heard that knowledge is power and it absolutely is but in today’s day and age, people don’t value it as much. There’s a big difference when you go online and Google a piece of information and you get information say for example about real estate investing which you can Google a lot of information about real estate investing versus paying money and going to like a program or a boot camp, like you value that information simply because you paid money and spent time receiving that information.

Now, there is something to be said for information that is organized properly so make sure that the information that you’re consuming, that you’re taking is something that you can process and put into action quickly. Otherwise, you’re just going to get stuck in this trap, in this hamster wheel of just consuming information, consuming information, consuming information but it doesn’t turn into a tangible result. It doesn’t turn into a tangible skillset that you have that you can go into the market place and actually make money. Skillsets my friend are incredibly important and that is the second X factor.

Going back we have mindset and now we have skillsets. Unfortunately, that’s where a lot of people stop. That’s where a lot of people stop. They go, get a little inspiration like, “I’m going to do this. I’m going to flip 10 houses this year,” and then they go read a book, maybe they go to a boot camp and that’s it.

Hey, this is Brant and I hope you’re enjoying today’s show. If you’re in a place in your life or your business where you just feel stuck or you just don’t know what actions to take to help you get unstuck or on to the path to creating the results you truly desire, please take a few minutes and go to my website brantphillips.com. There are some really valuable resources and information that may be able to help you out. If you’re interested in really speeding up results with the help of a coach or mentor and adding true accountability and guidance to your life and business, please reach out to me from my website as well at brantphillips.com or going directly to www.brantphillips.com/coaching. Now, let’s get back to the show.

They essentially have two X factors on this table now, this table of results but it needs four legs, it needs four legs. What is that third leg? The third leg is an environment. The third leg is an environment to consistently put yourself in an environment with other likeminded people who are growing and building businesses and are seeking and stretching to create something bigger than themselves to continually improve, continually level up. This is the whole iron sharpens iron principle and it’s absolutely, it’s absolutely critical.

I’ll share with you a story. When I began investing, one of the things, one of the habits that I created in my business right from the very beginning was I began going to networking events, like real estate networking events. I would go to two to three each and every month no matter what, no matter what. The thing I didn’t understand about this principle and the power of being in the right environment but what happened was this, I began to meet some other people who were investing in real estate. They were doing, building and growing their side business as me and so each and every month, maybe I had a great month. I bought a couple of houses, things were going well, things were clicking and I talked to one of my buddies who wasn’t having such a good month.

I was able to share my success and my story, what was going on and pouring into him a little bit, give him a little inspiration because guess what? I would come back maybe that month, two months later, three months later, I would come back, like, “Damn it was a hard month. Man, I had everything handed to me this month. It was brutal, didn’t get any contracts accepted,” wherever I was at at that stage of building my business but my buddy is like rocking and rolling, multiple contracts accepted whatever it may be and so being around him and hearing his success and other people’s success, it poured into me, it kept me going, so I made it a point to put myself in an environment and surround myself with others who are also striving because look, here’s the thing, like this environment there’s energy there, there’s energy that we can receive and there’s energy that we can give. This is the power of the mastermind as well, it’s a business masterminds. That was just the beginning story of how I started. Now where I’m at now it’s business masterminds. I’m either a part of masterminds or I’m running masterminds for my students because there is power, there is absolute power in this environment.

Now we’ve essentially established these three of the four X factors which is mindset, your skillsets, your environment and the last and in my opinion in today’s day and age, the most critical, the most critical X factor that is going to tie all this together is accountability, it’s accountability and that’s where in our day and age, I see the biggest drop off. That’s where I see the biggest difference from people really having a goal and achieving the goal, is whether or not they have true accountability in their life and their business. Most likely this is going to be in the form of a coach or a mentor but you need someone, you need someone in order to reach goals that are worth achieving.

I’m not talking about just simple, little, easy kind of stuff. I’m talking about stuff that’s hard. When you’re venturing to leave your full-time job and make six or seven figures in real estate, you’re going to need some help. There’s really not a lot of shortcuts to creating success without having a good coach or a mentor because what is this accountability for and what is good coaching mentorship for? What’s the purpose of it? Typically two things, to speed up results, help you get things done quicker and also avoid the pitfalls. You’re going to need someone to help guide you to that place who’s already paid the price, someone who’s accomplished things in their life or business that you’re looking to accomplish and at the same time hold you accountable once you have the map and what to do and you’ve got the determined mindset and you’ve got the skillsets, you need someone to hold you accountable for your actions, someone to guide you on what to do and what not to do.

I can say, this isn’t just something that I read from a book. I’ve spent hundreds of thousands of dollars, hundreds of thousands of dollars in coaching and consulting, paying other people to teach me and coach me but also hold me accountable. I can say that that’s some of the best money that I’ve ever spent. Why? Because I wouldn’t be where I’m at today. I wouldn’t be able to create the business that I have today and the family that I have and some of the just physical pursuits that I do.

The first thing I did whenever I signed up for an ironman when I was 40 years old was realize like I was a horrible swimmer. I was probably going to die at the beginning of the ironman in the swim portion unless I did what? Figured out how to swim. The first thing I did, it was just instinctively was hire a swim coach. When I signed up to fight in an MMA fight, I had no experience in martial arts. What did I do? Hire a coach, like teach me how to fight in a cage fight, help me speed up the results. It helped me to avoid pitfalls. It didn’t help me not get my ass knocked out of the cage fight but that was still the principle there.

Right now my son is 13 years old and his dream right now, his first dream is, he wants to be an NFL kicker, he wants to kick in the NFL but before that he wants a scholarship to be a kicker. Right now he’s about to go into high school, he wants to be the starting kicker for his high school team.

Instinctively, I’m like, “I don’t know how to kick but I know there’s probably someone who does.” What did we do? We started asking around, going online looking and from a friend of a friend of a friend, just so happens to know the kicker of a university here in our city, I’m not going to say the university. He knows the kicker, doesn’t live that far away, boom, done. We’re paying the kid, we hired the college kicker to come and teach my son so he’s getting weekly lessons from a college kicker about how to kick. Why? Because it’s going to help him speed up results. It’s going to help him avoid pitfalls, doing things the wrong way. He’s doing things the right way. He’s got the mindset. He’s learning the skillsets. He’s going to go to some kicking camps, it’s environment and he’s got accountability from a coach. Even when they’re not meeting, he has to record his kicking, send it to him for feedback.

Honestly, I can say without accountability in my life, I probably wouldn’t even be recording this podcast right now because I wouldn’t have the certainty to know that I can help you make a difference in your own life, in your own business but all of this is because I’ve invested in myself when I sought out others who achieved the results that I desired.

This whole lesson about X factors, it’s not just about making money, it absolutely works with that but it’s not just about making money. These X factors of having a committed mindset, having the right skillsets, having the right environment and having accountability work in all areas of your life. Maybe you’re struggling in a relationship, maybe you’ve got some health and fitness goals or issues, challenges, weight loss, whatever it may be, these X factors work, these X factors work but you have to put them together and you’ve got to play all in because if you’re not playing all in, forget about it. If you’re not coachable, if you’re not willing to receive feedback, if you’re just stubborn, hardheaded, you’ve got the big ego, self-centered whatever, and you’re not going to be coachable and listen to real feedback, when you’re putting yourself in environments where if you hire a coach and a mentor like forget about it.

You need to come to the table like a sponge, ready to soak up information from someone who’s been there and done what it is you’re trying to do, soak it up, put it into action. Combine the four X factors of having a determined committed mindset, having the right skillsets, put yourself in the right environment and create accountability in your life through a coach or mentor or someone to hold you accountable so when you try to give up, you don’t. They push you and push you and push you to keep you on the path. If you can do those things my friend, you now have a recipe to create some massive, massive results in your life and in your business very, very quickly. That’s it my friends and once again, I thank you for listening to the show and I look forward to helping you create results in your life and in your business.

The post Brant Phillips Show 28: 4 Factors Of Success And Why Self Help Sucks appeared first on Brant Phillips.

Welcome everybody to The Brant Phillips Show. This is Brant Phillips and yes this is the show dedicated to just one thing, just one thing, results, helping you create results in your life, in your business, in your real estate investments and if nothing more, just to give you a little boost, just a little motivation, a little inspiration to go out and have a great day. Take steps, take steps today, chop wood, lay bricks to build an incredible, incredible life and business each and every day.

I heard an old song recently from way back in the day that I used to listen to in college. I heard it the other day and I heard this line and this line said this. It’s he said, “You see it all comes down to living fast or dying slow. You see it all comes down to living fast or dying slow.” He was talking about this choice between living life in the fast lane, becoming this big entertainer or whatever, just playing small, playing safe. He said, “It all comes down to living fast or dying slow.”

I’m going to ask a question. How many of you out there are facing a similar decision in your life in terms of maybe not living fast but living free versus dying slow? Living free versus dying slow? You see, I’ve seen this all too many times in my world where people reach out, maybe they’ve read my book or they go to a webinar or an event and they’re like, “Man, I wish I could break free from my job and do real estate full-time or do this business that I’m passionate about or turn it in towards profitable but I can’t and I’m stuck at this job.” I hear that all of the time.

I’m going to share a little story with you. Back when I was in the corporate world and I will tell you, I was absolutely, absolutely in this position where I felt like I was dying a very slow death in terms of, in terms of burnout, just not being happy, not being fulfilled, financially there were all these struggles and challenges starting a new family in this job and I didn’t like it. That’s why I began to just begin to become clear on what I wanted and what I didn’t want.

I remember when I first started buying investment properties, right in the very beginning, my very first year, I was talking to my co-workers, my friends, my buddies, or whatever at work about what I was doing. There was one particular guy we talked to quite a bit, that I talked to quite a bit. He said, “You know, I’ve always wanted to invest in real estate but my wife won’t let me.” I was like, “Well, you know I’m fortunate because my wife supports me.” I’m like, “Maybe your wife just doesn’t understand, maybe to explain it better to her, maybe you need to honestly raise your commitment level, like she really … maybe she senses that you’re not 100% certain you want to do that or committed to it.” Anyways, that’s a whole different discussion about that.

After I had bought like four or five of my first properties in the first five months, when I started investing, I made a decision like, “You know what, I’m going to keep this real estate stuff a little bit hush, hush in the workplace,” because I was getting very aggressive with it. I was still doing my job, I was doing well, I was performing, got top performer awards and things like that. I was loyal to my employer to do what I committed to do and finished top in sales and all that kind of stuff while I was still doing real estate. I’ll tell you, every moment that I had that I wasn’t working or doing something with my family, pretty much I was building my investing business.

About two years later, two years later I decided to leave my job. I had bought about 25 properties and I was leaving my job and I was starting another real estate business at that time and I talked to my friend. He’s like, “Man,” this is near the, near the [inaudible 00:04:28] so I was leaving but he was like, “Man, how are those properties that you bought are doing?” That’s where I spilled the beans if you want. I said, “They’re doing pretty good man. As a matter of fact, I’m about to put in my two weeks’ notice.” He was like, “What? I can’t believe that.”

I will tell you that he still, he’s not working at that company, he’s working at another company, still has a job and this friend of mine called me a few months ago, he had some kind of property tax protest issue or something, I don’t know, he had a real estate question. He said the same thing again. He’s like, “Man, I’ve always wanted to do that but you know, my wife still doesn’t really want me to do that so I’m working this job and blah, blah, blah.” Dude, I just felt bad for him because I knew in his heart of hearts he wasn’t happy. I did what he did. It’s not a fun thing. It’s a long slow grind.

Hey, this is Brant and I hope you’re enjoying today’s show. If you’re in a place in your life or your business where you just feel stuck or you just don’t know what actions to take to help you get unstuck or on to the path to creating the results you truly desire, please take a few minutes and go to my website brantphillips.com. There are some really valuable resources and information that may be able to help you out. If you’re interested in really speeding up results with the help of a coach or mentor and adding true accountability and guidance to your life and business, please reach out to me from my website as well at brantphillips.com or going directly to www.brantphillips.com/coaching. Now, let’s get back to the show.

I left. I’ve been doing this 11 years. I left my job over nine years ago, almost 10 years ago and I’ve seen it firsthand the difference between living free and dying slow. I want to say this also that there’s nothing wrong, there’s nothing, absolutely, there’s nothing wrong with having a good job and having a corporate job and things like that, there’s nothing wrong with that. Unless, and I’m going to say this, unless in your heart of hearts, inside you know that you have a bigger calling in your life. I like to call this sometimes the voice. The voice inside is telling you something different. It’s calling you to something bigger and you’re continuing playing small and you’re playing safe and you’re stuck in this job or maybe it’s even stuck in your small business and you’re living life like a zombie. The life is being sucked out of you because of whatever it is that you’re doing, well then, my friend, I say shame on you. I say shame on you and there is a problem with you staying stuck in that job or that place if you know in your heart of hearts there’s something more for you because that, that my friend is your fault. That is your choice and you still have a choice to begin to do something about it. To begin doing something about it and taking steps to creating a life and creating a business where you’re living free and not just dying slow. Actually living and there’s a huge difference in living, waking up, going to work, doing something you really don’t enjoy each and every day versus living free.

I challenge you to do this. Each morning you wake up, just look in the mirror. Take a look in the mirror, eye-to-eye with yourself each and every morning and ask yourself on a scale of one to 10, and be incredible honest. How excited are you to be alive and do what you’re going to do today? How excited are you to be alive and to be doing what you’re doing today. My friend, if you’re at below five on a consistent level, we have a massive problem, you have a massive problem that you need to address. You should be in that seven to 10 range like every day even the fives and sixes are scary. Ask yourself, hold yourself accountable and be honest about that score that you give yourself and make a commitment to yourself that you can have more and that you can live free and that you can create different results and you don’t have to stay stuck in this job and in this life that you’ve created.

I know it seems difficult at times, trust me, I know this. This is one of the main things that I do with my coaching students, with my one-on-one coaching students is it’s not just the ability for them to acquire business skillsets and real estate investing fundamentals to go out and create their business because we reverse engineer when they come to me, I worked with two new students yesterday and we were whiteboarding stuff all day long, reverse engineering their plan to replace their income from the real estate investments. They’ve got work to do ahead of them, it’s not easy. They’re building a business so it’s going to take a little bit of time. It may take them a year, it may take them a little bit longer to create their freedom.

As we’re reverse engineering, we’re building on their plan, I work with my students. The other thing that we have to really fight with that they have to battle and I have to help and support them is really just battling these limiting mindsets, these limiting beliefs that tell people that I have to do this, I have to stay here. I have to have this job. I have to stay stuck, I’m destined to die slow and it’s simply not true. It’s simply not true. It’s absolutely not true.

I want you, each and every one of you listening to this, just to consider that if you’ve got bigger dreams and bigger desires coming deep from within, maybe from the voice inside, consider that those voices and these callings that you feel are truth and possibly they’re calling you to live the life that you’re meant to live. Each and every day that goes by that you pacify them, that you shut them out, that you don’t respond to them, you’re just making it more difficult to make that transition into a life of freedom. My friends, only you can answer that call, only you can step out and begin taking action.

Do me a favor, go find out, begin to explore, listen to the voice inside and begin to seek out and create what living free is for you. Don’t die slow, live free by creating the life and the business that you dream about. That’s it my friends. Once again, I thank you for listening to the show. I look forward to helping you create results in your life and in your business.

The post Brant Phillips Show 27: Live Free Or Die Slow appeared first on Brant Phillips.

Welcome my friends to The Brant Phillips Show. Yes, I’m Brant Phillips and yes this is the show dedicated to only one thing my friends, only one thing and I think you know what that is, that is results. Helping you create results in your life and in your investing business.

Today I’m going to talk to you about how important it is just to be making progress each and every day and how much more progress is important than perfection. You see, because in most things in life and real estate, progress is far more important than perfection. Unless you’re trying to become an astronaut or maybe a brain surgeon, then perfection may be required but my friends, flipping houses, purchasing rental properties, analyzing deals, you don’t need to be perfect. If you’re not working on your business each and every day, if you’re not making progress, then perfection doesn’t even matter. Another thing is you’re never going to reach perfection if you’re not doing the little things each and every day to make progress in your business and in your life each and every day.

One thing I’ve seen and I’ve seen this a lot in the real estate world is real estate investors come in trying to hit that homerun. They’re trying to do everything perfect. They’re trying to find the most ideal deal and hit that proverbial homerun, but what I’ve seen is they will inevitably swing and miss and essentially knock themselves out of the game and stop making progress.

One of the things little do they know is that homeruns only come from hitting the little singles each and every day. I’m going to say that again. Homeruns only come by hitting the little singles each and every day, by stepping up into the play and getting those base hits and not striking out. Or just getting to the play, because striking out is part of this game and part of business and we get that. Maybe that’s you, maybe you’ve had a swing and a miss, maybe you’ve taken on some big swings and you’ve missed, maybe in life, maybe in real estate, maybe in some other business but you’ve had a swing and a miss and more importantly you’ve been unable to recover from that swing and a miss.

My friend, let me share this with you. Your ability, your ability or inability to let go of your past is going to be absolutely critical to your future. Your past does not predict your future. What you do today and what you do tomorrow predicts your future. Absolutely nothing from your past will predict your future but your past may cause you to be stagnant in making progress and moving forward in your business.

If that’s the case, I’m going to encourage you. I’m going to encourage you like I did just this weekend. I just wrapped up a three-day live event where I was teaching about all the seven fundamentals of real estate and we had an incredible time, an incredible group of people that were there. Here’s an invitation I made to them at the start of the event. At the start of the event, I encouraged them that every time they walk through the doors, after breaks, each morning they were coming to the event location, the venue, as they walk through those doors, just to psychologically, mentally, whatever you want to do, call it, let go of the past. If there was something that they were bringing into the event this weekend, some type of limiting mindset, some type of unbelief, some type of problem that happened in the past that they couldn’t let go off, I just wanted to create the space for them to let go of the past.

I want to do that to you on this podcast is just there’s something that you can acknowledge, that you can feel, that you can sense that’s preventing you from making progress today because the pain associated with that defeat or that loss or whatever it may be, just give yourself a shot to let it go. During this event and I said this a few times and just made that invitation and I was surprised at how many people would come up to me during the breaks and letting me know how they’ve been beating themselves up for past failures and situations. Sometimes this goes on for not only days but I’ve seen it go on for months and weeks and years. Some people will have a defeat that will literally chase them for their entire life for decades but my friends, your past does not predict your future but it may prevent your progress moving forward.

I want to share a little story with you. I want to share a little story with you about the first real estate flip deal that I ever did. Now, the first time I did a flip, I had quite a bit of experience in real estate. I’d owned about 25 rental properties that I had renovated and managed and owned. I had these properties so I had some experience under my belt but I had never flipped a house before so that was different, it was a little bit different. I’m not going to get into all the details of it but I’ll tell you that I lost money on that first flip deal.

Hey, this is Brant and I hope you’re enjoying today’s show. If you’re in a place in your life or your business where you just feel stuck or you just don’t know what actions to take to help you get unstuck or on to the path to creating the results you truly desire, please take a few minutes and go to my website brantphillips.com. There are some really valuable resources and information that may be able to help you out. If you’re interested in really speeding up results with the help of a coach or mentor and adding true accountability and guidance to your life and business, please reach out to me from my website as well at brantphillips.com or going directly to www.brantphillips.com/coaching. Now, let’s get back to the show.

Some of the details are, I did everything wrong. I didn’t generate enough deal flow or quality deal flow to find a great deal with better margins in it. I didn’t have private money at the time. I didn’t have those resources so I paid a lot of hard money in points and fees. I had to pay extension fees to extend the loan because it took so damn long and just all this kind of stuff. I wasn’t clear about the rehab budget, not the rehab budget but even the rehab and I was changing things midway, midstream to the rehab and costing myself and my contractors time and money and everything, were costing me time and money, not my contractors, they didn’t mind me making changes because it just meant more work for them. I was doing work myself there after work during the day and on the weekends and just doing everything wrong.

When it came time to price the property, I priced it too high, I was trying to get greedy. Whenever I got an offer, I didn’t qualify the buyer good enough and that ended up bursting out about six weeks later. It drag on for six weeks and finally she officially couldn’t get qualified so I had to put the house back on the market and at the end of the day, I took a loss. Believe it or not, it wasn’t a sizeable loss, it was around $4,000 or something like that, but at that time, at that time in my business, that was a substantial loss. It was a substantial loss to me to lose $4,000 but the bigger loss was psychologically. It took a psychological toll on me because this process you see, it didn’t happen over a couple of days or weeks, I mean this flip thing took six, seven, eight months.

It just took a beating on me and I had begun to dream about flipping houses and it really was a part of the business that I’d never done but I watched it on TV. I watched all these how to flip a house shows and started dreaming about that and thinking about that. Psychologically, it beat me down and I gave up there for a little bit and I stopped making progress. I stopped generating deal flow for those types of deals. I stopped looking at those deals. I stopped analyzing them and I’m like, “Let me just stay in my comfort zone, let me just do what I’m doing, buying these rental properties.” There’s nothing wrong with that but I really like the excitement and enjoyment that I believe could come from flipping houses.

I stopped making progress on it my friends until I just dug down, I dug down and looked at everything that I did and I just did that self-analysis and I’m like, I just acknowledged like, “Hey.” Like, “I made some mistakes here, I made a lot of mistakes and I did a lot of things wrong.” Then I extracted that lesson which I’ve encouraged you guys in other podcasts is extract the lesson. When something goes wrong, when something is bad, extract that lesson from it and you have the ability to gain a powerful lesson when things go wrong, so that’s what I did. I begun to consider how things could be different on the next deal if I would apply those lessons, if I would apply those lessons in my business and begin making daily progress once again to moving forward, continually asking myself the question, getting clear about what is it that I wanted and I wanted to flip houses so I continued to be committed about that. I began making progress, taking daily actions, keeping my eye on the price, keeping my eye on the results that I wanted to create, and that’s what can happen to you my friend if you begin just doing that.

The end of that story was I did pick myself up off the ground and the next flip deal that I did, I rolled up my sleeves, signed a contract and believe it or not, I hit a homerun. It doesn’t always work out that way but I did. I bought a deal, bought it, renovated it in 30 days, we had a full price off for the same day that we put it on the market and closed 30 days later. I owned this property exactly 60 days and made $63,000. I made a net to me of $63,000 on that second real estate deal, but it was only because I didn’t care about perfection anymore and I cared more about making progress, about moving for just doing the small little work each and every day, each and every day.

I know there’s a lot of you out there and you’ve got big dreams, you’ve got big goals. Some of you want to make $100,000 this year, some of you want to make a million dollars this year, whatever it is, go out starting today and make that daily progress. Toss perfection out the window. Unless I got any astronauts or brain surgeons out there, toss the perfection out the window, make daily progress each and every day. Hit those singles, do that work each and every day. Moving the ball forward.

My friends, I appreciate you listening to the show. If you enjoyed the podcast, if you received some good value from this, or just some insights and inspiration from this, I’d love if you can hit me up on Facebook, give me a 10 star rating on iTunes, it’d be great. Or maybe go to my website brantphillips.com, send me an email or whatever it may be, just connect. The feedback and responses I receive from you all means a lot to me. You mean a lot to me and I appreciate each and every one of you and so that’s it my friends. It’s time to go out, take action, create results. I thank you for listening to the show and until next time, I look forward to helping you create results in your life and in your business.

The post Brant Phillips Show 26: Progress Is More Important Than Perfection appeared first on Brant Phillips.

Brant: Hello guys. I’ve got a special guest with us here today and some of you know a little bit about my endeavors into the world of studying about Navy SEALs and just really trying to sharpen my mindset to become the best person that I can become and the best entrepreneur I can become. I’ve got a special guest on the show today who was a former Navy SEAL. His name is Joost Janssen. I know that’s American pronunciation Joost but Joost Janssen and he has a very, very accomplished military career, background as a Navy SEAL with over 12 years of service. He has extensive experience in oversees deployments and serving our country.

One of the things that’s really cool is since that time also in addition to a very decorated military career, he’s an entrepreneur, he’s like us. He’s delved into the world of real estate so he’s got investing experience he can share with us. He’s currently working in Hollywood as a trainer and adviser, a stunt performer. He’s been on some really, really big movies I’d say Blockbuster movies for that matter. You can read his bio here on the website in the podcast notes and he’s got a lot to share. You guys know me, I’m all about mindset and how our mindset and our attitudes and how we handle adversity directly contribute to our bottom line either in a positive or not so positive way. I’m excited to have Joost on and to share a little bit about his story and help you guys improve your lives and go out and create better results in your life, in your business. Without further ado, I’d like to introduce Joost to the show. How are you doing my friend?

Joost: Hey Brant, awesome introduction. Thanks man.

Brant: Thanks man. Thank you for coming on. We met so to speak through a mutual friend Nick who works in my office went to an event and he heard you speak and we’ve got an event coming up here in the next week, two weeks that you’re flying into town to speak at. He started to tell me a little bit about you and he was like, “Man, have you heard about this guy named Joost Janssen?” I’m like, “No, I don’t think I have but tell me about him.” He’s like, “Well, he’s a Navy SEAL. He spoke at this event and he was just like incredibly powerful speaker.” He’s like, “You should look him up.” I did. I looked you up. I’ve got, man, so much respect for Navy SEALs and military in general. I started looking you up and I listened to some of your podcasts and I went back to Nick, I’m like, “Do you think he can get in touch with this guy?” He did and here we are and I’m excited to have you come down to the event next week.

I’ll tell you one thing man that I heard you talk about and I’ve told like half a dozen people. I shared it in a team meeting with our team just about being strong and strong-willed and this mindset stuff that they hear me talk about a lot, but man, you shared a story that took the cake from me, which was a story, when you were going through BUD/S and you injured your neck, I think you tore some ligaments and maybe tendons, maybe even bones and continued without function of being able to lift up your neck for a couple of days and continued and made it through man. I just want to tell you that I got a lot of respect for you man after hearing that story.

Joost: It definitely wasn’t a smooth journey for me going through SEAL training. This is probably a good time. I’ll tell you some of the things I had to overcome personally. By the way, I don’t know anybody that had a smooth journey all the way through the SEAL training. There’s always something or someone or your buddy or something is trying to take you out and prevent you from finishing. I remember training before I went to go and said, “I want to be a Navy SEAL.” Back then in the ‘90s, there’s no YouTube, there’s very few books out there and no information but I had read somewhere that the Navy SEALs run in boots so I decided to strap on some boots and start running on a pavement every day. You can guess what happened after a month or so, I had the worst shin splints in the world but I kept on running.

It got so bad that six months later when I went into training, I couldn’t run at all. I made a commitment, December 23rd, I am showing up for boot camp and I’m going to go. I had every reason not to because I’m like, “I can’t even run.” My shins are just, I had stress fractures and shin splints going so bad but I decided just to go anyway just based on my commitment. Then I went to training and while I was in boot camp I visited doctor after doctor and finally got some relief or a solution to it with some orthotics but they had a negative effect of messing my knee up.

Then I got over the shin splints and then I entered SEAL training with a knee injury called ITB, Iliotibial Band Syndrome where the outside of your knee is so inflamed it squeaks when you even move it. I had to come up with a solution for that. I remember sitting in training thinking, “I am not going to make it a week in training but I’ll try to make it to the next day.” I started class ahead of me doing some cool evolutions that were on the boats going through the [surf storm 00:06:27]. I am thinking, “Well, I just want to get to that day.” They were like in week three or something. Like, “If I could just get to week three and go through the surf storm and see those boats getting tossed around by the waves and bodies flying everywhere, at least I got a good story when I leave.” That was my goal at the time when I went into it.

Brant: Man, there are some pretty big takeaways from that where a lot of guys when going on a mission whether it be to go to successful business or some type of physical feat like that, it’s so many people try to think about the finish line and they mentally beat themselves up and defeat themselves because the pain or whatever they’re dealing with is so difficult and that finish line is so far away but if you can just break it down into those mini goals and taking literally just taking the next step rather than really focusing on the finish line just taking the next step, that’s really all you have to focus on.

Joost: It is true. Most people quit. I came back later as an instructor. I got to see like for three years see these young guys going through training. One thing I learned that it’s not the actual physical pain or the in the moment stuff that makes most people quit, it’s thinking about what’s coming next. We used to play tricks on them. We would get them all warm and feed them and they’re all cuddly and warm and they’re eating MREs and then they start talking and the sun is starting to go down and they start talking about what’s coming up later and how badass the next shift of instructors was coming in and are drinking beer and how they’re all drinking Red Bulls waiting to come down there and kick their ass. The next thing you know you’ve got 15 people lined up ringing the bell because of something they’re thinking about rather than something they’re actually experiencing.

Brant: Some people know, I went through my little, to you guys it’s probably a cake walk but to me it was pretty brutal which was the Kokoro Camp which was a 50 hour thing. I went into that thing and a back story with that, I couldn’t, whenever, we’re going way back to high school. By the time I got out of high school, I had had multiple surgeries. I had a plate and screws in my ankle, pens in my knee. I wanted to go in the military. One recruiter was basically telling me to lie and I could get in, I wanted to be a marine. The other one was like, “Well, you could be caught [inaudible 00:09:17] and go to jail because you’re lying, you’re falsifying blah, blah, blah. I didn’t go. I went into law enforcement. That was kind of my thing.

Since that time, I’ve had two ankle surgeries, three knee surgeries, my knees bone-on-bone. Four or five years ago, my last surgery my doctor’s basically is like, “You need a knee replacement.” I already have arthritis blah, blah, blah. I listened to him for a while and so I got down, stopped exercising. I’m like, “Well, I guess this is where I become an old man, I’m almost 40.”

Then I went through it for a while, I’m like, “Screw this. If I need a new knee, why don’t I just speed up the process and do what I got to do?” The last few years I’ve went on this journey where I’m fighting in MMA, fighting in cage fights. I’ve done multiple Ironmans, I went through all this whole SEALFIT stuff and CrossFit competition but that’s one of the things that led me to SEALFIT was I’m like, “Let me experience life and let me just deal with the pain. My knee hurts already and I’m not doing anything. I might as well be fit and enjoy what I’m doing and say I’m an Ironman or say I went through the SEAL stuff and enjoy it while I can.”

The SEALs take it to a whole nother bundle though. I’m not even going to lie. I start Mark Divine and going through the SEAL training and I saw what you’re talking about though. When I went to Kokoro, so we started out at like 6:00 AM in the morning, everybody is showing up. When I went, it was one of the largest groups they had. I think they had like 50 guys that showed up and eight finished, seven or eight. That morning, psychologically these trainers and these SEALs are, they’re getting into us like, they’re tearing you down, they’re trying to find out who’s the weakest link and that kind of stuff.

Throughout the day, I’d say they were really honest in terms of letting people kind of get their money’s worth so to speak because guys pay a lot of money to be there and everybody is sizing each other up. I remember this one guy in particular he was probably 28/29 freaking just body like kind of Tarzan, looked like, I’m like, “This guy looks pretty legit. Like he’s going to make it up, make it fine. This guy, I don’t know.” You’re sizing people up.

Then the sun goes down and the first night when we were there, they put us in the water and the water is freezing and this guy happens to be next to me who I’d seen earlier and just mentally made a note like, “I think this guy is pretty good.” Some of these guys are BUD/S candidates. I guess they’re using this as a precursor to going into what you guys do. This guy is next to me in the water and they’ve got us, basically, I forget what they call it but we basically have to lay down in the water, kick our feet up over our heads, touch our feet behind our heads and come back up. It’s pretty much impossible to do without like sucking in water and getting water in your nose and it’s freezing cold.

The very first time we did it, the guy essentially rang the bell, he quit after that. There is like four or five guys next to him. This one guy was with me, he was like 50 and we looked at each other like, “Holy crap.” We just started and this guy tapped out but it was just interesting. I’m not going to go far into that because I want to get into some of the real estate business stuff but just that whole psychology of how important your commitment is and everybody’s got a plan to get [crosstalk 00:13:04].

Joost: It’s definitely all in your mind. It is true. You can’t look at somebody and go, “Wow, this guy looks like a SEAL. He’s going to make it.” You’re usually going to be wrong. Generally speaking the physically gifted people don’t do as well as the mentally tough. I remember when I was an instructor, this kid showed up for training and checked into our phase. He looked like Woody Allen but a miniature version, glasses and all. We thought that somebody was playing a joke on us. This guy showed up ready for training and your whole instructor staff just burst out laughing for minutes thinking like, “Somebody’s playing this huge joke,” and this guy kept standing there like he wasn’t joking. He couldn’t even start training because he got to get the PRK surgery before you could start because of the glasses and everything so he helped in their office. The running joke is that he’s the nerd that helps us in our office while he’s going to start training and he’ll last an hour. You know what? That guy, one of the toughest students I’ve ever seen in my life and became one of the best SEALs with 40 combat deployments and did some amazing things. That you can never look and tell because the mind is stronger than the body.

Brant: Yeah, for sure, for sure. I learned so much about myself when I saw that play out during Kokoro. We actually had a guy die during Kokoro and it was brutal but there was a kid, I call him a kid, he was like 17 or 18 but he looked like he weighed like 115 pounds. I think everybody sized him up not to make it a few hours and he did not make it the whole event but the kid had so much heart and grit to where he was passing out and they had to relieve him but I saw that coming to play for sure. Let’s talk a little bit, let’s tie this conversation into real estate a little bit or just business and entrepreneurship. Talk a little bit about your real estate experience and how some of these conversations that we’ve had in your experience as a SEAL, how those tie in to the real estate and entrepreneur world.

Joost: Let me start in the beginning for real estate for me. When I was 18, I’m an immigrant from Holland to Canada. I was 18 when I came to the US and I went to school to be a paramedic and ended up staying there. I started getting interested in real estate. I came from an immigrant family, we never had much money but I watched my parents, they would buy a house, a piece of crap house, they’d fix it up and nine months later we would move again and get a slightly better piece of crap house and fix it up.

I watched them do it and I helped my parents do some of the work. I had a little bit of that entrepreneur. My dad worked at an auto dealership as a mechanic and eventually manager but on the side he was always doing something to make a little extra money, whether it was buying old cars and fixing them and selling them or doing real estate so I always wanted to look for something. Real estate fascinated me. I wanted to own something that was mine. I remember the first house I bought was a HUD home. Do you guys still have HUD, like Housing and Urban Development Homes?

Brant: Yeah. Yes we do.

Joost: It was a sealed bid. It was a four acres and it was probably about 1,800 square foot house in really rough shape. The starting price was $25,000, which had needed to get out of it and it was a sealed bid. I sat there and I wrote 27,500 because that’s all I could afford. I could sell one of my vehicles and get $5,000 for the down payment and I was approved for the 22-5. That’s it. At 18/19 years old, that’s all I had. That’s all I could manage to liquidate.

Brant: Sure.

Joost: And I didn’t get picked. I wasn’t the highest bid. I go, “Oh I’m not worried about it.” The weird thing happened a month later, HUD contacted me and said, “The number one bidder fell out because they couldn’t get financing, you’re next up.” I’m like, “Wow.” Suddenly, I became an owner of my first house that cost me $27,500.

I ended up fixing that up over the course of a year, a year and a half, and eventually after I went to SEAL training, I kept the house thinking it’s like if something goes wrong, I could always go back to Michigan and I’ll still have my house. Once I got near the end of training, I called my real estate agent and I said, “Hey, go ahead and sell it.” By that time, it was already paid for, the loan was paid off and I was able to sell it for like $92,000, which doesn’t sound like much nowadays but back then I bought it at like 19 and I was 23 when I sold it. At 23 having $100,000 net worth was what propelled me into where I am today financially because money when you’re young, you can multiple it. Now, if you’re trying to do it at 40 and starting from scratch, it’s a lot harder, do it when you’re young.

Brant: Yeah, for sure.

Joost: And get a good win, get some hard work, get some experience in. By the way, I lost my net worth several times since then and had to rebuild it again but it gave me a skill set, a knowledge, and perseverance and now even just the last six months, I’ve taken some huge hits in my new business and it just gives me more like determination like I’m going to come back and I’m going to figure this thing out and I’m going to succeed because like maybe I’m doing, I started cryptocurrency business and six months ago, I knew nothing, so I’m spending 18 hours a day playing catch up and making mistakes and learning and then not making that mistake again and then just keep going.

Then also, I’ve had the huge wins, I’ve invested in four different countries in real estate and Thailand was really good to me. I would go and buy both houses and condos off the plan 18 months later they’re built and by that time they’ve already doubled in values so I can just come back and sell it and do it again on another one. That works until it doesn’t or the market flattens out and it stops working you got to figure something else out.

I also invested in your neck of the woods. I had two properties in Galveston and that was, I bought one in 2005 and one in 2006. Our plan was to move out there after I got out of the military because I always wanted to live on water and have a boat. We were all ready to make the move and then I’m sure you remember what happened in 2008.

Brant: Yeah.

Joost: Galveston and AIC did not get along very well. It was a disaster. It took years to recover from those two properties being demolished and the insurance companies fighting amongst each other and not paying and no rent being collected on them and you go down the list. You deal with it and you accept it. I like to people, “Accept your new reality quickly.” Once something happens, it happens. You can’t pretend you can go back in time and change it. You just accept it and say this is my options right now.” One of them is not crawling up into a little fall or doing nothing. You got to be decisive and make decisions.

Brant: Also, I’ve got a beach house in Galveston. I haven’t heard a lot of guys from San Diego wanting to move to the Galveston Beach honestly but Galveston’s home, it’s my beach so we got what we got. Yeah, that’s really good stuff man, really good stuff. What is it you think that helps to drive you and push you? I can’t even put a finger on it myself, like what causes me to want to go out and create new things and be able to bounce back like you said about crawling in a ball and crying in the corner or whatever because we all have, as entrepreneurs, real estate investors, we all have deals that goes bad.

One of my good friends and he’s a private lender, one of his kind of mottos and things that he uses to screen potential borrowers or investors is he says he won’t loan money to anyone who claims that they’ve never lost money because he either thinks they’re inexperienced or they’re lying. I guess can you put your finger on some of the things that help drive you and motivate you into keep coming back and fighting for more whenever things go sideways or don’t work out?

Joost: Yeah. I still haven’t figured out that this is something you’re born with or something you develop as you grow up but for me, I’ve always hated pursuing things that have a guaranteed outcome. For example, let’s say I want to be a surgeon. There’s a clearly defined path that as long as you put the time in and study at the end of it, you will be a surgeon. That sounds boring to me. To me, it’s like I want something with minimal chance of success. Like for example, I want to be a Navy SEAL.

Now, if you run the numbers on it, I would bet against myself because chances are you have maybe a 10% chance of making it considering just getting to training and starting and all the physical stuff and the fact that you might quit or you might get hurt and you go down the list, the chances of success are small and that gets me interested. I want to do something. The same with pursuing Hollywood. Most people would tell me I can’t do it. When people tell me I can’t do it, I want it even more and I pursue it even more.

Real estate, like I had some major losses on real estate and really big successes as well. You need both to drive you. If I know where I’m going to end up already, I’m bored. I don’t want to get up and do it anymore. I want the unknown. I want the likely event to be I won’t succeed. That just gets me motivated. I keep trying new things. I just six months ago started a whole new business in a new area I know nothing about that the chances of success are not necessarily guaranteed at all and likely you will lose all your money but that excites me.

Brant: I’m very, very similar into my real estate endeavors and business endeavors. We just closed down a business last month that a few months ago I’m like, “This is just, it’s a failure. It flopped, it didn’t do what I intended it to do, now it’s just, it’s taking a time, energy, money, it’s like let’s take it out to pasture and put a bullet in it.” I’m not beating myself up about it. I learned a lot from that like, “Okay, here’s where we went wrong, here’s where we went wrong.” Even in the beginning and the thought process behind it but to me it’s one of the lessons I learned.

Hey, this is Brant and I hope you’re enjoying today’s show. If you’re in a place in your life or your business where you just feel stuck or you just don’t know what actions to take to help you get unstuck or on to the path to creating the results you truly desire, please take a few minutes and go to my website brantphillips.com. There are some really valuable resources and information that may be able to help you out. If you’re interested in really speeding up results with the help of a coach or mentor and adding true accountability and guidance to your life and business, please reach out to me from my website as well at Brantphillips.com or going to www.brantphillips.com/coaching. Now, let’s get back to the show.

My Martial Arts MMA experience was that you either win or you learn and that’s got to be the mindset is if you win, like deals go good, you make a lot of money, dude, it’s awesome, it’s great. If you lose, like is that really losing? You learned something. By far, whenever I lose I learn so much more and it’s something about the losing and the pain or whatever it is that the loss, the financial loss, the personal loss, whatever, I just feel it more. Those feelings and the lessons and the reflection on what went wrong is so much stronger and so much powerful than whenever I win.

Anytime I lose, I wouldn’t say it’s completely auto responsive or I do it naturally because we have a tendency like you want to get pissed off, you want to yell, curse, punch the wall, whatever, get angry or upset and I do that, but I’m really good to look for the lesson, extract the lesson on what happened here and learn from it and that’s been really big for me. It’s like, “No, I did like it. We didn’t lose, we lost on that particular deal but we’ve gained so much more because we can use that to keep moving forward on the next deal.” Yeah man, that’s really good insight for our listeners and real estate investors and entrepreneurs. Let’s talk about the Hollywood thing real quick. How did all that transpire and what’s exciting you in that field and what are you working on in that area right now?

Joost: That started about 10 years ago. I was still active duty in the SEAL teams. They were looking, Michael Bay was looking for a couple real life Navy SEALs to put in this Transformers movie. At the time we were doing something called Special Ability Extra so you’re an extra but with no lines or dialog or anything like that you’re just running around but then the special ability side goes like, “We’re doing tactical work, sliding transformers up and Downtown LA.”

It looked and sounded like fun. One of my childhood dreams is always to be in a movie once and that turned into, when I showed up I got to start doing a little stunt bubble work for Josh Duhamel who’s one of the leads in the movie. Then at a certain point, Michael Bay gave me a couple of days where I had some lines. Now granted, that didn’t make it into the movie but I still got paid as a full-fledged actor and to this day, 10 years later, I’m still getting quarterly residual checks from the movie because I had a couple of lines that ended up not making it.

Brant: That’s pretty cool.

Joost: I just really enjoyed the process and enjoyed the people, this learning and it’s just brand new to me. For those years in 2007/’08/ and ’09 I floated around, I did a reality show, funny it’s called SOCOM Hell Week, SOCOM is a video game that Sony did. Sony paid for its reality show called SOCOM Hell Week Season 2. You can look on YouTube and see what we did. It’s very similar to what you went through with Mark Divine but it was in a reality show. We took the top gamers in the US for SOCOM and invited them to try to go through a real Navy SEAL Hell Week. We had 1,100 applicants.

Brant: For a full week?

Joost: It was a full week.

Brant: No sleep?

Joost: But also it was designed to, so it was actually maybe four days but it was designed to look like it was a full week on the reality show.

Brant: But without sleep?

Joost: No, we gave them sleep. It wasn’t a real Navy SEAL Hell Week. Put it this way, when we started filming, we started with 28 people, 45 minutes into it, we had four left. We had to stop filming and start it all over again. They were like, “Dude, this is not going to work.”

Brant: You tone it down.

Joost: This is supposed to last a week. We had to start all over again and dial it way down and then when we haven’t had a quitter in 10 hours, we ramp it up a little bit and get a quitter. It was a little hokey in that regards. Interestingly, we still ended up with four people making it in the end and it was the same four people.

Brant: Really?

Joost: One of them was 50, like 51 or 52 and at the time he was going through it, his son was in the army serving in Iraq, so he had this no quit attitude. Two of the guys that made it ended up going through the real SEAL training process. Neither of them ended up making it but they made it pretty far. Then it was just a cool little thing to do. It’s one way to do the Hollywood and then in 2009, I took a little break from doing that and ended up working for one of the government agencies as a direct hired contractor and then deploying. There were about 15 or so deployments during those five years all over the world and took a real break from Hollywood.

It was a dangerous situation, I lost a lot of friends out there doing it. I got to the point where I was done. I wanted to, I still enjoyed the work but between the risk level and the time away, inadvertently I just made a decision, I’m not going to do it. I’m going to stop doing it but I’m also not going to go get a job. I’m like, at the time, I still had some small businesses, some real estate going on and things like that and I’m like, “I’ll just pursue Hollywood.”

Then I did a little bit of work here and there and then I heard that Michael Bay was doing a story about 13 Hours in Benghazi and that was the story where two of my close friends were killed. It was on the project I was on even though I was in Yemen while that happened I was flying back from Yemen during that whole incident. I remember I flew home and the agency calls me and says, “Keep your suit ready and don’t go anywhere.” I’ve not even look at the news or anything yet and then I realized there was something that went wrong. I had to do next of kin notifications for Glen Doherty who died on that rooftop and him and I graduated SEAL training together. The other guy Ty Woods, him and I were instructors together for years. Also real estate investors together in Thailand and other places, so that hit, that hit pretty hard.

When Michael Bay decided to make the movie, I was very fortunate to be part of it. I got to be an adviser, we got to train the lead six actors, a full week of very intensive live fire training before we went over to Malta and started filming. I got to be a stunt bubble for John Krasinski and then I was also cast in the movie as my own character so that was really an awesome experience and since then I’ve never actually been in a project that was that extensive from the very beginning to the very end. Since then recently I did movie, the American Assassin. I worked The Mummy over in Africa filming that. Primarily, I work as a trainer, adviser, consultant whatever you want to call it, the technical ways, it was technical adviser, military adviser and that sometimes leads into other roles either being cast as an actor or doing some stunts and things like that. It’s a lot of fun.

Brant: It sounds like it. It sounds like it. It sounds like your motivation was similar to mine when I left law enforcement. I was just tired of working weekends and holidays and things like that and I didn’t want to have a job anymore and so it was more like a motivation. I went to corporate world for a little bit. Yeah man, that’s really powerful especially what you shared about your friends and with being able to help tell their story about 13 Hours on the screen of being a part of that, that’s powerful stuff man. Let me ask you this, so, listening to you, talking to you, you inspire me and I’m sure that you are inspiring people who are listening to this and just sharing what you do. What are some things that inspire you or some people that you look up to to get motivation from?

Joost: I’m not going to give one name or anything like that but typically it’s people that are doing something with their lives, doing something great. I don’t care if our politics agree with each other. I know that what really pisses me off is the armchair quarterbacks criticizing people who are trying to do something. If you’re doing something, I could totally disagree with everything you believe and respect the hell out of you for going out there and doing it. Whether you’re ultraconservative or ultraliberal, I don’t agree with everything Trump’s doing but I respect the fact that he’s doing it his way the way he thinks, he doesn’t need to do anything, he’s rich. Elon Musk could just stop working tomorrow. He is building our future for us. It’s just people like that that care enough to leave the world a better place. Whether it does or not … It doesn’t matter, it’s the fact that they’re out there trying.

Brant: Yeah, I agree. I agree 100% with that. Man, what are the plans for the future man? What is on the horizon for you and what are you building for 2018 and years to come?

Joost: The goal settings, I always have a list and my wife and I will get together every year and take account of what we hit and didn’t hit over the past 12 months and then set some new goals. We are doing, every little area, I’m not looking to hit home runs. I’m looking to pursue deeper into areas that I’m getting a lot of satisfaction from. The Hollywood stuff, I have a plan of not achievement but I have a plan of what I need to do to get better so I’m going on that. I need to get out more, I need to network more, so I need to get more people working for me out there finding stuff for me. I have a plan for that and whether it works or not, doesn’t matter, it’s I’m actually doing it and setting myself up for potential more opportunity.

With the businesses, I’m just saying I need to shut one down. It’s not because it’s hard, the market changes rapidly and the idea and the business we had isn’t as viable as it was a year ago when we started it. It’s not quitting, it’s just being smart going my efforts and resources could go somewhere else. I have a few businesses that actually bore me to death but they pay my bills and I try to hire somebody and delegate the responsibilities that bore me to death because most people enjoy the predictability and the reliability of a fixed income and tasks and they know one rural area well and they just want to do it and make their money and I don’t understand those people but I’m glad they’re there because that means I don’t have to do it. Just learning how to delegate and things and just release. I’m not a control freak so just releasing some responsibility to others to manage and freeing up more time.

We have a goal that we did six months ago as a family, my kids are 10 and 11 right now, about to be 11 and 12, two boys. It’s annoying, the last couple of years I’m pissed off at how much electronics and TV and PlayStations and Nintendos have crept into our lives. We made it a point where we need to do something amazing with the likeliness of success being very low. As a family we are, we have started already about six months ago, we’re going to hike the Pacific Crest Trail from Mexico all the way to Canada. That’s 2650 miles. The likeliness that we’ll finish with our schedules and the kids’ school schedule and the fact that it’s a family doing it, it’d be a lot easier for me to do it by myself, we just want to finish by the time they graduate high school we want to hit the end. We want to give them something, the feeling of achieving something that very few people in the world have ever done. Then we want to do it as a family so it means something even more than just doing it by yourself.

Brant: Have you mapped out how many miles you need to hit each year like reverse engineered? How did you all do that?

Joost: Yeah. Technically if we do four to 500 miles a year, we should hit it. Also knowing that real life’s going to take over and prevent that I guess. We’re past the 100 mile mark at the start and we’re still figuring stuff out. I remember our first trip, we went on and we started on the Mexican border, it was a three-dayer. We did everything wrong. We carried way too much water. The forecast said nice and sunny, San Diego weather and it ended up being a rainstorm and miserable and cold and the kids had shorts. We didn’t have long pants worn, exactly. We totally were unprepared. The bags were actually too heavy. We carried the wrong stuff, everything that could go wrong did go wrong.

We didn’t even plan, we thought we could Uber back to our vehicle at the end and not only are there no Ubers that come out in the middle of nowhere to pick you up, on top of that, I took a solar panel with me to recharge my cell phone on the way and with three days of rain, we had a dead cell phone so we got to the endpoint, pouring rain and I got 10% battery left trying to call taxi services to come pick us up, but a lot of lessons learned and the next one went a lot smoother. Then we dialed in so we’re trying to push the distance on every trip now a little bit more and more and get into the flow of it.

Brant: Man, that’s really, really good stuff. Not only personal goals, business goals but family goals that are, that’s scary that you may or may not hit. That’s really good stuff and then talking about businesses that you have and I think that one thing I was thinking about when you were talking about that is talking about you have businesses that are successful that make money but you don’t really want to spend your time there.

To me, energy is so important. I remember when, my whole goal when I got into real estate, I wanted to make a lot of money but I really just wanted to, I wanted to be my own boss. I wanted to control my time and I wanted to do things that I enjoy doing, things that inspire me, working with other people that inspire me and not what I experienced part time during law enforcement and the corporate world of just being in a box, doing the same things over and over again, didn’t excite me. I wanted to be doing podcasts like cool dudes like yourself and just enjoying life and doing events and working with people and doing deals and just enjoying life man.

Joost: I like that too. For me, my boring businesses are important because they afford me the freedom to pursue my passions and my dreams. Without those boring, like I had one business, it’s a window and door wholesale company. I’d rather stab myself in the leg with a fork than work on that Monday through Friday but it takes me, I’ve got it down to about 82 minutes a week average I need to work on it to keep it going. On the Saturday when my employee logs out their server, then I just go in and just do 82 minutes of work and I’m done for the week and my part is done.

Brant: That’s awesome.

Joost: I do it because that affords me 40 hours of freedom that week. I need to stay involved. You can delegate a lot but eventually somebody needs to steer the ship. They need to stay on steering the ship and have a good top-down view so you know you’re making good decisions and I love it. I value that business as boring as it is because of the freedom it affords me.

Brant: 82 minutes sounds pretty dialed in my friend, 82 minutes is pretty good.

Joost: I’ve been working a year and a half to get it lower and lower every week.

Brant: Yeah? Yeah? That’s good. I like it man. Man, I appreciate you coming on. It’s been very, like I said man, much, I have so much honor and respect for you and appreciation for you to come on and share your story. I’m looking forward to actually meet you in person next week here in Houston and you coming out to the event man.

Joost: I’m really excited for the event and I appreciate the invite and you guys taking care of everything for me. I’m looking forward to it.

Brant: Thanks man. I appreciate everybody listening to this show. Check Joost out. Joost, is there a website or anywhere that you want to steer them to to find you online? Tell them about…

Joost: Unfortunately a lot of my life I try to keep under the radar basically.

Brant: Got you.

Joost: I’m not a big … you can find me online and you can see some of the stuff I’ve done. Recently, I did a lot of promo events for the American Assassin movie. You can see me and Dylan O’Brien doing some training together with live fire. You can see some stuff I did with Military.com recently things like that. Just using my name in the internet, you’ll find some of the stuff I’m doing. Although I’m not trying to build a big connection. I’m not selling anything. I am here talking to you Brant because I like doing it. I love it.

Brant: Got you.

Joost: I’m just speaking at your event because I enjoy it. I enjoy talking, teaching, meeting people that are likeminded. Other than that, this is not a financial side of anything I do other than my own enjoyment.

Brant: Yeah. Man, I appreciate you coming on, I appreciate you sharing your time and looking forward to meeting you next week. Thank you everybody for listening to the show and I think we’re going to call it a wrap my friend.

Joost: Awesome, thanks man.

Brant: Thank you.

Joost: I’ll see you next weekend.

Brant: See you next week.

The post Brant Phillips Show 25: Brant Interviews Joost Janssen, Navy Seal appeared first on Brant Phillips.

Brant: All right everybody, welcome to The Brant Phillips Show. I’ve got a special guest on with you today. In a lot of these podcasts and shows people say, “Hey, I’d like to introduce my good friend.” Sometimes a little peep behind the curtains, a lot of these people in promotions, they’re promoting and they may have met at a conference or something like that at one point in time but this is a friend of mine, a true friend. His name is Judson Smith. We met years back. He came to one of my events, a Breakthrough at the Beach Event. Over the last few years, I have watched Judson become what, like Hall of Fame action taker and just going out and taking action and just doing the work and really starting from a small, very small business to really consistently taking his business to the next level, to the next level, to the next level. I’m very happy that all you guys are listening today because you’re going to be in for a treat with my good friend Judson. Judson, how are you doing brother?

Judson: I’m doing awesome man. I appreciate the generous intro.

Brant: Yeah dude, hello. I don’t think that’s even really doing justice to what you’ve been doing man because since I met you a few years ago, dude, you’ve just been crashing it. I’ll tell you what, one of the greatest compliments for someone who is a coach or a mentor or just helping people out is whenever they go out and do what you suggest or recommend and not you, you went out years ago and did everything that I taught you and you’ve taken things to the next level. Some of my students have gone out and created bigger businesses than myself and that is a compliment to me. You’re a dude who’s crashing it including closed I think a hundred unit deal that you did recently. Before we get into some of the nuts and bolts about real estate man, just introduce people, tell them a little bit about yourself so they can get to know you a little bit.

Judson: Yeah, absolutely man. I do my business in the Raleigh, Durham and surrounding areas of North Carolina. Family man, I’ve been married to my wife Lauren for five years. We’ve got three kids, we’ve got Parker who’s five and then we’ve got Ella-Kate and Emmeline who are twin girls, who are three. Funny story is when you were just talking about meeting at your Breakthrough at the Beach Event and I remember when I first saw the ad come up on Facebook and I was sitting on my couch and I was having a couple of beers and watching the game at that time and you know whatever football game was on and Lauren was pregnant. I was like, “Man, should I go? Should I not go?” I was up in the air, up in the air.

Long story short, I ended up signing my commitment and sending my wire while I was in the hospital room and having the twin girls. The next time you say, “You know, now is not the right time.” Think about that because there will never be a right time but yeah man. We do all kinds of real estate deals, we buy and hold, we flip, we wholesale at times and so our goal is really just always bringing value and solving whatever problem the property springs to us and helping people out whatever way we can through real estate. It’s been a journey, it’s been awesome and a lot of it started with our relationship there at Breakthrough at the Beach.

Brant: Yeah, I remember that, whenever you’re having the twins and then not only signing up and committing to that but then telling your wife that, “Hey, I’ve got to fly clear across the country next month and leave you with a couple of one month old babies.” Yeah, I remember that man. The timing for a lot of things in life aren’t … a lot of big things, most of the things, it’s never going to be ideal. That’s for sure, good or bad, whether it be something positive and a lot of times negative things that arise like this is not a good time for it but that’s usually the time it’s going to appear.

When I teach real estate, of course you know my program is built around what I call the seven fundamentals. The first fundamental is mindset. I say over and over and over again, the most important part of your business or at least out of these seven fundamentals really is mindset. We were talking before we started recording this a little bit about Navy SEAL training and guys just that we’ve met at the gym and some guys that are just like have this really strong mental fortitude. What have been some of your insights or things that you use to just help you stay focused and create results in business that revolve around this conversation about mindset? Why is that so important to business success?

Judson: Yeah, absolutely. I love that quote. I don’t know if Tyson was the first to do it but he definitely said it with, “Everybody’s got a plan until they get punched in the face.” With a lot of investors, even including myself, this looks great. You go out and you see 20, 30, $40,000 flip profits and you see it on TV and the way it’s going to look or should look and then you actually go out and do it and somewhere between a week and two weeks in, you just get punched right in the face with some sort of adversity and things don’t look like they did on TV, and problems come up out of nowhere and so mental fortitude becomes the biggest tool you have.

I use a couple of things man. After dealing with a bunch of problems and having a bunch of what I thought were world ending issues come up in my business that I had to deal with right then, one of the things I try to do is just weed away the noise and the BS to get to what the real issue is. A lot of times when we face adversity, it’s all this noise and it’s chaos coming at us or what appears to be chaos at first. If you can quiet your mind enough, whether that’s writing it down or taking a second to breath or getting out of the situation and ask yourself a couple of simple questions like, “What do I need? What needs to happen in order to fix this? What do I need to do or who do I need to be or who do I need to contact or employ or whatever the question may be to solve this?”

One thing I’ve seen over and over with myself especially in the beginning days was I’d get so wrapped up in the problem, “Oh, we opened up this wall and it’s completely eaten with termites. That’s an extra 10 grand that I don’t have in my bank account.” Or, “We’ve got five jobs open and they’re all late or the contracts fell through, it’s noise, noise, noise.” When you can take a second and separate yourself mentally from the noise and discover what the real issues are and how to solve them, things quiet down for you and you start to build systems that solve things.

Brant: Yup, yup. No, that’s definitely true man. I know one of the things I talk about at the Beach that’s so important is creating that space from the noise, because the noise and the stress and the pressure is, it’s overwhelming and it’s real. The struggle is real but there’s tools, like you have your structure, some of your habits, some of your resources and tools that you do to combat them. That’s why it’s so important and I tell people about not, I don’t like to use the word having a balanced lifestyle but creating some of the habits and the things that help overcome all the daily little darts that come at us because if you’re building a successful business and most listeners out there may be doing real estate on the side or full-time, may be working a full-time job and they have a career, they’ve got relationships, they have kids, you have to create some space where you can check out from all of the white noise and everything going on.

That’s why we teach and preach doing things like daily exercise and/or doing things like just meditating and just creating some space to get clear, get present with where you’re at, what’s most important so you can sift through the BS if you will to find like okay, where is the pressure coming from and where is the target? Where can I push the button or call someone to outsource this thing? Or just whatever it is to get it resolved as quickly as possible so you can get back to focusing on making money and enjoying your business and doing the things that matter the most man. It’s absolutely important.

Judson: Yeah 100% dude. I’m just going to jump in real quick right there if I may because here is what I’ve understood and part of what you’ve taught me as well is these clearing mechanisms, nothing can go constant for 100% of the time so we can’t run hard, we can’t run our business 100% of the time, we literally can’t focus on something for that long. These outlets that we’re talking about, healthy ones being working out, meditation, time with family, time with kids, those outlets are going to happen no matter what. Those outlets also look like booze, sports gambling, porn, like you’re going to have those outlets no matter what. I’ve learned to and I tell people, younger people too like pick your poison. One that’s actually not poison but pick your method because you have to create space and you’re going to create space. You’re either going to do it healthy or something that’s going to eventually tear down the whole house.

Brant: Yeah, you’re absolutely right man. That’s why if you look at my calendar, every day I’ve got time blocked out for my kids and I’ve got workout scheduled throughout every day of the week. It doesn’t mean that I’m bursting out some two or three hour workout but I’m getting at least 30 minutes to do something. Not that I want to, not that I always enjoy it although I do most of the time but I know that if I don’t do that that I’m going to likely be a big ball of stress and just not as productive. I’m not going to be as relaxed when I do go home with my kids, my family and things like that.

Yeah, it’s absolutely critical just to stay in this game because this game of real estate, this game of business man, it’s not always about the Xs and Os. It’s not always about the fundamentals of real estate and we’re going to talk about that in just a second but it’s all these little ancillary things that you may not see on the whiteboard like analyzing deals and by evaluations and raising money and financing, it’s the things that we don’t whiteboard about that are intertwined with all these little things that we are doing on a daily basis, how we’re operating in these relationships with employees and with contractors and with private lenders. If you’re operating your life where it’s just a big mess or chaos and uncertainty, then you’re going to step into your business that way. That’s throughout, how you do one thing is how you do all things. It’s going to trickledown effect or trickle into effect on how your business is run.

All right man. Let’s move into a couple of the other fundamentals just real quick and let’s talk about a little bit on … let’s talk about deal flow because one of the most critical things in business and real estate where, with our coaching students here and even just running our business, we spent most of our time talking about and working on generating deal flow. Second most is probably financing. We also spend a lot of time with construction and rehabbing booth. We’ve got that built up pretty well with our teams and systems. Let’s talk about deal flow man. What do you do in your market? I know you’re in North Carolina. It’s probably a little bit different here in Houston but it’s probably pretty similar. What are you doing to generate deal flow in your business?

Judson: Yeah. I’ll start by saying deal flow is the lifeblood. The interesting thing about deal flow is that you might think that money in the bank or in the operating account is what makes you feel good as a real estate business owner but for me it’s really more, as long as I’ve got few deals in the pipes, mentally, that’s always what makes me feel healthier even more so than cash because that’s what creates our cash, that’s what gives our investors and private lenders a place to put money and grow their money and so without it, you can build a big of a bank account or do as big of a deal as you wanted to do but what’s next? Where is that money moving and what’s coming down the pipe?

A few strategies we use and probably nothing new here if you’ve ever listened to anything about real estate or real estate investing but direct mail or direct marketing, creating relationships with wholesalers, creating relationships with investor-friendly real estate agents which is a … let me hone in on that one because hopefully I can save you a couple of years of your life. Do not mess with real estate agents who do not know investing or do not deal with investors because you will bang your head against the wall and wonder why a deal that is selling for 150 that you don’t want to pick it up for 140, so make sure you’re dealing with investor-friendly. Talk to other investors in the area, get in with the people who are selling deals.

Then the biggest way honestly to create deal flow would be to close a deal, prove to these people that you, whoever the key players may be in your market that you can close. I know we’ll get to that later on, how to close and how to raise capital but once you close a couple of properties, the deal flow gets more consistent because the people feeding you deals know you did what you said you were going to do.

Brant: Yeah, absolutely man. I see a lot of newbies come in to the business and the marketing piece, creating deal flow is really, it’s about your commitment level when it comes to spending money. Or if you’re taking more of a I guess a grassroots approach and the way I started really was just through a lot of networking and meeting people and trying to find out who the real players were. That was also a commitment level of just my time and my energy but a lot of times, it’s just a matter of being committed to a marketing plan and doing it over and over and over and over again. To me, I found that that is the most critical piece.

I read a book one time and it was like, 101 ways or however many it was, 101 Ways to Market Real Estate Deals. This guy went through all these different ways to do marketing for a real estate business. Then basically he asked a question. He was like, “This is probably what a lot of you are asking towards the end of the book, what is the best way? Out of all this, you know 100 ways or whatever it is, what is the best way to market my business?” He said, “Whichever one you’re going to commit to do over and over and over again.”

With postcard marketing for example, I’ve seen people who will create a campaign and they’ll spend 1,000 or $5,000 or whatever it is and they’ll mail out maybe once or maybe twice and they don’t get a deal and then they just stop. I did that in the very, very beginning. That is myself, that’s what I did in the very beginning. The first time we did a campaign, we had spent like 10 or 15 grand almost and like we didn’t land a deal from them. I’m like, “Oh, we got to stop this.”

For postcards, postcards and letters for example, when you look at your return rate, a first time mailer that you send to somebody, you’re going to get like maybe a 2% response, maybe, maybe. Then you send out again, it goes to like 3% or 4%. You send out again, it goes to like 5% or 6%. After you send out like the fifth or sixth exposure to somebody that little bit of the trust goes up, a little bit of familiarity then it jumps up to like 30% or 40% or 50% response rate or something like that. That rule of direct mail marketing applies really across the board with all marketing. It’s just a matter of being consistent over and over and over again.

I’ve seen that to be true, especially we do a lot of SEO marketing but it’s taken us two years to get really, really, it took us about a year and a half to say, “We’re pretty good at this.” To where we’re like, “We’re really good at it.” It’s not that we’re really good, it’s just we’ve been really consistent for multiple years now so it’s just starting to pay dividends really. Like with a lot of things, it just takes time.

Judson: Some key things just for the listeners, like a couple of things you said there, so it can take years to build this type of response rate and the 2% you’re talking about, that’s responses, that’s not deals. There is this second …

Brant: That’s responses. That’s just-

Judson: There’s this second layer to it and it’s like, “Yeah, I’ve sent out a thousand postcards and 20 people didn’t tell me to go die in a hole somewhere and I was able to convert one of those into a deal.” That was honestly with marketing was my first … actually Chris, one of our mutual friends, he sent me a screenshot one day he’s like, “Dude, you’re famous. You’re on the interwebs.”

It was an article I had done with PostcardMania which is a good postcard company that they’ve always had really good customer service and done a really good job. They had done an interview with like a good month that had been created through one of their campaigns. Just one of those things where yeah, that looks great and I’ve got the picture up there, cheesing and this is what happened with this postcard but you don’t see is all these, I used to drive for dollars and which is basically just driving around looking for vacant houses and all these other things that went in with no response or people saying, sellers saying like, “You know guys are ripping people off or you’re scamming people.”

This is the side of marketing that if you are new to the game, be prepared that if it isn’t taught at a school or a university or something like that like people won’t understand it. You do have to stay consistent in what you know regardless of what the … don’t commit to the, or don’t be waivered by the outcome, commit to the process like you were saying.

Brant: Yeah, it’s there. When we worked with new students, the science is, the results are in the math, it’s all there. It’s like this is what happens consistently over and over in time. This has been proven that you’re going to get these results with this effort and this consistency. Until you experience it, like being a newbie, I get it, it’s scary because there is essentially two types of truths that we have. We have like knowledge that we identify and we’ll say, “Hey, yeah, I accept that as truth.” Even though it may be something that we’ve never experienced before. This is like raising our kids, we’re trying to teach them through our experiences or training employees or for me training students like, “Hey, this is true.” Like, “This is really what happens when you do these things or when you do this thing or whatever it may be.” Like, “This is true.” Them going, “Oh yeah, I can see how that happens.” They believe I don’t lie very much so people, I tell them something like, “Yeah, I believe Brant, like it’s true.”

If they haven’t experienced it themselves, like for themselves, like it’s harder for them to truly accept as truth through experience. I taught one of my kids to ride a bike recently without training wheels. I kept telling them like, “Son, when you get this, like whenever you take these training wheels off, you’re going to love this.” I’m like, “I know you’re scared of it right now because you can fall but I promise you even if you fall a few times and you fall down and even if you scrape your knees and your elbows and you bleed. Even if you do that, when you learn how to do this, you’re going to say, “Dad, it was well worth it because this is so much fun.” Finally, we got the training wheels off and he experienced it. He was terrified before and he experienced it and he’s like, “Oh dad, it’s so much fun, I love it.” I’m like, “Yeah,” because he had experiential truth, the experience that felt like it’s so true.

It’s like that with a lot of my students. It’s like they’re walking through, it’s like that valley, that dark valley. They start spending money on direct mail and things like that and like I’m on the other side of the valley, the tunnel like where the light is. I’m like, “I promise you, keep going. There’s going to be a deal.” Then it’s like, “It’s dark, it’s really dark in here. I think I can see you at the end of the tunnel Brant but I’m not sure.” When they get that deal it’s like, “Aah.” Then they’re going out and telling other people about it. It’s definitely been that way. Hey, I’m just curious. I’m just curious. Was the deal that you did, the big deal with the multiple homes a part of that like a direct mail marketing thing?

Judson: Yeah. It started as a direct mail marketing campaign on the one house. Then I always have a follow-up question or whoever is working with me or around me or I’m partnered with or whatever the scenario may be, I always make it a point to say ask a seller if they have anything else. Like, “Is there anything else that you have that you’d be interested in selling?” Once you have a deal locked in and this happened to be a deal where it was a single family house in a different area and then the guy had like 97 other units clogged into a small city nearby. He’s like, “I’m also interested in moving those.” It’s like, “When were you going to bring that up in the conversation if I didn’t ask?”

Yeah, that essentially resulted from direct mail. That direct mail was actually sent to a tenant who relayed it up the way I understand it. It was like, “Hey, you got this postcard that came,” or something to that degree. The guy lived on the same street as the house and the subject house that the mailer went to. Yeah, you never know and that’s why you just got to stay consistent with it.

I wanted to hop back real quick on that gap that you were talking about because I think as much as people might want to hear mechanical things as they usually do, that’s a huge thing you said about that valley or that risk gap that exists there because I really feel like it’s what separates people like who will sit in the gap and who will sit in the pain of risk or risk tolerance for long enough to see the results and whether it’s marketing or trying something new in your business or growing your business, you’ve got to be willing to sit in that gap long enough if you trust in your heart that you’re going after works.

You made the reference to marketing but before we hopped online, we were talking about business growth for us, for me and you. Guys that are already doing certain types of numbers, you experience that same type of fear, that same type of gap, that same type of darkness, some days of what in the hell am I doing? Even at the next level, even at this level and so it’s always like how have you built yourself to sit in that gap, in that valley, in that darkness until things pan out?

Brant: Yeah man. It is so important and we’re really going back to mindset which is fine with me because that like I said is the most important fundamental of business. Just recently I mentioned before our call, a friend of mine’s bought like 1,400 houses. He talked about some of his … he came out to one of our events and just spoke about very similar things, just about having the mindset, being committed and do whatever it takes. A lot of friends and people I’ve had in this business, we share war stories, Masterminds and things that I’m a part of. It’s really your commitment is so much more important than really anything else because if you’re committed no matter what, no matter what, you’re committed you’re going to make this happen then whether or not you spend 10 or 15 or $20,000 on marketing without getting a deal if you’re committed to it, you’re going to keep doing it.

That’s why it’s important to have a business and have a structure that’s built on fundamentals which I think we’re really fortunate in the real estate investing industry because there’s been so many people that’s gone before us that have already created the map. We just have to go out and execute it. When it comes to being a successful real estate investor, you don’t have to go out and reinvent the wheel. We just have to do what’s already been done. We’re not creating Tesla electric automobiles or Bitcoin or whatever. It’s like I’m not that smart. Give me the map and let me just go out and do it over and over and over again. I talked about this Navy SEAL Joost, J-O-O-S-T, I think he’s from Holland. He’s coming to speak at our event here in a few weeks, Flipping Houston live event. Some people may say, “Why do you have a Navy SEAL coming to speak at your real estate investing event?” I’m like, “Why not?” I love-

Hey, this is Brant. I hope you’re enjoying today’s show. If you’re in a place in your life or your business or your real estate investing where you just feel stuck, maybe you don’t know what actions to take next to get you unstuck or just on that path of creating the results that you really desire, please take a few minutes and go to my website at brantphillips.com. There are some really valuable resources and information that may be able to help you out. If you’re interested in really speeding up results with the help of a coach or mentor and adding true accountability and guidance to your life and business, please reach out to me from my website, you’ll see a link at the top or by going to brantphillips.com/coaching. Now, let’s get back to the show.

I love the SEALs and the Mark Divine is another one who a lot of his guys have really, there’s been this crossover a little bit with just the mindset, the Navy SEAL mentality and applying that to business. He shared the story about when he was going through BUD/S which is the five-day Hell Week essentially with no sleep and just brutal, brutal physical challenges and workouts and all these things that they have to go through. He tore tendons and muscles on his neck, I heard it on a podcast so I’ve got to, me and him are having a call tomorrow so I got to get some more details on that because this really surprised me but he tore tendons and muscles and ligaments and all kinds of stuff on his neck.

How it happened was, I don’t know if you’ve ever seen in any of these Navy SEAL shows or whatever, they’ve got this boat exercises where they get in that boat out past the breaking waves and it takes them time after time like half a day to do it, but it’s dependent on them. The only way to do it is if they, a little bit of luck probably but them operating as a team because if even one of them is off or not pulling their weight or not positioned correctly, the boat’s going to topple over. It’s all about teamwork and also how they either continue to help each other and push each other or if they give up. That’s the part of the psychology about it. Literally the boat came over, a decent sized boat and hit the back of his head and that’s how it tore his tendons and his ligaments.

For the last day and a half to 48 hours, he literally could not hold up his head through his own neck muscles and ligaments or tendons or what have you. When he needed his head raised, which is probably a majority of the time, he would have to physically hold his head up with his hand.

Judson: Unbelievable.

Brant: That’s how committed he was to completing Hell Week and becoming a Navy SEAL. I would say if a lot of people had, I don’t know, maybe a tenth level, 10% of that commitment level in real estate that they’d probably be really successful but a lot of people get in and they dab with it or they’re somewhat committed and their goals are somewhat vague or their why isn’t big enough and they don’t make it. It’s not that they weren’t good enough, it was just they weren’t really committed to it and stuff.

Judson: Everybody, it’s my belief anyway that everybody is good enough and like you said that the business plans are on Google. Just go Google real estate, the mechanics are there. One thing, it doesn’t annoy me, that’s the wrong word but I hope better for people when they ask about mechanics because the mechanics are always going to be the mechanics. It’s everything that surrounds those mechanics that make or break your business or make or break how successful you’re going to be. Let’s go back to your buddy you were just talking about which that’s incredible that he had the drive to do that and finish. How do you stand on a boat? How do you paddle up? There’s 100,000 ways to do that but the point of the exercise is just to finish. I think new investors especially get so wrapped up in mechanics.

My advice would be, take it for what it is, but once you have your head wrapped around a certain mechanic that you understand, just go hammer it, go hammer it and see how committed you are to it. If you’re really all in … I’ll back up for a second. I took flying lessons all the way up to student pilot, soloed airplane, soloed my first airplane at night, flew a cross country trip which literally doesn’t mean cross country but flew down to South Carolina from North Carolina, Myrtle Beach at night, flew over to my hometown Edenton, did all these things. I wanted to be a pilot. I wanted to learn how to operate a single prop airplane. I realized, I mean this is something that took a lot of time, a lot of commitment and it was all mechanics. It’s all checklist, it’s all proper equipment, proper procedure. It has a bit of coordination in it but for the most part, it’s mechanics.

What I found out at the end and even as recently as within the last year and a half, I completed the written exam for the FAA but still haven’t got my pilot’s license. There’s some type of gap there in terms of how committed I am to actually having that pilot’s license in my wallet and being able to fly people around from place to place in a single prop airplane and just looking at the facts. I’m not committed to it. It’s not something that I truly want to do right now in my life because if it was, there’s no mechanics issues, there’s no physical deficiency, there’s no mental deficiency, that’s debatable I guess. I’ve got a few mental deficiencies but we won’t talk about those.

Brant: Most serial entrepreneurs do.

Judson: Yeah. The point being if you really, mechanics matter. You can’t just go do business another way or any way. Once you have your head wrapped around your idea, then you got to go execute and you’ll know your commitment level by your level of execution.

Brant: Our commitment level will show in our results and what we either do or we don’t do. Absolutely yeah. That’s a great point. The information, we live and we’re very blessed, we live in the information age. Like 100 years ago, if you had a book about real estate investing, you were head and shoulders above everybody else. You could have been the next real estate mogul 100 years ago with just a book about real estate investing because 100 years ago, a lot of people could not even read, a lot of potential competitors or whatever. They weren’t really teaching it. There weren’t a lot of maps about it.

You fast forward to today’s day and age and we can in a matter of seconds we can download a book that will give us probably everything that we really need to know to become really successful in the real estate through just a book. We can get into … it’s important how you organization the information that you receive, how it’s organized by whosever is teaching it and how you organize it in your own and implement it in your own business. All that’s important of course but things have just changed. It’s just a matter of being committed to executing it and being okay with things failing, things going sideways.

One of my mentors who I wrote the book Conversations with a Millionaire Real Estate Investor with, he said this and this is how it stuck out to me. He’s in his late 60s, he’s amassed a fortune of I don’t know how many tens of millions of dollars but he’s credibly successful. He said this one time that stuck out to me. He said, “Brant, you know what, it takes 10 years just to learn how to really make money.” I was like, “Whoa, whoa, whoa, what?” He was like, “It takes at least 10 years.” He was like, “From what I’ve seen,” He was like, “In my experience from other people, yeah you may make money on deals and you may be able to stay in business,” but he was like, “I’m talking about making real money.” Like, “It takes 10 years to learn how to really make money.”

Then we got into the whole 10,000 hour rule and that kind of stuff where what you’re doing, it becomes more instinctive than anything else. I’ve got my acquisitions guy who I think I’m working him too terribly long, super smart, super sharp guy. He’ll bring a deal and maybe there’ll be pictures, a video or CME and like pretty quick most of the time I’m like, “Yup, like it, don’t like it.” He’s like, “What are you seeing?” I’m like, “Well, there’s this and that.” He’s like, “I didn’t even think about that.” I’m like, “Well, you shouldn’t have thought about that. There’s no way that you would even know to think about that just because it’s kind of the 10,000 hour thing.” Yeah man, there’s [crosstalk 00:40:09].

Judson: Let me hop in for a second. Is that the guy you’re talking about that said it takes 10 years to make money? Is that the same guy that won’t lend to people unless they’ve failed on a deal?

Brant: That is not the same guy.

Judson: Okay. Okay. That’s something that always stuck out in my head. I love that quote, the fact that he did that.

Brant: I did a speaking event with him last week and that came up that he will not loan, he’s a lender and they loan millions of dollars a year. He will not lend to a real estate investor if they say that they’ve never lost money on a deal because he believes one, they’re too wet behind the ears, that they haven’t been experienced enough or two, that they’re flat out lying. That they’re an established-

Judson: Yeah. They can get [crosstalk 00:40:59].

Brant: -real estate investor, and yup, which is absolutely true. Real quick, when I was talking about that, about getting the 10,000 hour thing is something that I was talking about recently in a presentation because there’s the long, each year, each deal you do you learn something. I can say that. I have learned something new on every deal every house I go to, whether it be about rehab, about financing or the title issue or the insurance or whatever it may be I’ve learned something new on every deal.

For those of you who are out there listening, thinking about getting into this business, I just encourage you like don’t do it if it’s not something that you really think you’re going to be passionate about long-term because what I’ve seen as one of the key factors to success is sustainability. To really create success in this business, I think you should look at the long-term and if it’s something that you think that you really, really love, then you have a good chance of making this a sustainable business.

When I say sustainable, it’s sustainable in the business model, like financially, this is going to be sustainable to create a profit and a revenue and a solid business structure for you for years and decades to come. That’s great. If you can build a business and a life that not only is profitable but you enjoy it, you love getting up in the morning, you love doing whatever it is that you do and building your business where you can focus on those things that you love doing, then you’ve not only have a profitable business, you’ve got something that’s very sustainable for years and years and years and decades. I’m not there yet but I’m getting to where I’m like, “Are my kids going to come work for me?” That’s one of my milestones is to keep moving to where I can sit, if they so choose, they can come and work with me and maybe they take it over someday, I don’t know but I want it to be like that where it’s sustainable and enjoyable at the same time and profitable.

Judson: One thing Brant I have had talks with younger, not like I’m an old investor but guys that are just getting into the game are the ones I call “Younger” One of the things is if you start, you’re talking about sustainability, an example would be in building the correct habits. You might not have deals yet, so your habit might be okay, I’m going to read about real estate for 10 minutes a day or 20 minutes a day or an hour a day until I know enough to climb the next rung on the ladder or maybe you have a business system and you say, “Okay, I’m going to look for deals every day. I’m going to network with agents and other investors every day until I’m at the action point,” or whatever your action point, your threshold for knowledge needs to be in order to take action, hopefully the sooner the better.

The point is build the habits. You hear more established guys talking and their habits may be … I’ve been sharing a lot of my habits on Facebook lately, not to put it out there as much as just to keep myself committed but it says things like, “Check-in with PMs, PM spreadsheet, business spreadsheets.” That’s after eight years of my daily habits being drop to job one, drop to job two, drop to job three. That shit. The word sustainability to me when I hear you say that really just means what habits, no matter what, no matter what you did the day before or the night before or how you feel, what habits are you committed to in your business on a daily basis to move it forward?

Brant: Yeah, the single biggest factor is the habits, the little things that we do each and every day. We talk about swing in singles, just hitting nice little singles every day and doing the little things that add up to really big things over time. All right, last thing I want to talk about is something that you mentioned also before we started the call. We’ve talked about habits, we’ve talked about mindset, we’ve talked about commitment, we’ve talked about marketing and we’ve talked about this, we’ve talked about losing money on a deal. My lender said he won’t loan to somebody unless they’ve done that because when you go through that and when you lose money on a deal, that’s absolutely one of the times where we get to learn, that’s where we get to learn the most about ourselves and really what our commitment level is.

We talked about the beach, we talked about … there’s really nothing negative. We talked, people say, “Oh, it’s positive, it’s negative, it’s so bad.” Okay, you could see it as being bad and there’s very unfortunate things that happen but we also have the ability to classify them as useful or non-useful. I’ll tell you what, I’ve learned a lot on our homerun deals, done multiple deals and make $100,000 on the deal, pretty awesome, it’s pretty cool.

Guess what? I’ve learned so much more, I learned so much more on the deal, the first deal that I lost money on where I lost like $4,000. I learned so much more on that deal that helped me make $100,000 on a deal really but it was because I lost money on that deal. Thankfully, just the handful of times I’ve lost money on deals after doing several hundred deals, those have by far been my greatest learning the lessons. It’s just something, it’s once again when you experience a loss, it’s so painful but there are so many like valuable lessons that we get to pull out from it. I think it’s something that’s important that needs to be discussed with people venturing into this and letting them know, one is it’s probably going to happen if you’re doing any decent volume of deals but two, it’s okay. It’s okay.

Now, we want to minimize those where I can … I’m very, very thankful to say that the biggest loss I’ve ever had was just a little over $10,000. Now I’ve had several that have been losses like that but I’ve learned a lot from them. I’ve learned a lot by myself, my commitment level. What’s your feedback on that? Because I don’t like some of these viewers that talk like it’s never going to happen because it is going to happen and it’s okay and it’s actually useful.

Judson: Yeah, you’re going to lose money. Last year alone and I’m okay with being honest because this is just the real game but we lost over $100,000 in money doing deals for one reason or another. Whether it was due diligences that fell through or non-refundable money on deals that were lost or couldn’t be funded, whether it was flips that we had to sell undervalue or under where we thought we were going to be. Like you said, if you do enough deals you’re going to lose money. You’re going to lose on some and that’s just how it is.

When I write those checks out and obviously I don’t write my checks but when I send them out, I always take that moment to say like, “You know what, the money is there to cover it.” That’s my number one gratitude point. It would be different if it wasn’t there to cover it but something’s going right, we’re making enough money that we can cover this loss and keep our lenders paid or whatever the deal may be on the money.

The second part is it’s nothing has created more of a trustworthy, heartstring like bonding to my private lenders than them knowing that I’ll pay them back no matter what. That if you loan money to my company to do a deal, that I will and you know what, I just had this idea of top up. You told me down at the beach the first time that we met, you were like, “I told my wife day one, I will refinance my house to pay somebody back if I have to to keep this business going because that is how committed I am.” That’s a line that stuck with me.

I have another, a real estate group I’m in now we say, “We’d work at Wendy’s.” Whatever, I would work at Wendy’s to pay these notes back. It isn’t that it’s ever really a scary moment, it’s that you tend to get used to winning and you get used to closing deals and things moving at such a fast pace that you’re exactly right, you’re not learning anything, it’s just numb.

If you’re listening and you think, “Dude said he made $100,000 multiple times like that’s awesome.” Yeah it is but guess how long that feeling last? About five minutes, when you’re like, “Dude, we closed, yes.” It’s like, “I just made six figures.” Then five minutes later you’re like, “Did someone let the dog out?” Like, “Who cares?” When you lose you learn. I just think whenever I lose I try to express some, find some type of gratitude, usually it’s something like, “Malinda is going to love me, we’re going to get stronger and damn it the money was in the account, the check cleared, let’s move on to the next deal.”

Brant: You’re right man. I had a side, I’ll call it a side business. We had another business that we started up about two years ago and it failed. It failed. It was just really … what we talked about, it was a lack of commitment, a lack of time and energy spent on this business because we weren’t really committed to it.

After 18, 19 months of like, really visually or metaphorically it was like this weight being on my waist. It’s like so have you done workouts with like the 20 pound vest on? That’s what I was going through on my SEALFIT training. I would do these workouts and mass workouts with a 20 pound vest on. That business was like having this 20 pound vest on me. It was weighing me down each and every day. I’ve had these deals that go sideways. I’ve had some partnerships like that. It comes to a point where we can continue to cry, moan, reflect on the past, should have, would have, could have, things could have gone differently. I didn’t have to lose money. Me, I’m thinking about this business and what I’m going to do with it.

About three months ago, I’m like, “I’m just going to cut bait. I’m going to cut the cord. I’m going to cut the line, I’m going to take the vest off, I’m going to throw it off and be done with it.” Yeah, is it costing the 20, 25 grand, something like that? I don’t even exactly know what it’s going to be, it’s not a huge loss but it’s like you said, I’ve got the money to pay for it and lo and behold, I’m probably going to make a lot more money in a short period of time just by letting that go. Whenever you do a bad deal, if I’m going to get, for those of you who may be going through a deal right now, don’t beat yourself up. It’s so important not to just beat yourself up. Actually if you can find a way to give yourself a boost of encouragement, pat yourself on the back. Judson and I right now will welcome you, officially welcome you to the club.

Judson: Yeah, you’re in.

Brant: Welcome to the club of being … you’re being a real entrepreneur. This is one of the buy-ins. You have to do deals and you’ve got to lose some money on occasion. If you can do it in such a manner where the loss isn’t devastating, you want to minimize losses for sure, for sure. I’m not saying, “Just go do a deal.” No, you apply the seven fundamentals if you’ve read my book or whatever training program or mentoring you get, you apply those lessons and you do what you’re taught to do and you execute like that you should. You minimize losses. That is really important that you don’t foolishly lose money.

There’s two types of mistakes. With my employees, I don’t mind mistakes from effort, from trying really hard but I hate lazy mistakes. I hate lazy mistakes. Just being lazy like, “Oh, I didn’t do this or do that,” but you knew you should have, let’s not make those mistakes, but be okay with making some of these mistakes and taking losses. Now, always honor your work financially to your lenders. Any deal I’ve ever lost money on, my lenders have been paid 100% of whatever my note laid out, period. Most of my lenders never even knew that I took a loss. Some of them that do and like Judson said, they appreciate me and trust me so much more. Take a little bit of time if you need to. I think I got this from, whoever the publisher of Success Magazine is, or the editor whatever his name is.

Judson: Darren Hardy, yeah.

Brant: Yeah, Darren Hardy with the 20 minute rule. It’s like okay, you lost money, whatever happened, this bad thing, whatever it is, literally people will go, at the Breakthrough we call it the drift, where whatever happens and you go on this drift of like, “Woe is me, blah, blah, blah,” pity party. Literally, this can go on for days, weeks, months, years and even decades. I’ve spoke to people and I hear them talking about things that happened tens of years ago, “Should have, would have, could have, if only it had been blah, blah, blah.”

Give yourself 20 minutes. I think psychologically we need to let it out. Give yourself 20 minutes to punch a wall maybe or maybe just a pillow, cry, suck on your thumb, yell, scream, mope, whine, whatever, just emotionally let it out and then take out a piece of paper and a pen and just spend some time. Write down the lessons that you learned and I can pretty much guarantee you that those lessons that you learned in that deal are going to help you make so much more money than you’ve lost if you apply them, for sure, for sure, for sure.

Whenever I lost money on my first deal, I went through about a three-month pity party. I’m like, “I’m not flipping houses, this is not for me. I’m not smart enough, I’m not good enough, it’s too risky, blah, blah, blah.” I did it for about three months. I went on that pity party. Then took a little bit of time I’m like, “Okay, let’s look at what went wrong here.” I’m just going to consider doing it again because it really excited me. I was fearful of the pain of losing money but I took the time to write down my notes. When I took that time I also realized that no wonder I lost money. I did almost everything wrong like literally.

Judson: And you’re still alive.

Brant: Yeah. Then the next deal, my second … that was my first flip. Then the second deal lo and behold, I netted over $60,000 in 60 days exactly but it was just because I took a little bit of time to consider learning from what didn’t go right.

Judson: That’s incredible. That’s exactly how it works. If you can be calm enough to sit in your stink, sit there, you suck and you got to sit in that for a little while. That’s the first conversation we rarely have is we want to, listen especially as men like you want to excuse it out. You’re like, “Whoa. Well, I lost money because my contractor sucked,” or whatever the case may be. It’s like, “No, you lost money because you’re driving the ship and you suck today.”

Brant: Yup, you suck.

Judson: Once you sit in that, one of the things I realized like the first deal I lost money on, I had so many other options other than just forking up the cash and I freaked out because I wanted to honor my word and I wanted to close the deal. One of the first deals I ever did was with LendingHome or one of those types of companies, I think it was LendingHome. I just wanted to pay them for it to be done but not realizing I had like a refile on the table, I had a owner finance deal that I could have done on the table and then sold the note. I had like six ways to get out of that deal but I was like, “Oh crap, oh crap, this is … Okay, the plane is going to crash.” Then I just cash out.

That’s what I took from and it’s probably another topic for another day but there’s always, if you buy correctly, if you buy at a discount and a certain type of discount which is all laid out and I know it’s in your book and all over the internet, buy at the right type of discount and you’ve usually got four or five, six ways to exit a deal that may not be the most sexy or favorable but they’ll get you out of the deal, keep you, your lender, your private money, whatever it is, happy.

Brant: Absolutely man, absolutely yeah, there’s a lot to what you just said. We could create a few more podcasts out of renegotiating commitments, creating space and time and having multiple exit strategies, those are all interweaved in the fundamentals. Sometimes, we can say, it’s funny you mentioned that about like, “No, you suck,” because just the other day I was reminded of an old story from a friend of mine who was in one of my Masterminds and we were working out together, and a friend who was one of the trainers that day who was an ex-New England Patriot, Super Bowl winner and we’re going through this workout and it’s a doozy, it is not an easy workout. This guy was next to me, he’s like, “Oh God, this sucks, this sucks.” He’s bitching about the workout during the workout.

My friend who was probably about 315 at the time, 315 pounds about 6’4” D lineman for the New England Patriots gets in his grill up in his face, “It doesn’t suck, you suck, you suck.” Dude, that’s the truth man, when deals go sideways, well, if you had bought it cheaper, if you had maybe estimated repairs properly, if you had managed your contractors properly or better or if you had been able to raise money cheaper or put together a partnership deal or whatever, or had bought a deal where you had multiple exit strategies, maybe the deal didn’t suck, maybe you sucked from where you’re at.

Judson: Yeah, you sucked. One time real quick, I got into this conversation and it was a yelling match. The person I was yelling with was like, “You know, these contractors did this, the management was doing this and you had no idea.” I’m like, “Yeah. Well, I’m not pissed off because they did that. I’m pissed off because I let it happen and I need to be yelling right now.” It’s like I just need to let it out because I know it’s … the truth is once you decide to take responsibility for everything, then there’s only one place to look and that’s right there in the mirror and then you can deal with it, but yeah, don’t send it off. If you’re new in the game, don’t send any of these off, just take it on yourself and then you’ll grow 10X on that.

Brant: Yeah, for sure man. Let’s close it on that. We may have to break this into a two-parter too, it’s so long but that’s a good thing man. My friend, it was good talking to you man. I really appreciate you coming on and sharing some of your experiences and your insight and your wisdom with everybody.

Judson: Yeah absolutely. Thanks for having me and I appreciate our friendship and your mentorship and that really it’s hard to believe dude how short ago in terms of the big picture we met and how much has just really moved since that day.

Brant: That’s crazy man. I’m incredibly proud of you man, honored to have you as a friend and I appreciate you man coming on.

Judson: I appreciate you too Brant. Talk to you soon.

Brant: Take care, bye.

Judson: Okay, bye.

The post Brant Phillips Show 24: Brant Interviews Judson Smith, Real Estate Investor appeared first on Brant Phillips.

Hey everybody. This is Brant. Welcome to today’s show. Today’s podcast is a little bit different. Today’s podcast is a recording of a webinar that I did about how to create an epic 2018 and also how to make a million dollars in real estate. What that’s pertaining to is I was preparing another webinar that I did just a few weeks ago and it was actually about how to flip flood houses but when I was putting together that presentation, I hadn’t been tracking things. I’d been tracking things and we’d been tracking things in the office but I hadn’t really taken a moment to sit back and look at results from the previous quarter. I didn’t even realize that we had bought almost 25 houses in 100 days. Technically 24 houses in about 100 days that was a gross equity capture of $1.5 million essentially, it was like $1.496 million.

What this recording is, is a webinar where I talk about how to create an epic 2018 and really just how to create epic results and to create a great business and a great life. It’s more about just getting really clear about what it is that you want and playing all in, just diving deep into the work and into just creating this epic huge, incredibly awesome thing because quite frankly epic results require an epic type of attitude, actions, effort, mindset, determination, all that stuff or you’re not going to make a million dollars. You’re not going to create epic results and I’m using the word epic a lot but I think it’s really important, it’s a powerful word. A lot of people use it, but they don’t really actually create it.

I hope that you enjoy this podcast. If you want to watch the presentation that I did, just go to brantphillips.com and search for Epic 2018, you’ll find it there or how to make a million dollars in real estate. Enjoy the show and I appreciate you watching and being a faithful member of the podcast. You all take care. One second.

Okay my friends, we’re diving into how to create an epic 2018 and just a little kicker for you, how to make a million dollars in real estate. First tip, a lot of caffeine, a lot, a lot of caffeine. All right. That’s my first tip to how to create an epic 2018. Yeah, we’re going to dive into how and there’s a keyword here, how to create an epic 2018, because this is going to be, there’s going to be work required by you of course because it’s something that you’re going to have to create. It’s not something that’s just going to happen. Just like making a million dollars in real estate’s not just going to happen. There’s going to be work that’s required. There’s going to be things that you have to do. The good news is, is that there is a model that’s already been created, that you can go out and have an incredible life, year, business, financial success, well-rounded success. That’s when we share a little bit about today.

For those of you who don’t know me, maybe just found this off of who knows where and you’re like, “Who the heck are you Brant Phillips and why in the world should I listen to you?” That’s a fair question. Just a quick introduction about myself. Who am I? I’m a founder and owner of a company called Invest Home Pro, a real estate investment company. Last year we were awarded an Inc. 5000 recognition. I’ve wrote a few books, been considered to go and be one of the guys on this flipping houses shows. We even had a pilot shot. I go on the news every now and then. That’s a little bit about me, about I guess some of the success or whatever the accolades that we’ve created. That’s great and you should seek mentors and listening to people who’ve actually created results that are similar to what you’re seeking before you even take their advice. That’s one of my prerequisites before I hire a coach or a mentor.

Some of the stuff that’s not so glamorous that I would like to share is that when I started in this business, 10, 11 years ago I can say now, I had zero experience. Not only zero real estate experience, I had zero business experience. I didn’t know what in the hell I was doing. I didn’t have any money. My wife and I were living in an apartment. We had paid off our credit cards. I had good credit and I used my credit to actually purchase my first investment property while still living in that apartment. I went on to buy houses my first year in real estate using some creative strategies. The next year did the same thing about 10 more. I was just buying, buy and hold, I was buying rental properties at the time. I was able to buy 10 more rental properties.

Then the following year, I had bought about four or five more. I was up to about 25 rental properties. I bought, financed, renovated, rehabbed them, was managing it all myself while working a full-time job, a very demanding full-time job. After I got to about 25 properties, I decided to leave my job and become a full-time real estate entrepreneur and do some of the things that I do now and this is what I’ve been doing in the last eight years, eight and a half years, full-time. I’ve been loving almost every single minute of it. It’s not always an easy business so let me tell you that right now. This business is tough at times, it’s challenging at times but it’s so very rewarding and very, very lucrative when you do it the right way. I’m going to do my best to teach you how to do it the right way.

One of my books called How to Flip a House is based on seven fundamentals. On that particular book, the tagline was Seven Fundamentals of a Highly Successful Flip, of a highly successful deal. Now, it’s more of my training and my business model. My business model started with rental properties but my business models have really changed even more significantly in the last five years where these seven fundamentals are really integrated into not just seven fundamentals of a flip but these are the seven fundamentals that we run our business on with one of the most important changes in my business which is number seven is that you give yourself more than one exit strategy with the deals you’re doing, rather than just flipping, give yourself multiple exit strategies.

I already knew how to rent and that was fine but I really enjoyed flipping and that was great. It’s even a better business model and it’s more sustainable, and it’s more lucrative when you have more options. We also owner-finance deals as one of our exit strategies and we wholesale deals. Those are the four ways that we make money with single family homes in real estate, and so it’s really important that you have all these fundamentals.

One, mindset. We’re going to be talking about that a little bit about today. We’re talking a lot about that about today and how you create results, how you, I’m talking to you, how you create your results, nobody else does. You’re not a victim here, you’re not a subject, we’re all subject to certain things and changes in the market but we create, we can produce whatever results we want from whatever situation when we’re really committed to things. That’s what we’re going to be talking about today. That’s why your mindset is absolutely a fundamental to success.

If I was just going to dive into teaching real estate with my students for example and not really diving into their mental makeup and what their commitment level is and what their clarity level is and what they’re going to create, I’d be doing them a huge disservice. This is why with me personally, I’ve spent so much more time and so much more money with my coaches sharpening my mindset and building my character so much more than just learning about the X and Os of real estate because quite frankly the Xs and Os of real estate can be quite simple when you’ve got a good plan, you’ve got a good map and I’m going to try to share a little bit about mine today.

The fundamental one is mindset. Fundamental number two is deal flow. You have to be able to create deal flow. If you don’t have deals, you’re done. Number three is learning how to evaluate deals, not only accurately before you purchase a deal but really, really quickly. That you’ve got to have a method and a process where you can create a lot of deal flow so you can analyze a lot of deals quickly using a system that works and then very methodically you filter out the bad deals so you can cherry-pick the best ones. That’s how that we’re really successful by generating a lot of deal flow, not that we want to do all those deals but we want to cherry-pick the very best ones that fit our business model.

You need to learn how to estimate repairs. Once again, quickly and more in-depth accurately before you move forward on a deal. This has very overwhelmed people. We’ve created a really simple system. Financing. You can generate all the deal flow in the world and you can cherry-pick the cream of the crop but if you can’t get it funded it doesn’t matter. We finance almost 100% of our deals with private money. That’s I guess one of my strong suits, something I’ve really, really focused on over the years beginning this my second year in real estate is how to raise private money from lenders, and not just how to raise private money but how to cultivate long-term trusting relationships with my lenders. No matter how many deals we’re doing, we’ve raised millions of dollars just in the last couple of months with the deals that we’ve done and I haven’t had to worry. Every time we sign a contract with the motivated seller, I know that we can close on that deal because of our private lender relationships, so it’s critical.

Then you got to know how to rehab. I know this is scary to people and it should be because this is where a lot of people get burned but you got to know how to rehab. Once you do those first six steps, then you move into what I talked about, number seven, which is generating income, having multiple exit strategies whether it be renting, flipping, wholesaling, owner financing but when you give yourself multiple exit strategies and multiple ways to make money, your business is so much more profitable, it’s so much more sustainable, it’s more enjoyable, it’s just fun when you have these options. That’s what my real estate business is built on, that’s what my first book was written about. That was the outline so to speak and so when I’m talking about creating a business model and some fundamentals, that’s what I’m referring to in this presentation.

Let’s talk about your next year, your 2018, your 2018. Let’s talk about the typical New Year’s Resolution. I just Googled like what are the typical New Year’s Resolutions? Exercise more, lose weight, eat more healthy, learn a new skill or a hobby, drink less alcohol, stop smoking. Okay, cool. Those are good, there’s nothing wrong with any of those. Those are really good goals and resolutions. I would say some of them are a little bit more vague and you need to be really specific and you need to be really clear when you come to creating goals.

Then the other thing too, the name of this presentation is How to Create an Epic 2018. Maybe if you stopped smoking that would be epic. That’s probably pretty good but if you just exercise more, is that going to be an epic year? I don’t know. If you lose some weight, is that going to be epic? I don’t know. I don’t know where you’re at. I don’t know how much weight we’re talking about. I don’t know some of the circumstances.

Let’s start talking about like creating epic 2018 is going to require like doing some stuff above and beyond, doing some stuff that’s epic. Start thinking about first like, “What would be epic to you?” If you could create what it is that is in your heart, what it is in your heart like this burning desire for you to create in life and business, what would that be? What would that be? Really try to be clear, try to be specific, try to visualize that success and whatever that means to you. Maybe it is doing a few deals and getting out of debt or salvaging a relationship or losing weight or dropping drinking or smoking, whatever it may be and whatever your financial goal is in real estate, visualize, really, really visualize. There’s some power in this. I’m not like Tony Robbins, okay? I not going to actually walk over coals but I’ll tell you I spend a significant amount of my time on goal setting and envisioning and focusing on what is important, vision boarding like creating a board.

Now let me throw a little curve ball at you. I’m going to give you another perspective to think about when it comes to your resolutions. Here it goes. You’re going to die, you are going to die. You’re like, “What are you talking about Brant?” This is a strong, strong motivator for us all. This, in my opinion should be and I know it was for Steve Jobs and I’ll let you read this but I’m going to read the top sentence and it says, “Remember,” by Steve Jobs, “Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life.”

What Steve Jobs is talking about right here is actually a little bit about what a lot of marketers do or what most good marketers do and businesses do and they create scarcity in their offers. They create scarcity in their offers. “For a limited time only. You can only have this for the next 15 people that sign up or only for the next three days, you can have this offer. You can only get the McRib sandwich like whatever it is one or two months a year.” It’s because of scarcity. “Oh no, I can’t get a McRib unless I get it this month.”

This is kind of the same thing. This is kind of the same thing because we all have whether it be written down or just in our head little bucket list things that we want to do in life, things we want to get done, things we want to accomplish, things that we want to experience. We all have those things but there’s this scarcity factor, like we’re all going to die. The problem with life is this. The problem with life is this, is it’s so easy to go on a drift, it’s so easy to go on a drift and get caught up in life. Time goes by fast. A year, two years, five years, 10 years, 20 years. I know some of those, if you’re listening to this, you’re coming from maybe you’re in different stages in life. Some of you may be in your 20s, some of you may be in your 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, I don’t know. We’re at all different stages of life.

One, the first thing I want to say is if you’re beating yourself up because you know that you’ve drifted for far too long, that’s okay. First off, one of my big, big, big things with my students and myself is no self-abuse, no self-abuse. We’re not going to get any further or create any improved results by just beating ourselves up about something that we could have, should have done in the past. Acknowledge it, accept it, forgive ourselves and let’s move forward and build from it, let’s take action moving forward to create something new rather than whining about the past.

Case in point for me was previous to going into real estate, previous to even going into the corporate world which was where I was at before I went into real estate, I was in law enforcement. When I was in law enforcement, I was in law enforcement for seven years and it was good, it paid the bills and it was stable, whatever but I knew it wasn’t for me. I knew this somewhere around year five, a little bit, year six, for sure. I’m like, “You got to get out, this is not for me, this is not,” especially when I had my first child. I was working late nights, weekends, holidays, blah, blah, blah, hardly seeing him and my wife. I’m like I knew this wasn’t for me, I had to get out.

I made a choice fairly quickly within about a year’s time how to transition out of that. I remember that there were so many people in my department, my friends, coworkers they were so unhappy and they used to complain all the time and they used to count down their years. They would say, “I only have 15 years left to retirement. I only got eight more years, 10 more years, 20 something years.” Guys my age, I was in my early 20s at that time. I’m listening and I’m thinking to myself, I’m 27. 28 here, 25, 26, 27, and I’m like, “That’s a long time you’re talking about. You know 10, 15 years? That’s a significant amount of time and we’re the officers here, we’re not the inmates so you can actually leave, you don’t have to stay here.” This is my message to you, whether you be in a bad job or relationship, whatever it may be, you don’t have to stay there. You have free will. Most of you, we live in America, this is a free country, right?

Here’s the funny thing that happened though. I left the police department and my particular department where I was at was very close to a hospital here in the Houston area where we have, my wife and I have five kids, we have four and we adopted one. All four of our children were born at the same hospital. After I left the police department a couple of years later, I had another baby so I was at the hospital which was, it’s literally like across the street from our police department. I went back, visited my old buddies. Guess what they were talking about? A lot of them were a few years older, maybe a few pounds heavier whatever and same stuff, complaining about the police department, complaining about this, that and the other thing and talking about, “I can’t wait till I retire, I only got X amount of years.” Just counting down the years.

Guess what? I had another baby a couple of years later, went back to the hospital. We checked out, told my wife, “Hey, I’m going to go visit my buddies for a little bit and come back to the hospital later on.” I went and visited my buddies, guess what? Same people, same complaints, yadi, yadi, yada. A couple of years later, about four years later, I had another child. Same thing, went back, I visited the police department, talked to my old friends, talked to my old buddies, a few pounds heavier, a few years older, talking about the same thing. I’m like, “You don’t have to stay. You don’t.” For you, whoever you may be watching this right now, remembering that you will be dead soon can be one of the most important tools that you can use to help you create a sense of urgency and go out and take action, right freaking now, no more excuses.

Look, I don’t know who this guy is. I just Googled it. He says, “Just 8% of people achieve their New Year’s resolutions.” I’m not even really sure it’s that high. I don’t know what these resolutions are. Let’s just assume that’s a true statement. The thing that we need to do is do what the 8% do. Do what these successful people are doing to create results with achieving goals. That’s what this is about.

Let’s first look at and make sure that you’re not doing what the rest of the herd are doing, that’s what I’m calling the herd, that’s what I’m calling the masses, this is what the majority of people do and this is why one of Warren Buffett’s sayings is like, “You don’t follow the masses.” You want to do one of the opposite things. When the masses are running out and the herd’s running out, us as investors, we probably want to run in. When the masses are running out of a market, we want to run into that market. When the masses or when the herd is running into a market, we probably want to run out to it.

Let’s look at goal setting like that. I say like, “Don’t be like the herd.” We’re not judging the herd, we’re just saying there’s some results and some things we want to do different in our lives and our businesses. Don’t be like the herd. What does the herd do? Constantly work their butts off but not getting any closer to their real goals. They set goals for the year but a couple of months later, they’ve probably already forgot about them, likely because of, one of for sure, for sure the biggest reason is right here. The lack of certainty and commitment by none, lack of certainty and commitment. I’ll digress and keep going. I want you to understand that is the real problem here. That is a real, real problem, the lack of certainty and commitment.

Lack of simplicity, you have a goal and you don’t really understand it, you don’t have a model or a map so like real estate. It’s overwhelming. You don’t have the simplicity of seven fundamentals or whatever strategy it is that you’re going to execute, lack of simplicity. The lack of progress, you just give up, you just give up because they’re not really seeing any results or much change in a short period of time.

Then maybe it’s this, maybe you become a yes person, you say yes to almost anything and everybody. I refer back to a lack of certainty and a lack of commitment because if you’re really committed to something, you’re really certain to what it is that you want to do and what you want to accomplish, you know that you can’t say yes to everything. Just by default, you instinctively say no because it’s not going to move you closer to the result that you want. Maybe you are part of this herd and you spend a lot of days feeling overwhelmed, pressured with all the things that you have to do with your life and your job and whatever it is so that really there’s a lack of time, there’s not really a lack of time, it’s just the way that you’ve organized and structured your life that’s created this sense of a lack of time but that’s how you feel and that’s what you’ve created and that’s where you’re at. Where you feel like there’s really a lack of time to do whatever it is that you really want to do. There’s really a lack of time and it feels real, there’s just lack of time to spend the time that you need to devote to your real estate investing business. That’s what the herd do. Most of them unfortunately and sadly give up on their dreams forever. Don’t be like the herd. Don’t give up on your dreams, even if you’re in a place right here where it feels really difficult to believe and difficult to achieve, just really, really, really, I don’t know, just out of reach, don’t be like that, like, “I can’t.”

Look at so many stories of the great entrepreneurs of the world and of America and of our great leaders, so many if not all of them have this, incredibly so this story of being on the brink of bankruptcy or living homeless out in the street or whatever it may be and this is where the turnaround comes. This is where that power happens when you’re down to your last dollar, down to nothing and you turn it around and create results.

I remember, I’ll share a quick story, which I think is very applicable here. I heard a story about Robert Kiyosaki and his wife when they were … this is like early ‘80s and so on. They were new entrepreneurs but I believe they were newlyweds and they had a business that had just failed, totally flopped, crashed and they lost everything. I heard this through an audio, or CD or tape, like I said, at the time, I can’t remember what it was. I’m dating myself a little bit here, but they were down to nothing except they had like 25 bucks or 50 bucks, something like that. They had friends calling them, offering them, “Hey.” They didn’t have a house, they had their car left and they had friends and family, “Hey, you can move in with us, you can stay with us. Hey, you know we can help you get a job.” They had job offers, they were very educated, they had previously been very successful, they were very educated, very employable.

They were down to like $50 and they were like, “This really became,” and I’m speaking on their behalf, they were talking about how, “This really became our defining point in life where we were at this essentially bottom. We had lost everything. We’re sitting here with like this 50 bucks or whatever it was, that was the last $50 to our name and we’re like, “You know, are we going to go get a job and go stay with our friends or just be okay that this is the bottom and we can be okay in this place and we can begin to take that next step on the journey of a thousand miles? This is it.”

Here’s what they decided to do. They decided to take their $50 and they said they bought, they rented a motel, a cheap motel, they bought a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken and a six pack of beer and they said they just had some good times. That was like where they just laughed and were like, “This is okay. If this is the bottom, we can be okay here and we’re not going to give up on our dreams,” and you know the rest of the story obviously they didn’t and they have been incredibly successful.

In terms of going back to not being like the herd, that was my path whenever we moved in from law enforcement to the corporate world but I really found like how unhappy I was and I realized that I was unfocused, I was unhappy, I was just busy, I was working a lot but I was so unhappy and I was focused on the wrong things for a while focused on this company is going to take care of me. I’m going to climb this ladder and do this job that I don’t like. It was truly for me a path to a status quo. Just being completely average, middle blah, blah, blah, boring, not that there’s nothing wrong with working a job and being a useful member to a company. I’m not talking down on that if that is you and that is your path and that’s what you desire to do but I knew I didn’t desire that. There was something in me that wasn’t okay with me.

If you’re okay with that and you want to do real estate for example on the part-time, and I’ve got students like that who are totally cool with their jobs, like, “Man, I like my job. I like what I do. I desire the security or just the stability of a job but I really want to do real estate on the part-time as a hobby.” Cool, then just do that. I’ve got students who come to me. On a scale of one to 10, I’ll ask them, “How much do you enjoy your job?” They’re like, “Zero, like one, like I hate it, it sucks.” Cool, you need to do something about that or you’re out of integrity with yourself. That was me, I knew I was out of integrity if I stayed on this path.

Hey, this is Brant and I hope you’re enjoying today’s show. If you’re in a place in your life or your business or your real estate investing where you just feel stuck, maybe you don’t know what actions to take next to get you unstuck or just on that path of creating the results that you really desire, please take a few minutes and go to my website at brantphillips.com. There are some really valuable resources and information that may be able to help you out. If you’re interested in really speeding up results with the help of a coach or mentor and adding true accountability and guidance to your life and business, please reach out to me from my website, you’ll see a link at the top or by going to brantphillips.com/coaching. Now, let’s get back to the show.

Whenever I dove into real estate, I really like not just real estate but just learning more about myself and creating an incredible just trying to create an incredible life and just a whole, this existence on earth, I really found that sustainable energy, sustainable energy is so important. This is what I want to encourage you guys, when you’re setting goals, don’t become what I call myself which is like this one-dimensional money douchebag where I was like focused on money for a while.

Create sustainable energy. I want to encourage you to create goals. I go back to the smart acronym of specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, timely, all that kind of stuff, that’s really, really important but focus on some things that are bigger than just making money. Focus on some things that are going to make you a better person to create a better life, to help you create a better legacy, create goals that revolve around spiritual, things that revolve around your faith and giving to others, things that resolve around your family and your relationships, giving back and those investing on those relationships, really getting clear on what you want those things to look like. Your health and fitness, you need to take into perspective your body, this is your body and this is the vehicle that we’ve been given to go out and produce real estate success and results. The more well-rounded you are in all those areas, it will help you go out and create success in business.

This is for me, I’m sharing with you how to create an epic 28 team because I’m in this, I’m probably hitting you a little bit different angle and you thought just like, “Hey, the strategy on how to make money in real estate.” I’m going to teach you how to do that. I want you to be able to make a lot of money. I’m just telling you, I’ve made a lot of money when I was in a burned out space and I’ve made a lot of money where life’s really freaking awesome. Guess what? It’s so much better. Create some goals that are motivated more besides just financial goals, sorry about the little typo though but focus on goals that are going to motivate you more than just financial goals. Use this acronym, it’s really, really important being specific, making sure it’s measurable, making sure it’s attainable, relevant and timely, time stamped, time dated.

I talked a little bit earlier about being clear, being clear on what it is that you want, what it is that you’re going to accomplish and having that clarity because once you have it, you’re able to really, really decipher and filter out what is useful and non-useful to getting you towards that goal. I saw a picture of a friend of mine who over the last nine months, I don’t know how much weight he’s lost but literally he posted a picture of himself, he just went AWOL, he went dark for a long time on social media. He posts this picture of himself, it’s black and white and I’m like, “Who’s this dude?” I looked at his name and I’m like, “Surely that’s not him.” Totally transformed himself, completely transformed himself. Now he’s sharing all these things like, “Hey, here is what I did. Here is what happened, I had this mind shift change blah, blah, blah. I limited my calories to less than 1,500 calories, I did this workout plan, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.”

What happened was he got really, really clear on what it is that he wanted. It was essentially like incredible health and a good body and all this kind of stuff. He got really clear on that. Once he had that clarity, the action steps became much easier, not that they were easy but they became much easier. He created an automatic filter in here saying like, “Hey, I’m only eating 1,500 calories per day no matter what.” He got his little Fitbit, MyFitnessPal tracker or whatever it was, plugged in every single thing that he ate. He made a plan, he made a plan, tracked out everything that he ate to make sure he was staying on track of that plan and then he just kept doing it over and over and over till he got the results that he wanted and now he’s got to maintain it and keep doing it because if he loses that clarity and that certainty guess what? He’ll lose it all.

Realize that each, every minute, second hour of every day, you’re either spending time on something that’s very useful to help you to create the result that you desire or non-useful, something like you’re drifting and blah, blah, blah. There’s times where it’s useful to drift but that’s a very small limited portion of time. This is what you need to focus on. If you are spending your time on a goal, on a mission, on something that’s incredibly exciting to you, it’s exciting, it’s rewarding, it’s profitable, it’s something that goes towards your legacy, these things that we’re talking about creating, these well-rounded goals, guess what? The more time that you spend working on those things, it creates this sustainable energy, like you could do it over and over and over and over again.

If you’re at your job and you’re looking at the TPS report or whatever it may be and you feel like you want to bash your head into your laptop because you can’t take it anymore, not really sustainable energy so that the point is here is that you’re building a life and you’re building a business where you’re spending as much time as reasonably possible working on things that are going to help you create sustainable energy. This is so critical to creating an epic life and an epic business because when you create and invest your time and energy into goals and activities that truly excite you and are driving you to something much bigger then my friends, my friends welcome to the next level. This is it. This is where we want to get to. This is where you want to get to.

The funny thing is this is where we lose ourselves. I almost want to play that Eminem like, “Pam pam, you got to lose yourself in the music, the moment.” It’s like that. It isn’t like that, it is like that. I’m going to share with you a little bit when I get into how to make a million in real estate. It’s like we did that in the last 90, 100 days in my business. I didn’t even realize it because I was so focused, so deeply just immersed in what I’m doing and loving it. The financial things, they just take care of themselves.

When you have the right fundamentals or you build the right team and you just lose yourself in the moment and you’re focused on things that are useful and productive, it’s you’re like, “Holy crap, I think we just made a million dollars or maybe 1.5 in 90 days.” This is what I’m going to show you and this is why this is so important. This isn’t like fluff BS. I hope that those of you who are listening to this are like really not just taking notes but taking notes, but taking to heart some of the things that I’m saying because this is real life for me. This is real life, real estate, real world talk, this is what we do and this is what you have to do.

My boy Albert E. says that we are most productive when we focus on a very small number of projects on which we can devote a large amount of attention. That’s what I was talking about. It’s like just immersing yourself into your goals, just focus on those things, saying no to other things, not being a yes man or a yes woman, learning how to say no and say yes to the right things.

What do you focus on and how should you organize it? What do you focus on and how should you organize it? Let’s talk about the herd again. The herd typically, they make goal setting like a once a year thing, it’s like a resolution and they’ll choose some big yearly goal that sounds good or maybe it sounds good on Facebook so they can post it on there and so that it looks good or whatever but the goals are usually vague, lack specificity, and they definitely lack clarity and commitment. I didn’t even put that in there but they definitely lack that. Most people are going to give up on their goals before the end of the first quarter, a lot of them in the first 30 days. Here we go again, it’s the end of the year, the gym’s going to be packed first week of January and then be back to what it is right now. I was at the gym yesterday and there was nobody there.

All right, so the 8%. This may be 1% I’m not really sure. This is what more of the people who are successful are doing. Here’s a suggestion, create a focus for the year. What is your focus? What is your mission? What is your rallying cry for this next year? Think about doing that. Set outcomes in all areas of life. I already talked about this. This is your renewable energy, this is your sustainable energy. Don’t be a one-dimensional player like I was. Create real accountability. I’m going to get in more into accountability in just a minute but it’s absolutely critical. If you think it’s not, you’re kidding yourself. Create a real plan, a real plan to, 10 extra goals. If you’ve got a goal, create a real plan how you can bash that goal out of the park and exceed it.

If things happen, if life, circumstances come in, if you don’t 10X it or if you don’t 5X it or even 2X it, maybe you still hit that goal. Make a plan to overcome and overachieve that goal. Allow yourself to fail. This is really big. Allow yourself to fail because you’re going to fail at times but I encourage you to love and respect yourself more than that failure so that every time that you fail be okay with failing. It’s okay. I’ve failed so many times. It’s okay. Love yourself more, be clear on your legacy more than your failure. Like, “Oh this is where I am down on the ground, this is where I have to get back up and keep going because my legacy, my dream, my goals are so much more important than mopping around in my failure.” Be okay with failing because it’s going to happen. It’s actually a prerequisite to success. It is a prerequisite to success so just know that.

Also really important, 90-day goals, 90-day goals and challenges. We’re going to break that yearly goal down into 90 days because here is what happens in 90 days. This is what I do with my students. Like, “Cool, I get it, this is what you want to do a year from now so let’s reverse engineer, what do we have to get done in the next 90 days?” There’s a time pressure there. It’s the scarcity factor once again. If you’ve got a year to accomplish a goal and it’s like, “Well, you know I didn’t do anything today but I’m going to tomorrow.” Tomorrow comes, “Well, I didn’t do anything today or yesterday, I’m going to do it next week.” The end of January comes, “I didn’t do it right in January but for sure in February I’m going to come.” The end of the first quarter comes, “You know, it wasn’t such a great start of the year but I’m definitely getting on it now.” We’re in Q2 like, “I’m going to get after, yeah, yeah, all on, yeah.” It doesn’t happen.

Break it down into 90-day goals like, “This is what I’m going to do in the next 90 days.” Therefore, each and every day is absolutely critical that you move the ball forward, that you do work, that you create some type of momentum and some type of building block because when we’re building, when we’re creating an epic year, when we’re creating a result in life and business, so for 2018, you’ve got this goal, let’s view this goal symbolically like as a house, metaphorically like it’s a house. You’re going to build a house for 2018. This is like it’s your goal and this is going to cumulatively happen by all of the work that you do each and every day for the year.

We can say like every day, every day we may be able to put three bricks on that house or four bricks on that house. If we’re really busting our tails, we can add four bricks to that house. If you don’t add any bricks on certain days, your house ain’t getting built, your goals aren’t getting reached. If you can like steady like add a brick, add a brick today, two bricks tomorrow, three bricks the next day, four bricks, boom, boom, like steady but surely, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, holy crap, into 2018 boom, like you did it. That’s how it happens though. Reverse this thing into 90 days, create that time pressure like, “No, I don’t have a year to get this done. I’ve got 90 days to hit this target, this amount of deals, this amount of marketing etcetera, etcetera. I have to build this in 90 days.” You hit 90 days, take a little bit of breather, a little bit of rest, take a little, assess and boom right back on the grind. Get back in that grind. That’s how it works, 90-day goals.

Now, I would encourage you though before you just go out and say, “I’m going to do all this stuff.” Make sure you have the right map, the right map is really important because you get, if you’re going to Disney World, you want to go to Disney World and you got the wife and the kids in the car, you want to go to Disney World but you got a map to Nebraska, that’s a problem. I share with you my map which is the seven fundamentals. I don’t care if you want to go into one of my programs or systems or just something that works but make sure that you have a map, make sure that you have a map that’s going to help you get where it is that you want to go.

I talked about this a little bit already but strategic planning and metrics like reverse engineer your goals, create achievable quarterly missions, plan it out, plan it, plan it, write it down, whiteboard it, whatever you need to do, get a coach, get a mentor, get a sounding board, have people around you that you can say like, “This is what I’m going to do.” Help them hold you accountable. You have to have accountability then you go and execute and assess, execute and assess. Be okay with failing, be okay with the failing, assessing and learning from executing and assessing over and over and over again.

Some strategic planning specifics like don’t lose sight of the big plan. We get lost in the rat race even just in business like we get lost and caught up and things change and it’s really easy to drift. Like, “Well, I’m doing this thing in business so it’s not really drifting.” Maybe it is because you’re not really focused on your goal that you originally created at the beginning of the year and let’s see what’s more important to you.

Create a little space each, every couple of weeks, create whatever your KPI, your key performance indicators are to help you reaching that goal, it doesn’t have to be really, really in-depth or specific but have some KPI that’s going to help you reach your goals. With our acquisitions department for example, my acquisitions agent who sends a simple report, each and every week. He sends me how many leads he received, how many appointments he went on, how many contracts he submitted and how many contracts were accepted. It’s really freaking simple. I know he’s got to go on X amount of appointments in order to get X amount of offers and to find the right amount of deals and to get X amount of offers accepted. That’s the way it is. What are your criteria? Make sure that you’re measuring yourself and staying on track with your goals.

Take some more time out. Every quarter and then just get away. Get away at some point in time during the year and just really just go and whether this just be at Mastermind or just time alone to just focus on your life and your business and what you’re going to create.

I want to talk a little bit more in-depth about what I call four X factors, four X factors of success. We’ve talked about mindset, you have to have the mindset, you have to have that clarity and commitment, period, or you’re done. You have to have the skillsets. I shared with you my seven fundamentals. That’s what we use in our business. Whatever it is that you want to create in real estate or life, you have you have to have those skillsets. Make sure that you have those skillsets. Make sure that you have that map. It goes without saying how incredibly important it is.

I will say in my opinion, in the day and age that we live in though that skillsets which were also called education and information, it is less important in today’s day and age than having the right environment and accountability. Really critical, make sure that you plug yourself into an environment that’s going to help recharge you, that’s going to help you stay on the path of creating results.

I use the example of AA. If you’re struggling with alcohol and you’re hanging out in a bar, it’s probably not the best environment to help you create this result of being, staying away from alcohol, stop drinking alcohol. This environment with real estate, this is why I’m a part of Masterminds, a member of and an administrator of. It’s really important to stay in an environment where iron sharpens iron so to speak. That way you’re learning and growing from others and consistently being in this environment, not like once a year but consistently. That’s why I go to a lot of boot camps, workshops, those types of things. It’s in this environment of learning from others, hearing from others and just getting that energy and sharing with others as well, helps me and motivates me to share with others.

Then accountability. If you don’t have someone holding you accountable, forget about it. In today’s day and age, we’re dead. It’s absolutely critical, so find someone that will really, really hold you accountable, not tell you what you want to hear. That’s not going to get you where you want to go. Whether it be a coach, whether it be a mentor, whether it be someone you can really, really trust to hold your butt accountable to your goals, that won’t let you quit whenever you want to give up.

I know some of you are probably wondering like, “Brant, how does this help me make a million dollars in real estate?” I’m hoping a lot of you have already seen some things of how this can help you make a million dollars in real estate but I want to share with you something, a slide that I created for another presentation recently that really made my jaw drop a little bit, quite frankly I wasn’t expecting this. I was putting on a webinar called How to Flip a Flood House for those of you who know, I’m in Houston and we’ve experienced a lot of flooding during Hurricane Harvey.

I threw a statement out just here in a staff meeting. I was like, “Man, we just probably made a million dollars in equity at least, in equity, real estate.” I’m talking real estate dollars in the last 90 days. I just made that statement and so it got me thinking. I went back and I plugged in all the deals that we had done. Now, quite frankly, this is a little over 100 days and actually the deal, the very last deal at the bottom, that one busted out but we’ve got another two deals since then so it’s actually 25 deals. Anyways, it doesn’t really matter. It’s insignificant.

I plugged in how many purchases. This isn’t sales or deals that we had before. These are closings, deals that we purchased, houses that we bought in about the last 100 days. There is 24 deals that we’ve purchased and it turned out to be and so this is kind of like the how to flip a house HGTV numbers that I always bash. These are those numbers. It’s a little inflated I’m not going to lie in terms of this is purchase, price and repairs and then how much equity do we have above and beyond that? What is our after repaired value? Minus our purchase and repairs? Not taking into holding cost, closing cost, our financing cost which is typically about 8% and maybe one point and a lot of times none but this is a gross equity capture of $1.46 million and it doesn’t even include the 25^th deal. I’m pretty sure this is about 25 deals and $1.5 million and that math actually makes perfect sense.

For those of you who are a little bit more involved in real estate, those numbers are actually pretty reasonable. This may be what some of you do in the course of the year, maybe what some of you do in the course of several years. I know that you’re probably starting out at different places but I just wanted to show this to you, not to brag and not to boast and not to impress anybody but once again to impress upon you the possibilities that exist for you whenever you take action, whenever you go out and get really clear, get really committed on what it is that you want to do when you create a plan for your 2018, and for your life and for your business, you get really clear on it, you get committed, you have a plan, get a map that works, get a map that works.

You focus on doing the work, brick by brick, each and every day doing the work, going out, taking action and building this thing day by day by day and just diving deep, immersing yourself into this work, this work that is so incredibly enjoyable and just, I don’t know, I don’t even know what to say, it’s something deeper. It’s in my veins, it’s in my blood, it’s just something that I do and it’s not really work at all. It’s driving me to do these goals and to hit numbers and create a life and create a business that I can wake up every morning and just enjoy it. Just even like talking to you guys right now, I enjoy this because this is part of my goals is to inspire and equip and educate and motivate others to go out and take action and create results.

For you, for how does this really apply like nuts and bolts, how do you make a million dollars in real estate? This is what we do. We operate a business built on proven fundamentals, not some fly by night weekend boot camp or something comes up like that that you don’t know what in this world this guy’s talking about. Fundamentals that work. These are fundamentals that have applied for hundreds of years in the real estate business. There’s nothing new. My seven fundamentals aren’t anything new. They’re just some things that I’ve learned, some concepts, some lessons and some things that models have already been established and we execute them over and over and over again.

We look for unique opportunities in each market and those opportunities change and they shift and they move but we continually go after them over and over and over again. Just utilizing these seven fundamentals, continually sharpening our mindset, getting clear, getting on what it is that we want, what it is that we’re committed to, creating more deal flow, creating increased deal flow and better deal flow, really targeting in and dialing in the properties that we want to buy.

Learning how to evaluate deals quickly and accurately and cherry-picking the ones that we really, really want in today’s market. Quickly estimating repairs, raising money so we can finance our deals. Getting better and sharper on our rehab team. We completed 77 full rehab projects this year with our teams and generating income with multiple exit strategies, flipping, renting, wholesaling, owner financing, making sure that you’ve got that tool in your tool belt.

My friends, like I said, I’m going to wrap this thing up but only actions create results. Only actions create results. Reverse engineer your goals. Create achievable quarterly missions, like these 90-day challenges. Plan it out like the big boys, like the big companies do. These big companies, they’ve got plans and I guarantee you this, they’re really clear on what they want. If you’re not clear on what you want, guess what? You’re going to be spending your money to these companies buying their products and their services and their downloads and their apps and whatever, because they’re clear in what they want, they’re going after you. You can be uncertain and drift and go all over the place, you can get really clear on what you want it is, on whatever that you want is.

Build your team. Build your team of your real estate team and your accountability team. Build that team and go out and execute and assess what’s going on. Execute and assess, execute and assess all the time, executing and assessing your results. Just dive deep, lose yourself and dive deep into what you feel is your destiny. If you’ve got weak goals, you’re going to get weak results. Epic goals, creating an epic year demands much. Much is required but if you have got epic goals and you stay committed and you do the work, you can create epic results. Make sure you have that right map and systematically, methodically go out and create your epic 2018 with an investing blueprint built on proven fundamentals.

Guys, that’s all I’ve got. I don’t have anything to sell or pitch or promote, any product or anything like that. This is just a year in for me and I wanted to go out on a bang. I wanted to share this with you guys, to just hopefully motivate you. Like I said, motivate, inspire you, give you education and equip you to go out and take action. I really appreciate all of you who follow me, they’re online, social media, just for being a member of my email list. I really appreciate you. We’ve got a lot of exciting things coming up in 2018. I’ve added some team members that are helping me create I would say even a more powerful and impactful coaching program for my students. We’re going to have some special events coming out, some things we’re going to be sharing online but not right now, nothing to promote but just to really inspire you guys. Do it, go out and take action.

If this has been useful training to you and you received some good value or just insight and inspiration from this, I’d love just, hit me up on Facebook or send me an email, whatever it may be. That little stuff, it means a lot to me. You mean a lot to me. I appreciate you. I appreciate you watching and I will appreciate it much more if you go out and just do it. Go out and take action, create results, create an epic 2018 and who knows? If you do the work, if you do the work, if you dive deep, if you stay focused, if you stay focused and you stay clear and you stay committed to those goals, you may even make a million dollars in real estate in 2018. All the best.

The post Brant Phillips Show 23: How To Make a Million Dollars in Real Estate. Epic 2018! appeared first on Brant Phillips.

Welcome everybody to The Brant Phillips Show and yes, I am Brant Phillips and yes this is the show dedicated to the one thing that matters my friend in life and business and that is results. This is about helping you create results in your life and in your business. Today I’m going to talk to you about being locked and loaded, being locked and loaded right here right now being fully loaded always no matter where you’re at.

You see, you are locked and you are loaded and you are equipped even though sometimes you don’t actually realize it. Now, you may not be loaded to reach your biggest dream just yet but you are locked and loaded right now to go out and take action at your current capacity to move the ball forward to take even if it’s just one but very small step in moving forward to your goal because the journey of a thousand miles begins with what? Just one step. That means that you are locked and loaded to go out right now and execute at your current level but you’re never going to make it to the next level if you don’t go out and execute at where you’re currently positioned in your life and in your real estate business.

You see, everyone starts at zero. Everyone starts with zero experience at everything they do. That’s the same for all of us, we all start at zero but yet at the same time we have the ability and the capacity to take action from that position. You see, the reason successful people of the world are where they are at right now is because they executed from a place where they were at when they were starting from nothing but they just had that small still, a new glimmer of faith like they were going to reach out, take a step. Then what did they do next? After that first step, they took the next step and the next step and the next step, whatever that may be. Sometimes these are incredibly small steps but you are still locked and loaded to take that step no matter how small it may be.

If you’re in a position in life or in your investing business and you’re beating yourself up because you don’t like where you’re at, you don’t think you’re successful enough and you think that you should be playing at a higher level than you’re at right now, just stop it. Accept where you’re at right now. Stop playing the game of self-abuse and beating yourself up and just step into you, be you, don’t try to be someone else. Competing with other people is essentially a drift, it’s a drift in life. You are competing only with you. You are right here positioned in life where you’re at for a reason, just go out and execute the best that you can and be the best you that you can be from right here and right now. You may not be called to be Michael Jordan, maybe it could be Scottie Pippen, I don’t even know but just be the best you that you can be.

Since I mentioned sports people, just go on a little tangent here. Here in Houston, my Houston Astros recently won the World Series as you may or may not have heard of but yeah so that. Houston Astros are world champs. There’s this dude on their team, his name is Evan Gattis. He’s got a ginormous beard, it’s a lot bigger than mine but so anyway he’s a designated hitter and plays for the Astros and the guy has a very interesting story. You see, just a few years ago, this dude was homeless and working as a janitor. He was begging for food, struggling with substance abuse, he was in rehab clinics and he was out of baseball for four years. Think about that. Now the guy is a World Series champion, he’s got a world championship ring. I don’t know what his contract is worth but I know it’s in the millions. You got to think about that. He was homeless, working as a janitor, begging for food, struggling with substance abuse and out of baseball completely for four years.

Hey, this is Brant and I hope you’re enjoying today’s show. If you’re in a place in your life or your business where you just feel stuck or you just don’t know what actions to take to help you get unstuck or on to the path to creating the results you truly desire, please take a few minutes and go to my website brantphillips.com. There are some really valuable resources and information that may be able to help you out. If you’re interested in really speeding up results with the help of a coach or mentor and adding true accountability and guidance to your life and business, please reach out to me from my website as well at brantphillips.com or going directly to www.brantphillips.com/coaching. Now, let’s get back to the show.

At that time in his life for him to realistically think about winning a World Series or even just becoming a major league baseball player was a ludicrous thought at that time. It was ludicrous. That wasn’t even right for him to think that. What did he do? He didn’t execute by turning in his mop and bucket as a janitor and going straight to a team to try out. No, what did he do? Because he was locked and loaded from that position to execute and that’s what he did. He started getting back in shape, he started practicing, he got his mental game straight and here he is now.

The same thing applies for you. You may not be locked and loaded today to go out and win the World Series or to do 100 deals this year maybe not even do 10 deals this year and that’s okay because you’re locked and loaded right now, you’re fully loaded to execute from wherever you’re at right now today, which may mean to do one deal. If you did zero deals last year, guess what? That’s 100% increase. Maybe it’s right here and right now is just for you to go out and read a book. Go to a networking meeting, find a mentor, take some action from where you’re at right now.

When I started in real estate, I was broke. It was very similar to Evan Gattis to look at this. I was broke I was living in an apartment, I had zero real estate or business experience at all. It was ludicrous for me to even imagine the business that I have today. A business that I have today where I’ve got a full team around me with construction managers, full-time agents in the office, acquisitions people who just go out and buy houses, admin help, bookkeepers, the whole, the whole team. It’s crazy, right? Guess what? I was loaded to execute and take action from that position in my life and I was equipped to take action from where I was right then and there and that’s all that I did. I just took the next step. I was loaded enough to get me to the next level and that’s it.

One step at a time, because we can’t, in this game of life, in this game of business, we can’t really, this is not a video game. We’re not going to skip to other levels just magically, right? That’s not going to happen. No one’s playing or winning the lottery here but this is even better than the lottery. When you do the work, play from the position you’re at and just stay consistent, continually progress and do the work to get to the next level, then what you are creating is something so much better than winning the lottery because you’re guaranteeing results and you’re no longer a long shot. You no longer have to worry about odds. You’re creating the freaking odds, you’re creating and determining your success and no one can take that away from you.

Once you have these skillsets to get to the next level, even though we take hits on occasion, we get knocked down, guess what? We’ve already created the habit, we’ve created the skillsets that get us to the next level and it’s so much easier to move forward the next time after you’ve got those skillsets down. Whatever the next step is for you my friend, just trust me in this, you are locked and loaded right now to execute from where you’re at today and begin to fulfil your destiny in everything that you’re pursuing in life and business.

That’s it my friend, that’s all I have for today’s show but I appreciate you for watching the show. I encourage you to reach out. If you’re struggling in your life and business and you’re looking for some mentoring and coaching and help and support, let me know what I can do to help. Once again, I honor and appreciate you and I wish you the best in creating results in your life and in your business.

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Welcome everybody to The Brant Phillips Show, and yes I’m Brant Phillips and yes this is the show dedicated to only one thing my friend, only one thing and that is results, helping you create results in your life and in your business. Today, I’m going to talk to you about your anchor. What is your anchor? What is it that holds you firm and holds you tight whenever those storms blow in? Because look, as entrepreneurs, as real estate investors, we know there are going to be many, many unknowns, many, many times of turbulence and we never know what tomorrow holds.

Here, I live in the Houston market and we’ve just got hit by floods. Look, there’s going to be fires, there’s going to be tenants, toilets and taxes. Yeah, I’ve just got hit with an enormous tax bill again for making too much money, cry me a river. What the deal is my friends is that the only thing that’s going to stay the same for us as entrepreneurs is that nothing is going to stay the same. What we think is predictable will someday and at some time become unpredictable. The certainty that we experience at times, that certainty is also going to become uncertain when things change, when markets shift, when opportunities evaporate, when competition comes in. All of that is the norm, there’s always going to be this constant ebb and flow of change.

My question to you is what is your anchor during these times, when that turbulence or when these challenges come in? Meaning like what is your belief? What is the belief at your core when you get tested? Is it strong enough to get you through? Do you have faith my friend that you’re going to survive the storm? Because there’s going to be these storms. My friend, consider that having a strong, strong firm anchor and belief in yourself and in your success that is rooted deep, and I’m talking about deep, think about an acre in the ocean, in the lake that it needs to be anchored deep into that bedrock. You my friend need to also have this anchor deep within because it’s one of the critical factors once again that’s going to help you create success. What is your belief anchored to?

I happen to believe in God, I have faith but I also believe in having a tremendous work ethic, taking on this attitude like I need to pray and ask God to put things in his hands and ask for his help but at the same time know that it’s up to me to do the work here on earth, here in my business, to bring these things to fruition. My friends, beginning with this end in mind, seeing the end, seeing the finish line, getting clear about your outcome is one of the things that’s going to help you to develop a stronger core, a stronger anchor and making sure, make sure that the goal that you’re working for that’s not only at its crystal clear but it’s completely worth the struggle because if you have a goal that you’re not truly committed to, that doesn’t excite you enough, like when these storms and these challenges come in, my friend, you’re just going to quit and you’re going to give up.

What are you seeing at the end? What is your anchor holding you firm to? Are you seeking just fame and fortunate and the appearances of success? Often times that’s not going to challenge you enough. Look for something deeper, look for something bigger, look for a legacy vision, look for something that when you reach that goal and you create those results it’s something that you can hang your head high about that whenever that you’re creating not only results, not only success but you’re creating success and results that lead to a legacy.

Hey, this is Brant and I hope you’re enjoying today’s show. If you’re in a place in your life or your business where you just feel stuck or you just don’t know what actions to take to help you get unstuck or on to the path to creating the results you truly desire, please take a few minutes and go to my website brantphillips.com. There are some really valuable resources and information that may be able to help you out. If you’re interested in really speeding up results with the help of a coach or mentor and adding true accountability and guidance to your life and business, please reach out to me from my website as well at brantphillips.com or going directly to www.brantphillips.com/coaching. Now let’s get back to the show.

Having this clarity is so critically important, it’s so critically important, it’s one of the key components of creating success because if you understand that your success, it’s tied to two things, your clarity on the goal and your commitment to doing the work required to accomplish the task at hand and not giving up when those challenges come in, having faith in yourself, having the fortitude to keep going. Make no mistake about it, faith is a choice, having that faith and belief in yourself that whenever you’re challenged, whenever fear comes in, that you’re going to keep moving forward, whenever you’re signing closing documents on a new deal, whenever you’re stepping out and maybe you’re speaking at an event or raising capital, whatever it may be that having faith in yourself is a choice.

Now, some of you may be able to borrow your mom’s faith and you’re on occasion saying, “Oh baby, oh sweetie, you’re going to do just fine.” You can tap into her faith for a little bit on a certain level but someday if you’re truly going to create real results, you’re going to have to buy into your own faith from within and that’s the only place it comes from, it’s the only place that comes from.

Listen, difficult circumstances, difficult challenges, the winds and shifts of change that are going to come are not meant to break you my friend unless you allow them to. The difficult times and the difficult challenges are simply the training ground for us to be stretched, for us to expand and really cease upon opportunities and learn about ourselves and to grow. I say this a lot but once we expand, especially in our mind and we see a new realm of possibility and we know that we’re capable of more, our minds will never retract, once we expand they will never retract.

My friend, just keep focused on the end, keep focused on the goal, focus on the finish line, have faith that your anchor is going to keep you from being blown around and blown away from the storms of the sea but if you have your anchor to a firm bedrock, my friend you will withstand the challenges and the winds. You’re not alone, these circumstances are going to determine your outcome, you rising up and doing the work, becoming really clear about your goal and confirming your commitment and just honoring, honoring and moving forward on your clarity and your commitment are going to help you determine your outcome and your results.

Look, I truly believe you’re listening to this podcast because you’ve been called to do something big, don’t deny that, do not deny that. Now it’s time for you to challenge yourself from within to confirm your commitment, to stay focused and clear on the outcome. Find others to stay connected to when things get tough and when the challenges arise, simply love a lot my friend to outwit and out worth the obstacles. My friend, I will see you on the other side of results. That’s it my friends, just begin taking action in your life and in your business. Once again, I thank you so much for listening to the show my friends. I look forward to helping you create results in your life and in your business.

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Welcome everybody to The Brant Phillips Show. Yes, this is the show that helps you create results in your life and in your business. The topic and focus of today is Hindsight is always 20/20, Hindsight is always 20/20 my friends. Please, please don’t get stuck like I see so many people looking back, looking back rather than looking forward. Yes, looking forward, we don’t know what the future is going to tell for us and our vision is not always 20/20 looking forward especially as entrepreneurs, there are so many times that we are taking steps on somewhat unsolid and shaky ground and uncertainty sometimes moving forward. Even moving forward is a sign of power, is a sign of confidence because whenever you are looking back, you are just going to continually stay stuck.

This has been on my mind lately because here in Houston, Texas, the time of this recording we’re in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey and the flooding. It’s so easy for me to say that hindsight is 20/20, looking at the results from this hurricane and all the flooding that we experienced about so many things that could have been done differently in terms of the things that the city could have done with roadways, with floodplains, with creating retention ponds in areas. They could have required builders to build higher, that’s something that we’ve already began seeing over the last few years, not just in terms of standard elevations like we’ve got standard elevations we have to meet which may be six inches to and a foot higher but there’s literally areas of Houston now where they’ve began lifting homes four, five, six feet up in the air. That’s going to become a really big thing now, thanks to hindsight after seeing what has happened.

Whether or not you have flood insurance, and me as an investor, I had multiple properties that were damaged and affected by the floods without flood insurance. I’m not going to get into why I will continue to invest without flood insurance, that’s another topic for another day, because it makes financial sense for me is the bottom line and investors that I know that are doing a substantial amount of real estate, they don’t have flood insurance. For homeowners, there were so many homeowners in the Houston Area that were impacted by the floods, they weren’t in a flood zone so they didn’t have flood insurance and so there’s just a lot of really a lot of really sad depressing devastating types of things that have happened because of this storm.

What happened, it is what it is. At the time of this recording we’re about a month removed from the storms and from the flooding and what has happened and so really, we only have a couple of choices as people and collectively as a city and more, I’m more focused for investors for entrepreneurs. We have a choice to sit in stew and bitch and mourn and cry about what has happened or we have the opportunity or we can look back, people are looking back, should have, would have, could have, “I should have had flood insurance. The city should have done this blah, blah, blah.” Victim stuff. It’s hard for me to use the word victim because I understand that people suffered some substantial losses. There were people who lost their lives or people that lost their belongings and I get it and it is hard. That doesn’t remove the fact that they still have the opportunity and the choice to begin moving forward with their life.

I don’t know if you all saw the stuff that was happening on the news with Lakewood Church and Joel Osteen and how people wanted to, they opened up like The Houston Convention Center, they didn’t open up Lakewood Church until the floods began to recede because those who saw some other pictures that I did, I know some people, I attend Lakewood quite frequently. There was flooding where that it was up to the brink where it was about to fill the church essentially. A lot of people don’t know this before when the Rockets used to play there, it flooded, that building actually flooded.

Whatever, good choice, bad choice, I don’t know all the details. I know the thing was about to flood and I saw video and pictures of it but there were all these people that were hang up on Joel Osteen not opening the church. Then you hear people getting hang up about City of Houston should have done this and they should have been informed that they should have had in flood insurance and all this kind of stuff, all this kind of stuff.

My friends we can do that for the rest of our lives with just about any situation, we can look back in our hindsight and whine and cry about things or we can look forward. Immediately after the flooding, the rains began to slow down on Monday although it was massive destruction at that point in time, really on Tuesday and this all started back on the previous Friday and so four, five days. This whole time I’m starting to see opportunities like man, there are so many opportunities with this so very not ideal situation. Yes, as an entrepreneur, there are so many opportunities to prosper in our market right now. It is insane the amount of deals that we’ve been doing and the business that we’ve been closing and the houses that we’ve been buying since the floods have occurred and that’s great and that’s awesome.

Guess what? If I could pick, I would say, “No floods, no thank you, I don’t need this business.” I would have preferred to not have the flooding or the chaos it’s caused and the destruction but I also saw opportunities to help and serve. There were so many teaching examples for my children. There was even opportunities for my wife and I to get together and get a lot of stuff out of our homes. We immediately were locked up in our home or trapped up in our home, saw the flooding, we’re getting out trash bags, we were putting bags and bags and bags of clothing to give away and toys to give away, cleaned out our pantry. We had food that we had just like old canned goods and just gave us an opportunity to clean house.

A few days later, I took my son and my nephew, we went along with another church to go do, they call it “Mark Out” I just helped people rip out sheetrock and flooring and countertops and whatever they need help with to just demo these houses. It was a great opportunity to experience some things with my children and give them opportunities just to learn from this and see what happens, like this is life, this is just what happens but there’s immediately opportunity there.

The most important thing in life and in business is whenever we have setbacks, whenever there’s times of destruction and when there’s times of natural disasters or just internal disasters, meltdowns and relationships and businesses and deals, the quicker that we can extract the lesson like, “What happened?” And apply that lesson, whatever it is that you learn, extract it and apply it to the here and now and use it in moving forward, we will be so much better prepared whenever that next Hurricane Harvey hits in your life or in your business. Then when we have time to reflect in the future, you may just experience more satisfaction because you did the work, you prepared yourself to the best that you could.

That’s all that we can do is move forward not always with 20/20 but just in our best efforts right here and right now, roll up our sleeves and do the work that you’ll find out that whenever these experiences come that there’s going to be opportunities in them and the more time you spend in hindsight looking back at 20/20 should have, would have, could have, had I just known, guess what? You’re never going to know what the future holds. Roll up your sleeves each and every day, do the work, go out and create results now and you will be so much better prepared in the future when trouble arises.

Well, that’s all I got for you today my friends. I love and appreciate each and every one of you. I want to thank you for listening to the show. Until next time, I look forward to helping you create results in your life and in your business.

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Welcome everybody to The Brant Phillips Show. Yes, I’m Brant Phillips and yes, this is the show dedicated to only one thing, only one thing my friends. That is helping you create results in your life and in your business. Today, I want to talk about levelling up or levelling out. Are you levelling up in your life and in your business? That means you are moving forward, you are moving upwards, you are going to the next level. While I know there is resistance always at the next level, and that’s why a lot of people avoid levelling up, a lot of people instead, they level out, they flatline, they go on this plateau.

Why am I talking about this right now? Just recently, just this week, I promoted my newest book which is Conversation with a Millionaire Real Estate Investor. Check it out. It’s on Amazon. I think it’s freaking incredible but I’m a little bit biased. Anyways, I was promoting the book and in the social media FaceTagrams, Pictabook (laughs) or whatever, yada, yada, yada, I posted it and a friend of mine shared it and was like, “Check the book out blah, blah, blah.”

Yours truly posted a picture of the old cover from one of the first drafts or what not and there was a grammatical error on the cover that I posted, the older cover. There was an apostrophe that should have been there after the word gurus. Anyways, not a big deal. Luckily, they caught it before we published the book and it’s fine. We didn’t publish it with that apostrophe there.

Quite honestly, here’s the point. I don’t even care. I make grammatical errors all the time when I’m typing and when I’m writing. Most of the time I don’t even correct them. I don’t even correct them because I don’t care that much about proper grammar when I‘m writing. There’s a time and a place when I do but also that’s why I have attorneys and assistants and other people to help me with that. I’m not that concerned about it because I’m concerned about levelling up.

The point here that I’m working towards is that in the social media thread, this guy, some guy, I don’t know who he is, he could be a really great, wonderful awesome guy, but he started picking apart about this apostrophe on the book. He was taking time out of his day, this is how he was choosing to spend his time. This is the message here. He was choosing time to point out a grammatical error on someone else’s work, someone else’s project, someone else’s accomplishment. That’s how he was spending his day.

I see this when I’m on social media which is not that often especially these days I’m on it very, very little. That’s what I see is that a pool of people, a high percentage that have levelled out in life. They have levelled out. They’ve plateaued. Rather than working on and focusing on creating something great in their own life and in their own business and staying focused on creating greatness, creating a life and a business that leads to a legacy, they instead are spending their time picking apart other people’s work, gossiping, doing the whole … Watching TMZ all this kind of stuff.

Here is the thing too, is that we see in the world that in which we see in ourselves. We see in the world that in which we see in ourselves. What we focus on expands. This gentleman chose to focus on a punctuation error rather than on the book accomplishment or something else, spending his own time focusing on something. Overall, I would say most of the feedback, I would say all the feedback I’ve received so far that I know of has been very, very positive and that’s great. While at the same time, I appreciate constructive criticism. Hell, I appreciate all criticism.

You can go online and you can see that on these other books that I have, not all my book reviews are favorable. There’s been a lot of good lessons from some of the feedback that people give me like, “I think it’s great.” That’s not the big deal. It’s not that I didn’t get, “Oh, Brant needs everyone to give him positive love and affirmations or else he’s going to be sensitive about it.” That’s not the case at all. I don’t give a flip about not getting everyone’s approval. You really can’t. As entrepreneurs, we can’t really care what other people think especially if you’re putting yourself out there in the social media world, on the internet and things like that. I’ve been very transparent with how I live my life and how I operate my business. You just can’t thrive with thin skin as an entrepreneur in my opinion.

The need for getting everyone’s praise and approval is not really there. It’s not really there at all. The message that I want to share with you or really pose to you is that if you’re really playing all in with life, then the blinders automatically go up, because there’s always going to be the haters, there’s going to be naysayers, there’s going to be people in your friendships, in your circle of friends, in your family, there’s going to be people who are going to try to tear you apart. You can write an entire book and someone is going to say, “Oh, that apostrophe was out of place. Oh, that word was misspelled. Oh, that sentence didn’t make sense.” There’s always going to be haters. Who cares? Who cares?

My question to you is, are you levelling up? Are you focused with your eye on the prize or have you levelled out? See, I just want to create the results that are on my heart. We each need to create our own path. We are not competing with anyone else other than ourselves.

For me, speaking only for me, I want to create a life and businesses that will lead to a legacy. The only way I know how to do that is to continually be focused on levelling up, improving who I am as a man spiritually, in my family, in my love relationships, in my health and fitness and in my businesses, just to level up, get better, get stronger, improve, grow, gain more knowledge, experience etcetera, etcetera. That’s it. In order to level up, we have to avoid levelling out. We have to avoid the plateaus. We have to avoid the duress. We have to avoid the social media toilet bowl of mediocrity and just non-useful time that entraps so many people.

My friend, my question for you is, are you levelling up or have you levelled out? My hope for each and every one of you is that you’re levelling up, levelling up, get out of the toilet bowl of social media and all these non-useful comment threads completely unrelated to achieving anything meaningful or result focused in your life and in your business.

If you are one of these people, take a good hard look at the mirror and you may find that you’ve levelled out. If you’re picking out apostrophes and punctuation marks in other people’s work or trying to tear apart what someone else is doing or criticizing what else someone is doing, get out there and create your own stuff man, get out there and do it.

That’s just my challenge for you today. Look in the mirror. Can you look in your own eyes and know, and know, and know for sure that you’re levelling up? Or have you levelled out? Are you on that plateau? Are you drifting without a definiteness of purpose? Just answer that question. Honestly get real and raw and transparent with yourself and just do what you need to do, make changes how you need to make changes. If you’re levelling up, if you’re on the path, stay that way. That’s all I got today my friends.

I’m going to ask you for one quick favor, actually two quick favors. First favor is, everyone listening to this show, do me a favor, if you are receiving value, motivation, inspiration, everything that you would hope from podcast, give me a five star rating. That’s the L in Apple if you are gaining value from what you’re hearing.

One other favor, one other favor I have to ask of you, go out and take action. For real, for real, go out and create the life and the business and the legacy that you desire. Create, create, create. Become a person who is committed to this path of creating, and learning, and growing, and expanding, and helping and just taking action. I guarantee you, this journey is so well-worth it, the journey of levelling up in all areas of your life all of the time. It’s not easy but it’s worth it. That’s it my friends. Just begin taking action in your life and in your business. Once again, I thank you so so much for listening to the show my friends. I look forward to helping you create results in your life and in your business.

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What we’re going to talk about on today’s show is that there are only two ways to go. You are either drifting along or you are resulting. Yep, you’re right. I used the word resulting. I don’t know if this is a millennial thing or where it’s coming from but I’ve noticed that in today’s society and I’m putting this on you millennials. That’s right, I’m pointing a finger, I’m putting this on you, that you can basically just add –ing, -er, -ed, some kind of conjugation like that at the end of a word and it becomes a new word.

The other day the fridge, a little story for you, the refrigerator light went out on our refrigerator. My son opened up the refrigerator and the light was not working. He said, “Dad, the refrigerator broke. It’s not refrigerating anymore.” I’m like, “Refrigerating, huh?”

My question to you is, are you drifting or are you resulting? Are you moving closer to the results that you desire or have you flatlined? Are you going stagnant? This could just be for periods of your day. This topic is really coming about from something I’ve seen a lot, a lot, I see it more and more frequently it seems today and I’ve seen this over the last few years and quite frankly my entire life. I’m pointing to the ultimate pit of Driftam which is essentially social media and television. That is the pit of Driftam, social media and television.

I’m going to focus in a little bit on the real estate guru entrepreneurial coaching space a little bit and some of the TV shows and things like that in regards to what we do as entrepreneurs and as investors. I want you to consider that when you are on Driftabook, Driftagram, Driftitter or whatever, Driftaurist, theoretically they could all change their names to that because that’s what most people and I say most people use social media for. They use social media to drift and really to tell half of the story. A lot of the gurus, a lot of the people that you see showing the pictures after they’re all fixed up, all the makeup’s on place, or they’re sucking in that gut, whatever. They’re at the closing table, showing their check, you’re really only getting half the story.

That’s part of the reason that social media and television just all types of media is so popular is because it allows to essentially live vicariously through others, to experience a little piece of reality through others. True, it is a little piece of reality but it’s not the whole story. It’s not the whole story. The image that we really want, the image that we personally, if you do any social media posting or writing or anything like that, and I’m guilty of this myself, most often times what we want others to see is how things are like this is so great, this is so awesome. This is awesome.

What others don’t see, what others don’t see from these real estate gurus, these coaching gurus and house flippers and just social media people and just our friends, just our friends and neighbors and others is they don’t see that investor who behind the scenes is getting sued or fighting with his spouse or getting divorced or filing bankruptcy or calling a friend for a loan. I had a friend who’s a social media person, calling, hitting me up to borrow money. That’s what a lot of people don’t see. They don’t see the other side to the story.

Like I said, I’m not pointing fingers, I guess I am but I’ve also pointed this finger back at myself. Some of those of you that follow me on social media know that I’ve pointed out my flaws. I’ve been on the brink of divorce. I’ve struggled with alcoholism. I’ve been overweight and out of shape and just burned out and tired. You know what has gone wrong in my deals before. You know where the proverbial S-H-I beep, beep has gone, it’s gone wrong. It’s hit the wall. It’s hit the fan. I’ve been there and I’ve done that.

What I’m really talking about today is that when you get clear on what it is that you want, just consider that you’re either working towards creating that result or you’re drifting because much of what you’re seeing others put on Facebook, social media, whatever, Twitter, Instagram, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, it’s not the entire picture. There is an act of omission that’s often taking place.

Case in point is a lot of these marketing and coaching programs, they want to highlight how great this is going to be and you’re going to make all this money. That’s the sin of omission my friends because creating a really, really successful, however you define success, creating a really successful life and a business takes a lot of freaking work. It takes a lot of damn hard work. You are going to have to work your ass off my friends because this game of life and business and real estate is difficult at times.

I get to see through both sides of the story. I see through the lens of my story, my life, my personal life, my business, from where I was and where I started from which was nothing, which was buying my first house on a credit card and not knowing shit about real estate quite frankly. Excuse my French but that’s where I started from. Now I’ve seen the other side so I can attest that it’s hard and it’s a struggle but my friends, it’s worth it. I’ve seen this through the experiences of my students who come to me some of them knowing nothing to very, very little about real estate and some knowing more. I’ve seen my students who’ve played all in and created some incredible results. I’ve seen some who haven’t played all in and they’ve gotten caught up in that drift and in that fight.

Another thing I want those of you out there that are listening is realize this, realize this. I get it, social media is a part of life. I’m not saying like delete all social media accounts or anything like that. Use social media, turn your drift time into production. The people that you follow, don’t follow certain people. Let me just say that first, stop following certain people that there’s nothing useful or productive about certain people and certain threads on social media, period, done with discussion.

Realize that comparing yourself with others is a drift. If you’re watching whoever it may be, some big house flipper or investor or entrepreneur, be focused on one thing. Stop comparing yourself to them. I have people who come to me that are comparing themselves to me like I walk on water or something like that. Stop all that stuff. You should be focused on one thing, becoming the greatest version of yourself. Just becoming the greatest version of yourself. Don’t limit yourself by watching someone else. Don’t compare yourself to someone else in a negative light. You can make a very useful comparison on where someone is and try to duplicate or replicate the results but try to be better than that person. Try to create your own version.

For those of you who are going through one of my programs or you have or you’re going through a coaching program or a mentorship, try to be better than even your mentor, not to show them up or in showmanship but just to create your own unique path. Don’t limit yourself by watching other people. Find and extract the lesson for you and your life so that you can become the greatest version of yourself.

I’ll tell you, I love, absolutely hashtag love it when my students stop looking up to me as like an idol or something like that but rather start trying to compete with me. They stop looking up to me and start trying to compete with me and I love that. That means essentially like they have leveled up. Internally, their personal assessment of who they are and their self-worth, I know. That’s a shift whenever I sense there’s competition.

One of my students recently I was speaking to, reached out, we just connected hadn’t talked in a while and finished at my program a year or so ago maybe a year and a half ago, he just bought a 98 package deal, 98 homes he bought. I’m like, “Dude. Dude, that is so freaking incredible.” Guess what? When my students or people that I know and guys who I’m in Masterminds with, when they level up, when they create a next level of result, guess what? It motivates me to become greater and move further ahead and to hopefully motivate, encourage and inspire and equip whoever is listening to a podcast or going through one of my programs, whatever it may be.

The lesson here for you is don’t limit yourself by watching other people. Extract what is useful for you and become the greatest version of yourself. Create your own path and just go out and create results. When you’re drifting, let’s face it. We’re all going to do it. Set a time. Like, “I’m going to drift for these 20 or 30 minutes and watch TV or go on social media or whatever it is.” Don’t get fixed on the image of someone. Seek out the rest of the story like Paul Harvey used to say, “Now you know the rest of the story.”

Seek out the rest of that story with that person, with that mentor, with that strategy, with whatever it’s going to take to create that result. Stop watching the sports highlights and watch the whole game, watch the whole game. Hell, watch the warmups and the preseason and the offseason. Those are actually more pertinent to what actually happens during the game. The warmup, the preseason and the offseason, those are the things that actually create the results. “Champions aren’t made during the game. Champions are created during the offseason.” I love that. A friend of mine who played in the Super Bowl said that. “Champions are not made during the game. Champions are created during the offseason.”

My friends, every damn day for us in this game of life, in this game of business, it is the offseason. It’s the offseason and it’s the freaking game at the same time. We get an opportunity each and every day to choose if we’re going to drift or if we are going to create results.

My question to you as we close this out is that what is something or someone that you are looking up to or maybe negatively comparing yourself to that is not moving you towards the results that you desire in life and business? Just take a minute and ask yourself that question. Just ask yourself that question. Then here to follow that up, here’s a little challenge for you. Write down a few things you’ve noticed comparing yourself to about others. Just write like, “Oh, I wish I could do this like him. I wish I had this guy’s net worth or this guy’s showmanship,” or whatever it may be, things that you’ve compared yourself to others.

Then create some action steps. Draw a line with an arrow and create some action steps to create your own version of those things that you know that you’ve been drifting on and watching others and maybe living vicariously through others rather than taking action and creating your own results and creating the best and greatest version of yourselves. That’s it my friends. That’s all I’ve got. Now it’s up to you to start taking action in your life and in your business. Once again, I thank you for listening to the show my friends. I look forward to helping you create results in your life and in your business.

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Brant: Welcome everybody today to The Brant Phillips Show. The show all about life and business results. Today, I got a really, really special guest for you guys. Mitch Stephen is on the show today. I’m going to give you a quick bio about who this guy is in case you haven’t heard. First and foremost, he is a real estate entrepreneur. I would call him more of a godfather of the, or guru of owner financing since that’s where he is today but before he got started, a little background on where he started from. He’s been self-employed in the real estate field since 1996. He has purchased over, well over 1,000 houses. I think it may be in the 1,500 range these days. He operates out of San Antonio, Texas.

When you read about this guy, you’ll see that he’s a grinder. He does what we talk about. He’s created success by just being persistent and never ceasing to stop learning, reading, going to seminars, podcasts, just whatever he needs to do to get ahead. Like I said, today, he specializes in owner financing properties basically to individuals left behind by traditional lending institutions. He’s created a tremendous amount of success and wealth and has a lot of great testimonials from his coaching students as well who are going out and doing what Mitch has taught them to do. Without further ado, Mitch welcome to the show my friend.

Mitch: Hey, thank you. It’s a pleasure to be here Brant.

Brant: Yeah man. We were just talking before we started this thing man. I’ve been following you for quite a while. I’ve doubled with some owner financing over the years. Just in the last year, I’ve looked at where my business is at and just looked for ways to expand and opportunities that are there. Owner financing has been just hot and heavy for me on my radar. I know that you’ve got your book, My Life & 1,000 Houses, which is subtitled Failing Forward to Financial Freedom and some other books as well. Why don’t you just start by telling everyone a little bit about yourself better than I did and how you stumbled upon owner financing and what’s transpired since.

Mitch: In the very beginning I just wanted to buy a condo to live in and bartend in my early 20s. Then it was small, one bedroom so I needed a bigger one. I thought, “If I could get two bedroom and I could rent out one of the bedrooms to a roommate then I could probably live pretty cheap.” I rented out my one bedroom and I got a two bedroom and I got a roommate. I collected the rent on the one bedroom and I collected the rent from my roommate. I was living for free or maybe even making 100 bucks. I thought that was pretty cool. Then one day I decided I’m going to get a house. I sold the two condos and I made more money when I did that by far. I made way more money than I made the whole year working and that got me thinking.

Then, I don’t know. It took me a long time to grab some of the concepts to free up my mind and get out of my own way. It took me way too long to figure out that I didn’t need money to get into the business, as much as I needed expertise to know how to find a good deal. I stumbled around for a while, I read some books and I read Robert Allen but it took me five years to get that concept of not needing money. To own that concept in your heart is a whole different thing. I finally on accident did a nothing down deal. Then all of a sudden the light bulb went off. I thought, “Well, if you can buy one house with nothing, you can buy the whole town with a whole bunch of nothing. I got a whole bunch of nothing so I could buy the whole town.”

Brant: Yeah. It was a light bulb moment for me as well when I realized like man, when I started working with private lenders, it was like, “Not only can I buy a whole crap load of houses, it’s that these people had more money and I was cultivating this great win-win scenario here where I didn’t have to deal with the banks anymore which the paperwork alone was a headache. These people were like just incredibly happy to work with me and loan me even more money. I was like, “Holy cow, I think we’re on to something here.”

Mitch: Yeah. I did my first 100 deals with credit cards because they didn’t ask me any questions and they didn’t care what I bought. I did my first 100 deals with credit cards which is a form of zero down. You know?

Brant: Yeah.

Mitch: Then I did so many deals that my banker said, “How are you doing all this?” I told him and he says, “Why don’t you come down and get a credit line or something?” I started doing that. Banks turned out to be too slow, too cumbersome, too much reporting all the time. You know?

Brant: Yeah.

Mitch: They just want another piece of paper. I just decided to go with private people. I became a master at private money. I have $12 million of private money give or take a million right now. I can’t spend it all. I can’t buy enough houses with it. I invented the hard money loan company. I loan it up to my competitors who find some deals before I do. I loan it out to them at 50 cents on the dollar. I have about five or six companies. They’re all kind of one big incestuous real estate mess. You know?

Brant: Yeah. It sounds really familiar. I didn’t do my first 100 deals on a credit card but I did my very first deal on a credit card because I had no money. I was like, “I got good credit and a credit card.” Leveraged that experience to do my next deal. I went through the hard money route for a while and a good long while actually before I stumbled upon private we’ll say and Good Lord, the rest is history since then.

Your market’s a little bit different. Why don’t you tell people a little bit about the types of houses that you buy and that you pick out for owner financing? I know a lot of my students and myself, we do a lot of the, we buy the ugly houses and we fix them all up and do the rehab thing and turn them into pretty houses. You’re doing something a little bit different. Why don’t you just educate people on what the owner financing model is for you?

Mitch: It’s a decent size subject. To start out, it’s just I buy houses with OPM or other people’s money. I have private lenders like you. When I decide I want to buy a house, I go borrow the money at 8% interest only for five years, non-recourse, collateral only loan and I go buy the house. Then I sell the house by taking a down payment from someone and then signing documents to where they’re going to owe me the balance over 20, 25, 30 years. I basically finance the house to them. They give me a down payment and then they owe me 30 years’ worth of payments.

The core belief of my business is that a person paying $1,000 rent would rather pay $1,000 to own. I have to deal on the X amount of houses where I can take what people are paying for rent in that neighborhood and I can make them the owner and their payment, I can replace their rent with their mortgage payment that’s about the same give or take 100 bucks one way or the other. That’s the core belief of the business. If you believe that most renters would rather own then you get to join the owner finance strategy arena. If you don’t believe that, then you can stay out of it.

I’ve been doing it for 22 years. There’s a massive amount of renters that wish they were owners, they just don’t know how. The institutions are keeping them from owning a home because they don’t fit into the box that traditional mortgages offer. I just do that about 1,500 times in a row now. I just do it over and over and over. It’s a really great business because you’re helping people that are sick and tired of getting burned in the stock market or too old to gamble on the stock market, you’re helping them make a decent rate of return.

You’re helping the people that were renters become owners. You’re helping neighborhoods that used to have crack houses in them turn that page and that house lose from being a crack house or a house of ill repute to a decent house with an owner occupant living in it. We move the tax assessments upward which benefits the municipalities and all the services that the cities offer. It’s just a great, win, win, win, win, all the way around. At the end of the day, I get to make a great living and know that I caused all this stuff to happen. A typical deal would be, can I think of a deal, a typical deal we’ll run some numbers from a case study?

Brant: No, absolutely.

Mitch: Say like I find a house I can buy for 50 all in and I go in and I borrow 52 because I always borrow an extra $2,000 because finding houses isn’t free. Somewhere in there, I’m burning up tires, gas, advertising, paper, ink cartridges, you name it. I just estimate it runs around $2,000 per house to find it. Sometimes it’s low and sometimes it’s high. I borrow 52. Let’s say my payment is like 350 for a round number, 8% interest only five years non-recourse. Then I don’t do anything to the house. I owner finance it for double. I owner finance it for like 100,000 with 10,000 down and I carry the 90,000 at 10% interest for 30 years.

It’s an incredible business because what really made the value is not that I painted it or put any new carpet. I just made it affordable for someone to own. I made it affordable to someone who couldn’t get a loan otherwise. I made the payment about what they’re paying for rent in that neighborhood anyways. The separator is the $10,000 down payment. In this scenario, at 90,000, I’m collecting about 850 a month principal interest and I’m paying out 350 so I’m collecting $500 spread of which I am not a landlord. I’m not the landlord. I don’t have any of those landlord responsibilities. If the air-conditioner breaks, it’s not my air-conditioner. If the hot water heater goes out, it’s not my hot water heater. I sold the house. I’m the bank. I’m just collecting the payments.

See, when you’re the landlord, you collect the money. You don’t know if it’s your money or not? Even if you collect two or three months on time from your tenant. On the fourth month, the air-conditioner could break and you could have to give all that money to the air-conditioner man. I was doing a hell of a job collecting money for the air-conditioner man and the plumber and the electrician and the carpet guy and the shampoo guy. I just got tired of it. I had about 25 houses I was supposed to make about, and I had rent houses. I was supposed to make 7,500 a month, I was making zero at the end of the year. I wasn’t making anything, not for 25 houses. Then I started owner financing these houses and the money started hitting my bottom line and staying there.

My tenants would move into my house, tear up my house and leave. My buyers, they give me a down payment and move into the house. Fix the house up and stay. It’s just a completely different dynamic. I’ve been in love with the business for 22 years. I’ve never stopped owner financing houses.

Brant: Thanks for sharing all that. for those of you who are listening to this and maybe you don’t know anything about owner financing, one, I want you to know that what Mitch is talking about, when you dive into this and start doing a little of your own research and digging and playing with some spreadsheets with this stuff, you realize why banks are banks. You realize why banks love to loan money. For those of you who’ve done some real estate investing and you’ve done the rental property investing for a while, you’re probably catching on to the genius with this business model.

When I came up, I was a buy and hold guy. I bought rental property, rehabbed it, rented it out. I got to where I had about 50 houses. Good Lord, you talk about just the stress of the proverbial tenants, toilets and taxes. I wasn’t really like, we weren’t really set up to manage them really well, meaning me and my, I had hired an assistant. It was just constantly, there was some kind of headache that we’re putting out. I actually just started selling my houses because I didn’t want to deal with all the crap of being a landlord. I wanted to be a real estate investor so for the most part, I just turned to flipping houses.

Since then, yes, we’ve gotten much better at managing houses. About five or six years ago, one of my contractors was like, “Hey, I’m looking for a house. Do you have a house you want to sell me?” I’m like, “As a matter of fact I do because a tenant just moved out and I’m owner financing.” I didn’t really know anything about it but that’s when I first decided, “Let me look at this.” I don’t know five-six years ago, I’ve owner financed my first one. I’ll tell you that five or six years later after doing a sum rate of these things, I’ve had a couple of late payments so I can’t say that. I’ve never got a call for repairs. I’ve never paid the taxes or the insurance or any of that kind of stuff. Knock on wood, all my buyers have been great. I’ve never had to take a house back or anything like that.

I don’t know. For those of you listening out there, there’s some real genius behind this business model. It’s more of the, if you want to get into lifestyle with your business, I’ll tell you there’s a reason why I’m moving more towards the owner financing model because of a lot of the things that Mitch talked about. I encourage you guys, check out his book, My Life & 1,000 Houses: the Art of Owner Financing and dig into this much, much deeper.

Mitch: There’s a lot of case studies in that book. It’s in four colors. It’s a lot of numbers. One of the reasons why the book is rather expensive if you think $55 is expensive for a 100-page book. There’s a reason why it’s $55. The people that call me and say, “Why in the hell is that book so expensive?” I tell them to put the book down, step away from it. Come back to it on another day when you’re ready because you ain’t ready right now.

Brant: Yeah.

Mitch: That book is worth a million dollars to the-

Brant: Exactly yeah.

Mitch: To the people that understand what I’m talking about.

Brant: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Mitch: It’s in a four color which is an expensive book to print, very expensive to print because there are so many numbers in the book that I thought it would be advantageous if I had the expenses in red, the incoming green and the important numbers in blue so that you could, every time we went to a case study, you could grab all the numbers and they’d be in the right place in your head real quick. Just to try to simplify it for you because if it’s just a bunch of numbers on a spreadsheet, it could get a little bit mindboggling. It helps to break up the numbers.

There are so many positives to owner financing. Sometimes you get 20, $30,000 down. Sometimes you get 50,000 down. Every now and then you get lucky. When was the last time you tried to rent your 2,000, your $1,500 a month house or apartment and someone gave you a $15,000 non-refundable deposit? It never happens. It never happens. In this business, it can. It’s a way of making money today while building a residual income for tomorrow that you could work yourself out of a job.

Imagine if I did that scenario that I just talked about, if I did that example twice in a month, I’d make 20,000 today and I’d have $1,000 coming in that I don’t have any liabilities on. If I do it three times in a month, that’s $30,000 today with 1,500 coming in. If I do it a hundred times in a year which I’ve done before, that’s a million dollars in down payments and $50,000 year income. Positive income, cash flow with nothing to do but collect the payment. That’s all there is to do is be the bank. Make sure you get the payment. If you don’t get the payment, you got to send out a letter to make sure you get your late fee and the payment. That’s it. You can even sign that over to a collection agency. Believe it or not, you’re allowed to collect principal, interest, taxes, insurance and servicing fee. I charge my house buyer the $35 a month servicing fee and they pay for it so it’s not even out of my pocket to hire someone else to do the collection. It’s a really great business.

The only two things that you don’t get, that you’ll miss as a buy and hold guy is you’ll miss appreciation and depreciation. You have a business, let’s say there are other ways to get your write offs. As far as appreciation goes, did you hear that example that I just gave Brant?

Brant: Yeah.

Mitch: I bought it for 50 and I sold it for 100 in less than 30 days. How much appreciation do you buy and hold guys want?

Brant: Yeah I know. I know.

Mitch: Maybe the landlords just think they have to wait eight to 10 years for their appreciation. I can get my appreciation right now and I’m moving down the road.

Brant: Yeah. No man. For those of you listening to this, it’s music to my ears. I’ll tell you, before we connected for the podcast, I was reaching out to your office. I’m like, “When can I get on Mitch’s calendar? I want to hear straight from your mouth like what to do and what not to do.” I really am man, it’s a beautiful business model. There’s nothing wrong, if you want to be a landlord investor and you want to go out and buy 100 houses, and that’s great. You’re going to do really, really well on a lot of those houses if not all of them.

Mitch: Let me comment on that. Let me comment on that though. There’s a lot of millionaires that buy and hold. I don’t think it’s what you think it is, because if you’re trying to become a millionaire, you’re trying to make it on the amount of money that you clear between what you’re collecting and what you owe, then that’s a long hard brutal, brutal way to go. It’s not going to be fun. It will be a long time before you make any money. I think the people that are getting rich in the buy and hold, they’re paying cash for their houses. They don’t have any underlying debt. They can take some expenses throughout the year and still show a profit because they don’t have any debt on the house.

People that are buying those houses with their 401ks or their IRAs or they just inherited some money and they paid cash for a bunch of houses. I can understand how it would work if you didn’t have debt on your houses. It does not work. It’s the biggest myth ever perpetrated on the investment community that collecting 900 and paying out 500 that you’re going to clear 400. That’s bullshit. You’re not going to clear 400. They just gave zero weight to all the liabilities. You want to start naming them, it will be a half hour before we’re done. Starting with the hot water heater and the air-conditioner. You just start going through a house, every component, you’re responsible for every single one of them. Then even outside the house, all the way out to the curb and the mailbox, you’re responsible for all of it, all of it, all the way out to the fence.

Brant: It’s one of those things where for most people they just have to experience that for themselves because when I started in real estate, no experience, no money and da, da, da, da, whatever. I got involved with a local investment club and they’re preaching and teaching the business model that you just shot down. That’s what everyone was doing. I’m like, “All right. They got a lot more money than me. Consider I had zero and they’ve done this like a million times. I’m going to do what they do.”

I started out doing that about 10 houses my first year, 10 houses my second year when I was working a full-time job. Then I quit my job year two. I got to this almost to 50 houses mark. There was a friend of mine. We were racing to buy 100 houses first. We were like, “I bought two more this month.” I’m like, “I bought two more.” “I got 20.” “I got 30, da, da, da.” We were just racing. When I started hitting the mid 30 mark I’m like, “I’m not sure this is what it’s supposed to be.” That’s when I mention, when I got in that mid 40s mark, my buddy is like, “I got 60.” I’m like, “You know what, I think you’re going to beat me to 100 because something is wrong here. I got to figure it out.” I flipped my second house. My first flip went horribly wrong. I flipped my second house and I made 65 grand in 60 days. I’m like, “I think I like that better.” That’s why I transitioned to more of a flipper. I hold rentals and I believe in creating wealth.

You’re absolutely right. A lot of the guys who are where I was when I started out, where I didn’t have any money, I had zero dollars, to leverage your way into wealth with rental property, with financing 80% or whatever you’re getting deals at these days depend on where you’re buying at, with bank financing, it’s a break even at best proposition. You’ve got to really manage that thing right and have some good breaks. You can come out really, really well over time. I agree wholeheartedly, it’s not a great way to build wealth and to create a lifestyle at the same time.

You can build wealth but it’s not so much of a lifestyle there’s so much stress that’s involved with the financing and the renters and the toilets and the taxes. That’s why I love flipping houses. I love the business I’ve created but I’m always looking for ways to make it better. That’s why we’re on this call today because I believe owner financing is one of the tools that people who are serious about this, about creating wealth and the lifestyle at the same time because owner financing definitely falls into the lifestyle category in my opinion, they need to check this out. I know you do some coaching, that you and I are both real estate coaches. I’m assuming this is what the focus of your coaching is with your students. Tell us a little bit about that and what’s going on there.

Mitch: Yeah, people try to pigeon hole me. I’m just the owner financing guy. That’s not true because along the way to trying to find the perfect owner finance house, you find all kinds of things. Sometimes the houses are better to wholesale. I do wholesales. I do subject to’s. I’ll do all kinds, I’ll flip a context every now and then. There’s houses that are too expensive to fit into the owner financing model. There are houses in neighborhoods that I don’t think are good for owner financing. They’re too rust. They’re too lower level. I’ll wholesale or flips those. There’s other houses you buy and it just screams retail me. There’s nothing to do. There’s other houses I buy and it’s just like, “I really just want to put some money in my pocket today.”

Along the way and I do in about, and people always want to know this, are you really doing this or are you just talking about it? In 2015, I did just under 100 houses, 2016 just about the same. It’s really competitive right now so maybe I’ll do 75 houses this year because I still only want to buy great deals. About 35% of them, I’ll slip out of real quick for a lot of different reasons like I said. Another reason could be that some of the people on my team are getting a little strapped for cash. It’d be a perfect owner finance house but I can make 20,000 if I wholesale it or I retail it. Everybody needs to make some money so we can live to fight another day and another week and another month. You sell sometimes just to keep your team going. About 35% wholesale, 10% retail and then the other 55% of whatever I owner finance.

I average over $500 a month but I’m sure there’s a lot to do after 22 years. If you average $500 and you owner finance 100 houses, that’s $50,000 a month coming in. It don’t matter whose air-conditioner breaks. It’s not your problem. It doesn’t matter whose hot water heater goes out, it’s not your problem. It’s not your house. You’re just collecting the payments.

The problem with notes in the owner finance strategy if there is a problem is that they’re going to run out. They’re going to expire. Sooner or later, the notes pay off. You have to take the wealth that you created from that and you have to buy something that’s forever. I took the wealth that I made from flipping and signing contracts and retailing and owner financing, and I took that wealth and I bought mini storages. I have 1,100 doors at the lake where I live in 14 locations. One in Corpus and one in Rockport and 1,100 people owe me $92 every month. Do the math real quick.

Brant: Yeah, awesome man.

Mitch: I created the wealth. You created real estate investing and then I preserve the wealth to some kind of forever cash which could be something that you rent or you lease which could be apartments or office and warehouses or industrial space or strip centers or whatever. I just don’t like renting houses to people and families. I like renting 10 by 10, and 10 by 15 and 10 by 20 cubicles to people. You know?

Brant: Sure.

Mitch: There’s no carpeting, there’s no hot water heater, there’s no shit rock, there’s one light switch and one light bulb and a door. That’s about it in each unit. There’s not a lot to take care of.

Brant: That’s awesome man, really, really, really great story. What advice do you have for people? Maybe people just starting out, people who’ve dabbled with rental property and found out like we did it’s not really all that or maybe like a lot of my students flip houses and I flip houses or just someone who is a newbie. What advice do you have for investors?

Mitch: Let’s take the wholesaler. He wholesales a deal and he makes 10 grand. I just made the same 10 grand he made on a house because I owner finance it. We both made 10 grand but here’s the deal, I got 360 months of $500 a month positive cash flow coming in. That’s 180 grand. The wholesaler just left 180 grand on the table in future money. If you got to learn a concept, why don’t you learn the one where you get the 10,000 and you get the 180,000 over time? Why would you learn a concept where you just get paid the 10 grand? Although there’s a place and a time for every concept like I said.

Brant: Absolutely.

Mitch: You use them all. When you get up a little bit you say, “You know what, I don’t need to glean the seals on this one. I need to go the long way where I make all the money.” Flip two and owner finance one or flip three and owner finance one, or flip one and owner finance three. Get some kind of plan where you’re building because otherwise you just got a job and you got to keep doing it every month. You can’t even sit down. If I want to leave the country for six months right now, I’m going to make $100,000 a month whether I, it doesn’t make any difference. It’s still going to come in whether I’m in China or Russia or wherever I’m at, Mexico, it doesn’t matter, wherever I’m at, the paycheck is still going to come in. If I’m a wholesaler or a house flipper or a rehabber, it doesn’t work like that.

Brant: Yeah. No, I know. I’ve seen that with some wholesalers in the local market where that’s what they do and that’s what they know. They don’t want to get out of that comfort zone, I’m like, “Dude man, you’re spinning your wheels. I don’t know if your net worth is going up or not man. Most likely it’s not.” I’m not knocked at wholesalers. Ideally, for new investors coming in, start out in wholesale, learn how to market. Learn how to find the great deals. That’s the best place to start.

Mitch: People coming in I tell them, “Hey,” we look at their finances and says, “Man, you’re too tight for my comfort level. Let’s flip a couple of houses real quick, put 20 grand in the bank. Then we’ll have a budget for all this stuff we need to because you’ll have some place to take it from and still have your paycheck from your full-time job. Let’s flip a couple and get some money in the bank. Then we’re going to take that money and we’re going to put it back into the business, we’re going to set up some systems so that when you get off of work you’re not doing a bunch of menial stupid stuff. You’re out trying to sign contracts.”

Brant: No, I agree. I just closed a deal Monday from one of my students who’s at East Texas Area. I was like I think given where you’re at, I was like, “I think you need to start out just wholesaling.” He’s like, “Well, think about that. You think it’s best?” I’m like, “I do. You can do anything you want but I think you should start at wholesaler.” He’s like, “Yeah, I don’t have any buyers.” I’m like, “Who are you talking to my friend?” I ended up buying his first deal. He’s working on some more that we’re probably going to buy.

Mitch: If you want buyers, go to livecomm.com and just watch the four minute video on that. Selling has never been so easy.

Brant: Oh yeah. Right now it’s so easy, so easy.

Mitch: Just go to livecomm.com, livecomm.com, if you don’t have any buyers or don’t have a cash buyer’s list or don’t have a way to, you get a deal and you don’t know what to do with it, just go watch that and then you can quit worrying about that.

Brant: Yeah, especially in the Texas market, selling deals is not really an issue right now at least where we’re at and from some other markets from friends of mine who I’ve talked to. Man, I know we’re out of a little crunch for time. I would love to get into the financing aspect a little bit. I guess the last real technical, real estate questions. You borrowed typically you said 8% five years, non-recourse. Is that five years interest only? Are you going to sell most of your notes before that period of time or tell me how that works? You’re going to wrap the mortgage and create like a 30-year note but tell me how if you can, give everyone like the …

Mitch: There’s so many exit strategies that if you want to go to 1000houses.com and check out my blog, look up the article, Why I Borrow at the Terms I Do. Real quick, you could sell the notes but selling notes is counterintuitive. I’m trying to build long-term cash flow. Selling notes is counterintuitive. If I had to I could though. If I got to the end, I never make it to five years. The average note in America lasts seven and a half years. They get refinanced or they sell it, and someone else brings the loan and pays off. It burns down, the interest pays off, they win the lottery, they get an inheritance, I don’t know.

The average mortgage in the United States market lasts seven and a half years. The train wreck is happening, it’s like I’m owner financing these houses for 30 years and I’m borrowing money at five years. It would take a long, long time for my buyer to owe me what I owe my private lender, probably over probably 15 years or so. You can replace that person with another private lender, you could write a check for it because if you did this model for five years, you definitely have the money to just write a check for it. You could write a check for half of it and just borrow the other half.

You could take all your notes which I’m doing this right now. I’m taking 35 of my notes down to a community bank. I’m pledging my notes to refinance the $1.7 million that I borrowed to buy those 35 houses. Then I sold them and created a note to myself. I’m pledging those notes and I’m borrowing the 1.75. I borrowed that money at 8 and 10% from private people. I’m borrowing it from the community bank for 4.75. I’m cashing out my $1.7 million worth of private money on those houses, replacing it with cheaper money by a long shot, by a long shot, 4.75% versus say 9. The new loan with the community bank amortizes 15-year ARM with a 12-year balloon, no covenants, no adjustments, no anything, it’s just every five years, they have a chance to adjust the rate to prime plus 1. There’ll be two adjustments in the whole loan and there’s a sealing of 9%.

I go to a community bank and I cash them out. This is what it does. I start amortizing now. I’m amortizing very quickly. I have a short note on a small amount of money. My people that buy my houses have a long note on a large amount of money. I’m good for a long time. I just freed up $1.7 million of my private money. Guess what? I get to go get it out again. Actually they’re mad at me. They want it out now. They’re all a little frustrated that I paid them off. They want their damn money out.

Brant: Yeah, some of them are brutal.

Mitch: The difference between a bank and a private lender. The bank wants to know when you’re going to pay them off, private lenders get pissed off when you pay them off.

Brant: Absolutely they do, yeah.

Mitch: As a matter of fact …

Brant: It’s a good problem to have.

Mitch: They get so upset about it that I have to make sure that in the 1.7 million I’m not paying one person completely off. If a guy has 10 houses with me, I’ll take four of his houses and put them in that group. If a guy has 20 houses with me, I’ll take seven of his houses and put them in that group. I never take all of someone’s houses and pay them off because then they’re left with no income. These elderly people are living off that income. When you pay all the loans off at one time, they have to bite into the principal that next month, those months until you get their money back out because there’s no cash flow for them.

Brant: Yeah. You got to manage those relationships. That’s why we help our students, we help fund their deals with our private lenders. It’s a good thing. We’ve got more money typically than we can invest. We like to keep our lenders happy and they’re happy whenever we’re placing their money on good deals or trustworthy people. You’re right man, as soon as they get it back, it’s like I’m getting calls and text. Even with some of them, we’re a little bit more honoraria than others where it’s like we haven’t even sold it yet and you’re already like, “Where am I going to reinvest it?” I’m like, “We’re working on it. Trust me, we’re working on it.” Mitch man, I’m sorry go ahead.

Mitch: I think it’s a great business man. If you go to 1000houses.com there’s enough free stuff over there to launch your career. I give really freely there. I figure if people want me as a coach or think I’m the right coach, they know how to find me. I can’t take a ton of people because I’m not a meal house. I don’t serve my spaces out to someone who did 20 deals last year. I’m the guy who answers the phone. If you want to go there and download the first 100 pages of my book or listen to one of the webinars or watch one of the videos or listen in to a Q&A session, there’s a lot of free stuff there. It really is a lot of stuff.

Brant: Yeah. I checked some of it out myself man. I think we’re on the same page in a lot of ways. I’m not a big time coach kind of guy. I coach but on a real small level man the same way. When my students call, it’s me they’re getting. I like to support them. The greatest way I coach I’m sure is the same man. It’s like, “We just go out and do it. We just do a crap ton of real estate. We are always looking for new ways to learn and grow our business.” I’m coming down to your investor summit this weekend man to pick your brain and learn from other investors throughout there doing it, just to continually get better. Everybody, go to 1000houses.com. Check out Mitch Stephen. It’s Mitch Stephen, S-T-E-P-H-E-N. Google him. He’s all over the place. Good stuff man. I really appreciate you coming on and sharing with all the listeners. It really means a lot to me.

Mitch: Hey, I appreciate it Brant. It’s 1000houses.com just in case anybody is wondering. I really appreciate you having me on. Thank you so much. I even have a podcast reinvestorsummit.com if you’re interested. I think Brant you’re going to be on the show here pretty soon, aren’t you?

Brant: Yup. I think in a couple of weeks I’m coming on.

Mitch: Yeah, yeah. I think I just busted 100 interviews. That’s quite a job doing this stuff all the time.

Brant: It is.

Mitch: You’ll be surprised how much time it takes.

Brant: It is.

Mitch: What an effort it really takes to get it all going. It’s worth it. I’m reaching a lot of people. I never get tired of hearing people tell stories about how they let their boss go. I love those stories.

Brant: Yeah, absolutely man. It’s like my mission statement, my business mission is helping people do that. To educate, motivate, inspire and equip so they can go out and create whatever it is that they want to create man. I appreciate you coming on the show and helping me to fulfill my mission for my listeners and followers and students and everybody else.

Mitch: All right. I’ll stay in touch. Again Brant, I really appreciate you having me. It’s been my pleasure.

Brant: Likewise my friend. I’ll see you in Mexico in a few days.

Mitch: All right.

Brant: All right buddy.

Mitch: All right. I look forward to it, bye.

Brant: Take care.

The post Brant Phillips Show 17: Brant Interviews Mitch Stephen appeared first on Brant Phillips.

Brant: Welcome everybody to the Brant Phillips Show. I’m Brant Phillips. This is a show dedicated to just one thing, results. Just helping you guys create results in your life and in your business. Today, I’m super excited because I’ve got a couple of friends and students on. Bottom line is that they’re action takers and they’re creating results in their life and their business. I’d like to introduce you to Stephen and Shelley Latham. How are you guys doing?
Stephen: I’m doing great Brant.
Shelley: I’m doing good, thank you.
Brant: Guys, thank you for coming on. Thank you for coming on and sharing your story and what you guys have done in the real estate world over the last, gosh, it’s less than a year but it’s coming almost a year, right? About 10 months or so?
Stephen: Yeah. I guess when we first contacted you to get started with the training was June/July, something like that. Yes, it’s been real close.
Brant: Yeah. I think we did our kickoff meeting I want to say in July so we’re coming up on a year, July of last year. It’s May at the time of this recording. Why don’t you guys just share a little bit about yourselves and give everyone kind of the thumbnail version of what brought you to reaching out to me but more importantly about making the decision to step into the world of becoming a real estate investor.
Stephen: Sure. I guess that we have to go back just a little bit. I’ve been working in oil field. I’ve been in it for about the last 12 years or so. In doing that, we’ve been married 13 years. We’ve bought several houses. Actually what we did, we’d buy a house, move into it, fix things up, sell it a couple of years’ later, move again. In doing so, we enjoyed doing it. It’s almost like when we get one big we’d sell it just because we needed a new challenge, needed something else to be able to work on. We had been discussing the possibility of developing and building a business where we can do this more of a full-time kind of thing and of course I was like that. I was working in the oil field, Shelley was working at a dentist office. We talked about it. We’ve started reading some books and doing some research and trying to figure out, “If we do this, how do we afford it? What are the ins and outs?”
We’ve seen a lot of people do it but they’re getting, at the same time the people we knew that had done it, it was very small. They just had their own money invested it. It took a long time to flip it. They did the work themselves, kind of like what we had done. We really didn’t know the ropes on how to do this.
We read a couple of books. Finally, we saw your book and read your book. Reading through that, gleaning from that what your outlook was and the fact that it’s not just about making money but it’s also your whole life outlook, the 4Fs, I believe it was faith, family, fitness and finances that they were coming to … We met. We liked your outlook and then so we decided, “Hey look, let’s reach out to Brant. Let’s get a feel for what he does and see if we can hire him as a coach.” Of course we made the call and got talking to you. Then from there it fell into God’s hands because literally on Monday of the week that, I guess of the week after we called you, my prayer was that God would allow us to get this business up and running to the point that I could actually quit my job by Christmas time. That would be the late June, early July.
Wednesday of that week, our company did a corporate restructure and they let 36 of us go. They let me go. I was one of the ones who got let go. They gave us a severance that would carry me through Christmas. It was God saying, “Okay, do you want bet it? I’m going to go ahead and get you out of this job so you can focus full-time on what you’re doing. Here’s the money to get you through the end of the year.” That’s how we got started into the flipping business. With a real estate investment, we’re not solely doing flip. That’s how we got our jumpstart in it. It’s been a war/win getting going but it’s been fun. We’re definitely very pleased with where we are.
Brant: Yeah. The F4, faith, family, fitness and finances is extremely important to me because the fact of the matter is that we, so many of us, so many people in the society, entrepreneurs and what not, just people in the workforce, most people spend a majority of their time working. They spend a majority of their time in the financial quadrant. Making money to support their families, their lifestyle whatever it may be. Spend just an overwhelming a lot of times majority of time in there. As people get older, older in life and things like that, that’s the least important thing. When people are reflecting and they’re retired on their death bed, they’re not like, “Man, I wish I would have made more money. Man, I wish my network was higher.” They don’t care. People draw closer to God. People draw closer to their family. Now they’re like, “Crap, I wish I would have taken better care of my health and fitness.”
That is really important to me because I’m fortunate to have seen some mistakes that I was making when I began. As an entrepreneur getting into real estate, I was really focused just on this financial thing. This is the conversation that I share a lot with people about be, do, have. People think that, “Man, in order to have all these things, I got to do all this stuff so then I can become that person.” The fact of the matter is you need to be that person that you dream of being and that you desire to be. You need to be that person now. In order to be that person that has a well-rounded, well-balanced life that has daily time to focus on your faith and your family and your fitness, and at the same time your finances, you need to do those things, not 10 years, 20 years, 30 years from now. You need to do those things right now. You need to invest in your faith. You need to invest in your family and your loved ones and you need to spend some time on your health and your fitness. At the same time making money.
Once you begin doing those things, being that person and doing those things, you can have aspects of living the, I call it the have it all lifestyle which is you’re spiritually connected, you’ve gotten connected in your love, relationships with your spouse or your loved ones or whatever it may be, girlfriends, boyfriends, your children, family members. You’re taking care of your health and your fitness, whatever is important to you.
What people don’t understand is all of those things affect your bottom line, because I’m a business coach and some people are like, “Why are you talking about faith, family or fitness?” One, it’s because it’s important to me. It’s who I am but it affects the bottom line. That’s what people don’t understand. Since I’ve began putting it all together and applying some of these things that I do, it’s impacting my bottom line.
Sometimes it’s not immediate, it’s not right away. Whenever you think about, “Okay. If I’m going to make a decision,” like for people listening to this right now and say like, “I’m going to make a decision today.” Like right here and now that I’m going to, I don’t care, just invest some time, make some effort. Whether it be like reading whatever scripture of the day and to invest something in your faith. That you’re going to send your significant other or your children like a text or a little voice message or a little sticky note every day and let them know how much you love them or just do something for them. Exercise, like five-10 minutes, just go get a sweat and then just start there.
If you make little investments now, those rewards come later. That’s some of the results that people don’t understand is that when you’re starting a business, you guys have just started a business in the last year. I know you guys have been working your butts off. That’s kind of part of the buy-in of being a new entrepreneur. You want to build it where it’s sustainable and it lasts. Also, when you get to the end of the day that it’s like, “Man, I’m really proud of what I’ve created but I can also enjoy it because I’ve built this life around it.” I appreciate you bringing that up. I’m getting a little long-winded here. I’m sorry but that’s what I’m most passionate about is what you just brought up.
Tell me some of the fears that you guys had, and maybe even you didn’t have as many fears as some people but just what was the outlook when you were starting? What were the big unknowns that you had and emotionally how were you going into the onset of I guess when we first met to doing your first deal? What was some of the psychology surrounding where you guys were at going into this thing?
Stephen: I guess for me the biggest fear which is very important, what led us to reading the books and doing more research was the financial side. We definitely wanted our own business. We wanted to be able to work for ourselves. The big thing was, “We don’t have the money to go buy houses to flip.” That was a big concern. Of course as we would research and read. It’s like, “Well, you need private money or hard money loans or the different avenues.” It was the lack of education. We just didn’t know that much about it and didn’t know where to find it. Didn’t even know where to look yet. Again, that’s why we reached out to get training because we didn’t know. I guess for me that’s the biggest fear of it, is the uncertainty of how to do it. I don’t know. What about you honey? Did you have anything else?
Shelley: I think that was definitely the biggest fear for me as well was just lack of education of knowing where the funds were going to come from. There was a sense of not really, once the idea of you’re not having this house made. We got to open that door but still having to learn how to go about getting the finances was the biggest thing, because naturally when you start your own business, you have this fear of just out [inaudible 00:12:00]. You have no income coming in and you think, “Okay, we’re going to jump in this with both feet. Are we going to be able to make it?” That we’re getting with Brant and his team, it eased that. Sometimes it was getting us what our fear was which was the knowledge and the journey of just how to go about it.
Brant: Yeah. Fast forward to today. Looking back on your fears from then to now, what’s changed your thoughts around money and the unknowns, kind of where you’re at today and just your overall mindset as an entrepreneur?
Shelley: I think for me, it’s a business. The whole thing is a business. Having a structured plan of action as far as with each individual property, having that exit strategy. You just have to look at it like, “Okay, we’re going to buy this property. This is the profits that we’re going to go through with this property. Here’s what’s going to happen if it sells. Here’s what’s going to happen if it doesn’t sell. This is what we’re going to do with it.” It’s just a systematic path that we’ve created for our business of just knowing that we’re going to make it work. There’s always going to be something that we’re going to do with each individual situation to make it work. You know?
Brant: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Shelley: That it’s not an option for it not to work. It’s just not an option. We’re going to have a strategy so we can make it happen.
Brant: Yeah. Go ahead Steve.
Stephen: No, go ahead. I was just going to say in addition to that, yeah I see again the initial fear of just the unknown, because we went into training, we understand where the money comes from. If we’re applying for private money, we understand how to find and where to find the hard money loans. We know what to look for. There’s structure to it now. It’s a matter of, we only have to get out there and put in the time and effort, it’s there and it’s doable. It’s the fear only when there’s so much unknown.
Brant: Yeah. The mindset portion of this thing, the whatever your driving why is, whatever you are sourcing your determination from. Shelley you mentioned something about like, “We’re going to figure it out. It doesn’t matter. We’re going to figure this thing out.” Just that commitment and that mindset is probably about 80% of the factor, of the ratio of creating success. The 20% is like the how but the 80% is just the mindset. The determination like, “I’m going to either find a way or create a way to make this happen.” That’s why my book about How to Flip a House: the Seven Fundamentals, it starts with mindset. That is the most critical thing because quite frankly, the strategies, the Xs and Os of business and the real estate, some things are going to stay the same but a lot of those things will change and they’ll shift.
Before we started this, I was telling you guys about some new strategies that we’re exploring, we’re exploring in other markets. What drives me more than anything though is it stems from our mindset. It stems from my why, what’s driving me and what it is I want to create. Making money is fun.
Sometimes I got to clarify that with people. It’s like, “I know.” I’m like, “I love making money but I love enjoying things that I enjoy doing. I enjoy building a life and a business that are intertwined where I can make money. At the same time control my time, do things that I enjoy, work with others that I enjoy working with and serving others and giving back and all that kind of stuff.” If you can build this thing and I’m talking to people listening, if you can build, begin with the end in mind and build your business that supports the life you dream of, that is the road less traveled. That is the road less traveled. I’ve seen a lot of people who have made a lot of money and quite frankly, they’re just not happy. It’s not worth it to me.
All right. Let’s dive into, just share. Let’s share, what are just a couple of, I’ll tell you what, let’s close this out on your guys just sharing a couple of the biggest challenges that you would warn people about like, “Hey, this was really, really hard for us or this was difficult for us.” Biggest challenges and your victories. Then we’ll end on a high note with just sharing with some people like what you guys have done and like your big success story.
Shelley: I think for me the biggest challenge is real estate, there’s only so much you can control. You control the houses you purchase and the properties you purchase and what you do to the property. Then the waiting period out here, what happens once you put them on the market? That becomes out of your control. That’s where it falls back into getting it into a structure of, “Hi, after these many months, this is what we’re going to do to this property.” I think this kind of waiting game for me has been the biggest challenge with tons of property. That would be it for me I guess.
Stephen: I guess for me the biggest challenge is make sure you do your homework. That covers multiple areas. Make sure that you have good market analysis. Make sure you know what that house is going to be worth when you’re done. Then make sure you understand what you’re looking for when you go and do a rehab estimation. When we walk through a house because we don’t send a home inspector, we are the home inspectors. We come out and look at and determine, “Okay, we’re doing half the stakes, we’re doing mean the stakes. What are my actual costs going to be here because if you don’t do the homework. If you don’t call out [inaudible] and get over and open their biker box and look at it, if you don’t do those kind of things, then it could sneak up on you and bite you.
Again, we can see. It’s so funny as we look at properties if we’re looking for properties, a lot of times stuff that will come through and we’ll look at it and we can almost immediately tell, “Okay, that house has been rehabbed. Somebody has flipped this one and they didn’t know what they’re doing,” because they’re going to be coming back and they’ll be asking way too much money for the area …
Shelley: Because they didn’t do their homework.
Stephen: Because they didn’t do their homework they spent way too much money to do it. Everybody is a little prided by doing great rehab but because they didn’t do their homework, they’re going to lose money. That is really the challenge is you just have to do your homework.
Brant: Yeah. You got to do your homework. You guys already mentioned it. You got to run a business. Businesses are, we have to have numbers. We have to have data. We got to have metrics. You have to rely on your formula. You guys had my formula but you were in a different market. The formula is very, very formula but it’s a little bit different. Right?
Shelley: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Brant: You guys know what a deal is to you in your market and you just have to hold to that. You have to be patient. Another thing I say is that especially in the beginning, you have to be aggressively patient or patiently aggressive. Meaning that you need to be aggressive every day in taking action, performing the habits, doing the work that’s going to help create results. You need to be aggressive like every day making those phone calls, doing your marketing, looking at deals, building your team of contractors, raising money etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. Be very, very aggressive with those things.
When it comes to buying the right deal or making a big decision, whatever it’s like you need to be patient with that. You need to make sure that it really fits your model for what you’re trying to create. Being patiently aggressive I think is uber critical to creating success. Speaking of success, let’s go out on a high note and share with everyone listening, some people may be experienced, some people may just be getting started in the business or thinking about getting started. Share your big success story.
Stephen: For me, as far as a big success story, we purchased or signed contract to purchase our first property in September of last year. Right now we have purchased and rehabbed five houses. We’ve got two of them sold, another one under contract. We’ve got house number six that we’re about halfway through rehabbing, property number seven we purchase tomorrow. Then property number eight, we should purchase by the end of the month. It’s just rocking and rolling. That to me is the success story. We’re not even in the middle of the year and that’s going to make eight properties that we will have purchased by the end of May.
Brant: Yeah, that’s awesome. That’s awesome.
Stephen: It’s really important. Again, it’s a testament to if we put up with the training, we put in the effort, the results will be there. It’s [inaudible].
Brant: Yeah.
Shelley: I think for me too, not only to the extent that Stephen just said, we’re actually working our own business. We’re not punching a clock. We’re not [inaudible 00:22:48] anybody else’s firm. We’re doing things the way we want to do them. We’re able to live life and have time now for each other, it’s something we enjoy together. We’ve jokingly but seriously said, it’s like we’re doing a hobby that we love and it happens to be our income. That is success for me to be able to spend more time with my family and be available to [inaudible 00:23:15] and children and all those sorts of things that really you hear lots about and not just punching a clock and working a 40 hour to 50 hour week. That’s the success for me.
Brant: Yeah. Time is certainly not equal. When you’re working a job, Good Lord. I remember when I was working a job, 40 hours is not the same doing something that you despise or don’t enjoy or in an environment that you don’t enjoy is not the same as 40 hours of working in your own business, 40 hours if you’re on vacation, spending time with your loved ones, just relaxed. Time is not equal, right?
Shelley: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Stephen: Absolutely.
Brant: If you can do what you guys are doing and what you’ve done is create a business that you love and that you enjoy, you will never work a day in your life, right? It’s not work.
Shelley: Right, absolutely.
Brant: Guys, I thank you so much for coming on. It means a ton to me not only to come on the show but just all that you guys have done. You’ve played all in and you’re doing the work. I’m really proud of you guys. I thank you for sharing with everyone listening today.
Stephen: Brant, we appreciate the opportunity to be able to come on here with you. We appreciate all that you have done and are doing to help us to happen. We’re honored to be here.
Shelley: Yes, thank you.
Brant: Thank you. Thank you for everyone listening. That’s all that I have for you today my friends. I just want to encourage you guys listening to, if you’re at a place where you’re wishing and wondering and hoping and just thinking, just taking action. Start taking action in your life, in your business. Begin to build your plan to go out and create results in your life and in your business. With that, we are signing off but thank you for listening. We’ll talk to you soon.

The post Brant Phillips Show 16: Brant Interviews Stephen and Shelley – 1st Year Success Story appeared first on Brant Phillips.

Welcome everybody to the Brant Phillips Show. Yes, I am Brant Phillips. This is the show dedicated to one thing: results. Helping you create results in your life and in your business. Today, I’m going to start out with a little story. When I first got into real estate, when I first became an entrepreneur in 2007, I was a networking fool. I used to go to so many networking events, boot camps, real estate networking events, workshops, you name it and I was there. Like every week, I was grinding, I was hustling. I was just gaining as much information and insight as I could. I was meeting with people, seeing what other people were doing, trying to learn from other entrepreneurs, other businesses, whatever it took.

During my first year, first two years in real estate, like I said, I was just hustling, I was grinding and I got to meet a lot of people. As I was going to these networking events, I saw a lot of the same faces. I saw a lot of the same people over and over again. Some of them I would develop friendships with, some I’d do business with. Actually surprisingly, there’s a lot of people that I still do business with today that I met 10 years ago. If I don’t do business with them, we’re still friends, we connect and talk shop and just hang out or whatever. That’s one of the reasons why networking is so important.

My story is this, as I was going to all these events, I would see a lot of familiar faces and people that I may know their faces, I may know their names and we talk, we connect but I didn’t have a really deep relationship with but I would see them. I remember this one lady from my very first year of getting started. I’ve seen her at a lot of different events and things like that. You fast forward, a couple of years later and I started putting on my own events. Me and a buddy of mine began running our own live events. We did these events, we didn’t really know what we were doing. We’re like, “Let’s just go have some fun. Let’s teach some real estate. Let’s go have fun with this.”

My idea was like, “Let’s create a group flip. Let’s do a flip project with people who attend our event and let’s just”, we drew names out of a hat. There was no upsale or charge or anything. We’re like, “All right.” We had like 50 people that attended this event. We’re like, “We’re going to pick three people”, I think it was, maybe even four or five, I think it was like five people. “We’re going to pick names out of a hat basically from everyone who attends this event and you guys are going to get to be a part of this group flip. You’re going to be compensated.” We paid them a little spiff or whatever just for getting picked. They didn’t have to buy anything. Just, they paid to come to the event a couple of hundred bucks.

We picked like four or five people and we let them come to this flip project and see how we found the deal, how we did set up our marketing, how we purchased the deal, how we financed it with private money, the rehab process, etcetera, etcetera. In the end of the day I think we paid them like a thousand bucks, fifteen hundred bucks or something like that. It was a percentage. I think we paid like, divided up like 15 or 20% of the profit, which I thought was really generous because they didn’t do anything except show up to the event and get their name drawn out of a hat.

Here’s my lesson for today. My lesson today is that hope is not a strategy. Hope is not a strategy because see, during this group flip process, we would occasionally meet with the group. I got to know her. I was like, “Hey, I’ve seen you around for the last couple of years. How’s your business doing? How many deals have you done?” That was the very first deal that she had taken part of.

She was going to so many networking events. I saw her over and over and over again. At the same period of time, when I started from not knowing a damn thing about real estate, or business, or financing, or rehabbing, or any of this stuff, during the same amount of time, she had done zero deals and I had done 30 or 40 deals, probably 40 to 50 deals at that point in time now that I’m thinking about it. Had created a completely separate construction company, entering into a coaching and event company that I was starting, and had 30 or 40 rental properties that I owned etcetera, etcetera, and really was because I was taking action. This isn’t for me to brag or boast but really to really have you look and consider the things that you’re doing. Like what is your strategy?

I’m going to pick on my friend a little bit more here from the story because I think her strategy really up to that point was primarily based on hope. Hoping, wishing, watching and waiting. Hoping for a miracle, perhaps a group flip where she could be an innocent bystander and hope that some magic was going to happen in her business. We all know that’s not the case. That’s what today’s show is about. This podcast is about the doing. The taking action and less hoping, because just like the title of this podcast, hope is not a strategy. Hope is not a strategy for success. We all know that.

Now I know and I acknowledge that having hope and having a dream and having a mission is incredibly important. If we’re going to apply the 80/20 rule here, which we’re going to do, the dreaming, the hoping portion is like the 20%. The action is the 80% if not more. The 80/20 rule here is more like the 90/10. Like 90% of what you’re doing to create results needs to be focused on taking action to where your 10% is like, “All right. I’m going to spend a little bit of time here. You’re going to vision board and you’re going to dream. You’re going to take the time to do that. It is important. That hoping, and that dreaming and that wishing can’t be your primary strategy or you will never create results.

Today, my encouragement is for you to be a doer. Do what? Just begin taking action. Action that’s going to lead to results. Don’t overthink this. For those of you who are seeking to build an investment business, a real estate investment business, don’t overthink this. Focus on marketing, focus on raising capital, focus on building your team, your team of contractors, lenders, insurance agents, attorneys, etcetera, etcetera. That’s just conversations. That’s common sense and good judgment. I’ll tell you this, if you’re really ready, I’ll say that if you’re really ready to begin creating results, then I think the old axiom, “When the student is ready the teacher will appear”, and if the action steps aren’t appearing to you and if the teacher, the “Teacher” or those action steps are not appearing to you, my friend, perhaps you’re just not ready.

Hey, this is Brant. I hope you’re enjoying today’s show. If you’re in a place in your life or your business where you just feel stuck or you just don’t know what actions to take to help you get unstuck or on to the path to creating the results you truly desire, please take a few minutes and go to my website, brantphillips.com. There are some really valuable resources and information that may be able to help you out. If you’re interested in really speeding up results with the help of a coach or mentor and adding true accountability and guidance to your life and business, please reach out to me from my website as well at brantphillips.com or going directly to www.brantphillips.com/coaching. Now, let’s get back to the show.

Maybe you’re just not ready because I’ll tell you, when you commit, I’ve never seen someone who’s committed like I’m 100% committed to creating success. I’m 100% committed to making this work. I’ve never seen someone with true commitment not figure out what to do. There may be some uncertainty in the beginning but they grind and they hustle, and they network and they talk to people and they seek out mentors and read books and they find the action steps. That’s what you need to focus on.

As my years as a real estate investor and just as an entrepreneur, it’s like there really are, if we’re going to categorize people, there’s people hoping for change, wishing, watching, waiting, hoping, whatever. Then there’s the doers that just go out and create change. Unfortunately, I know there’s a lot of hopers that may be listening to this or a lot of hopers that are on my email list and they’re watching videos and downloading stuff and maybe participate in a group flip or go to a seminar but they don’t really create the action or take the action to create traction. I like that. I like that. They don’t take the action that creates traction in their business. Then there’s the doers, like the people who see the value, listen to the message, they soak it up and then they just go out and do the work. They watch. They listen for what to do. Some of that you’re gaining in this podcast right now and then they go out and just take immediate action right now.

I want to encourage you to be a doer. The doers are the ones that get paid. The doers are the ones that are able to take the vacations, to leave their jobs, to be able to give more and simply just have peace, joy, fulfilment in what they’re doing and having control over their time and over their finances. Even when things aren’t going right, this ability, the skillset just is to take action and find the way, is the strategy for success. Hope is not a strategy. Hope is not a strategy. The fact that you’re listening to this show right now may mean that you’re more of a doer more than a hoper. I hope that’s the truth.

Do me a favor. Everyone listening to this show, do me a favor. Just do more doing. Go out and take action and create the life, and the business, and the legacy that you hope for. Create what it is that you’re hoping for. Don’t just sit and hope for a hope to come true. I can’t promise it won’t be challenging, because it certainly will. If it’s anything worth having, it’s going to be difficult but you’ll be better for it in the end. I guarantee you it will be so worth it my friends whenever you go out and create what it is that you desire to create. That’s it my friends. Stop hoping, begin taking action in your life and in your business. Once again, thank you for listening to the show my friends. I look forward to helping you create results in your life and in your business.

The post Brant Phillips Show 15: Hope is Not a Strategy appeared first on Brant Phillips.

Welcome everybody to The Brant Phillips Show, the show dedicated to life and business results. That’s all that matters, are results. What I want to talk about today my friends are not only your results but how you define success, because how you define success is going to determine, it’s going to help to determine the results that you experience. Let me explain a little bit. For those of you on the verge of possibly beginning your entrepreneurial journey, it’s really critical, really critical that you define what success looks like to you before you begin on this journey, really critical. I’m going to share a personal example in just a little bit.

For those of you already on the path of being an entrepreneur, being a business owner, being an investor, it’s okay to shift gears. It’s okay to redirect your course and your path if you found that the path that you’re on isn’t fun. It’s not enjoyable and it’s not matching up to your definition of success, because I’ll share with you in a little bit my story like I mentioned. For me, success is not about money or fame. Yes, money is a part of it. Money is a part of it. I don’t know about the fame thing, but money is absolutely a part of it. If you’re pursuing a have it all type of lifestyle meaning that you’ve got an ideal business, an ideal life, then money is a part of it because you can’t really have this really awesome incredible life and truly help and serve others if you’re broke. Money is a part of it, the look.

Success is not just about the money. It’s not just about the fame. It’s more about what is it that you’re creating with your time on this big ball of mud. I’ve had it boiled down to this. When the ones closest to you respect and love you the most, then you my friends have reached success. When the ones closest to you respect and love you the most, you have reached success. In other words, if you succeed at the wrong thing, you’ve failed. If you “Fail” while pursuing the right thing, then guess what? You’ve won.

Just from the pursuit alone, just from pursuing what you felt called to pursue and what you felt called to create, you are creating success by staying true to yourself. That’s why it’s so incredibly important to really get clear, really get clear on what it is in your heart. What is it that you feel called to do? What is it that you feel inspired to do? If you can intertwine that with a bigger purpose, a bigger mission, a bigger drive, then even if you miss the mark, you’ve really won. Like the MMA lesson I’ve talked about before. It’s like you either win or you learn. You either win or you learn. If your target is dialed in to where you really want to go and who you really want to become, then you’re on the right path. If you go down this path of just pursuing money, then that road can get really, really ugly. That road can get really, really ugly.

My challenge to you on this podcast is to put the message before the money. That is what it is that you’re pursuing, get clear on that. Get clear on that with the importance of the impact and what you’re going to be doing and something that you’re going to enjoy and help and serve others, put the importance on that and the money will follow. I want you to take the time to really get clear on the message of life. What do you want your life story to be and make that the foundation of your business before starting your business.

Perhaps like I said, maybe you’re already, you’re a business owner, you’re already an investor and you found the foundation that’s been laid is not so solid. What do I mean by that? Maybe you’re not really passionate about what it is that you’re doing. I find that to be the case a lot. I’m doing some small business consulting. I’m working with entrepreneurs and the foundation that the company was originally built on was generally, it was something that they weren’t really passionate about but it was a way to make money, it was a way to quit their job.

I see people make the same mistake that I made. That’s where this message is really coming from, is you see whenever I began my entrepreneurial pursuits, I really just had one goal. I had one goal and it was freedom. I wanted to leave my job. I wanted to be my own boss. I wanted to do my own thing. I wanted to have the money and the wealth and all that kind of stuff as well, but really it was like, it was freedom. I just wanted to quit my job. I failed to do what I teach so many of my students in class to do which is what I learned from Stephen Covey, which was simply to begin with the end in mind. Simply to begin with the end in mind and to make sure that I’m not only building an ideal business, something that I can gain renewable energy from and I can continually be excited about and find ways to renew it and recreate it and just find new ways to make money from it so that it’s always fresh and new and sustainable.

This is all about sustainability but if we’re not passionate about what we’re doing and if that foundation has not been set really well, then it’s not really sustainable. This is why people get burned out when obstacles come, whenever there’s changes in the market, things like that, people, it’s not a sustainable business because people aren’t really committed to it. They’re not passionate about it. This is why so many business fail. It’s not because of the economy. It’s not because of this, that, and the other thing. It’s just a lot of times the owner wasn’t fully committed and passionate about what they were doing.

I encourage you my friends to build a business, begin with the end in mind and build a business that you’re truly excited and passionate about. When you find yourself on the path and things have changed, it doesn’t always mean that if you’re not passionate about your business that it’s time to shut it down. It’s a time to reassess and figure out why. This is something else that I went through where there’s a long period of time where I got burned out with real estate and I got burned out with construction, some of the things I was doing. When I really took a long hard look, it wasn’t that I was burned out with real estate or burned out with my construction company, I was burned out with some of the things that I was doing in the company. Meaning I was doing things that were just menial tasks, things that were done over and over and over, just repetitive stuff that’s just, is boring and not exciting for me and doesn’t line up with my personality profile if you will.

I realized that I needed to just change some things in the business. I needed to empower and outsource others or some things and other responsibilities. I needed to redefine my role. That’s one of the reasons I do a lot of podcast and social media promoting and things like that. This is something I’m more passionate about and it’s the ways that I like to contribute to my businesses and build my businesses. Those were some of the mistakes that I learned along my path.

My hope is for those of you starting out or those of you who are on the path that make changes now. Make changes now before you get to this point of no return because I see businesses do that where they reach this point of no return, where they don’t have any fight left in them, they don’t have the energy, they don’t have the spunk, they don’t have the whatever you want to call it and they end up in this downward spiral. Then the complications that set in at that point in time after you’ve been doing this a year, five, 10, 15, 20 years and that foundation wasn’t set, well, then there’s much higher stakes and a major setback like that may just knock out of the game. Don’t do that. Don’t do that.

Wherever you’re starting from, if you’re just starting in business or you’re just at a roadblock in your existing business, don’t beat yourself up. If you don’t have that clarity, if you don’t have that passion or that drive that you had once before, but definitely take some time and just really get clear on your place. Even if you’re starting at a place of nothing or if you’re starting … Maybe perhaps you’re at a place where your business is on like against the ropes like you’ve got debt, maybe you’re going through a divorce or some other personal things, whatever hurdles that you may have in front of you right now, in addition to maybe not even being clear about what is it that you want to do, and except knowing that I want to start a business. I want to begin investing. Wherever you’re starting at, whatever problems are against you, just acknowledge them. Not only acknowledge them, appreciate them, appreciate them and just for the opportunity to overcome them and create your own story, create your own testimonial, create something that you can look back upon and share with others and be proud of.

When you do that, just get clear. Get clear, begin with the end in mind, define what true success looks like for you, and then just go out and ruthlessly work your ass off and make it happen. Step-by-step, day-by-day, one brick at a time and just go freaking build it. Rome wasn’t built in a day my friends, neither is your business going to be. Every good solid sustainable business is built one brick at a time. That’s all I got today my friends. I just want to say that I love and appreciate each and every one of you. I thank you for listening to the show. Until next time, I look forward to helping you create results in your life and in your business.

The post Brant Phillips Show 14: Defining Success appeared first on Brant Phillips.

Welcome my friends to be The Brant Phillips Show. Today we’re talking about slowing down. For those of you who know me or know about me may think that that’s a little bit strange that I’m talking about slowing down. I get it because I’m a very fast-paced kind of guy. I’m very type A. I’m a very just feed off the energy and motion. I love business. I love just staying active.

I’m going to share something with you. That sometimes slow is fast and fast is slow. I’m going to tie this back, I’m going to tie this lesson back to some insights that I had whenever I went through the Ironman experience a while back. For those of you who don’t know, I’m into, I don’t want to say extreme physical events or anything because I’m just like an average dude physically. I’m nothing special but I like to take part in some things like some MMA fights and some CrossFit games and Coeur d’Alene and Ironman and SealFit kind of stuff.

A lot of times it’s not simply, all the times, it’s not simply because I want to just get in better shape or experience some type of physical result. That’s part of it but a lot of the times the reason that I put myself through these challenges, these physical challenges is for some of the other insights that come to me, some of the deeper insights that I’ll get that I can apply to the other areas of my life.

A while back I got into the Ironman, competing in the Ironman. I did two half Ironmans and a full Ironman a while back when I was getting into that. For my first full Ironman, I actually flew up to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho because I had a couple of buddies who encouraged me to get into the Ironman from the beginning. I agreed to go up there and join them to do my first Ironman in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.

A couple of a little backdrop of me going up there was one, it was in the middle of the summer. It was late June, early July. Coeur d’Alene, Idaho is typically very, very cool even in the summer time. From what I’ve been told, it’s like mid-70s, mid-80s maybe. They really don’t see the 90s even up there. It’s relatively cool compared to Texas where it’s a freaking sauna and heat waves and all this kind of stuff and you may die doing the Ironman during the heat of the summer.

When I went to Coeur d’Alene, it was a record heat wave. It got up to 108 degrees during the Ironman event. The very peak highest recorded temperature ever was the day of the Ironman race. A majority of this race was on blacktop roads which you know they reflect the heat.

Then another insight was that I trained in Texas. Where I trained in Texas in the Greater Houston area my friends, there are no hills much less mountains. For those of you familiar with Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, it ain’t nothing but mountains the entire way. I had not trained on one single mountain or hill the entire time. I go up to Coeur d’Alene, I had trained in the heat so I wasn’t too worried about that. Actually the heat didn’t really bother me that much. There was people like, a third of the people didn’t even finish the race and they contemplated reducing it down to a full Ironman to a half Ironman because of the heat which they did not do. I was really happy about that.

The heat didn’t bother me so much as the hills. The first time I hit the hills, it was tough. The heat in the mountains, I’m like, “Oh Good Lord. I had not trained for that.” I hit these mountains. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Ironman, it basically starts out on about a two and a half mile open water swim, 2.4 miles technically. Then you go on a bike ride. After that about 112, it was 112, 114 miles I can’t remember. Then after that, you basically run a marathon 26 miles. The season Ironman they say basically the swim and the bike are really the buy-in to where the real race begins is when you start the run, the 26 mile run after doing all that. Pros finish this thing like in eight hours but there’s like a 17-hour cutoff maybe it’s 19 hours, I really don’t know. I should really brush up on my Ironman facts here.

Anyways, the point is this. The point is this, after going through the swim and I was around the 45 mile mark, somewhere around there on this 112 mile bike ride and I’m going through these incredibly, incredibly steep mountains. At this point in time, I don’t know if it’s 104 degrees, 106 degrees, 108 degrees, I don’t know what it was. There wasn’t any shade out there either. There was no shade. At this point in time, just collectively I was beginning to hurt really bad. Just, I was hurting. After swimming a couple of miles and this 45 mile bike ride in this 100 degree heat through the mountains and I was hurting.

During this time, the thing about the Ironman is this, is that there’s really no one to talk to when you’re in an Ironman. There’s people around you but you’re swimming and you’re biking and you’re running so it’s not like you’re sitting there chit-chatting. You really have this opportunity to have a lot of time and space just to be alone with your thoughts especially when you get out on some of these long distances on the bike ride. You’re out in the middle of nowhere and you’re going for long periods of time and you don’t even see anybody else.

I’m going out on this bike ride and I heard these small still voices, not an audible voice or anything like that, just getting this thought in my head. It was just telling me to slow down. I just had this thought in my mind about slowing down. I kept hearing it over and over and over. It’d go away for a little bit and it’d come back.

Hey, this is Brant. I hope you’re enjoying today’s show. If you’re in a place in your life or your business where you just feel stuck or you just don’t know what actions to take to help you get unstuck or on to the path to creating the results you truly desire, please take a few minutes and go to my website, brantphillips.com. There are some really valuable resources and information that may be able to help you out. If you’re interested in really speeding up results with the help of a coach or mentor and adding true accountability and guidance to your life and business, please reach out to me from my website as well at brantphillips.com or going directly to www.brantphillips.com/coaching. Now, let’s get back to the show.

I just started thinking about the words slow down. What does this mean, slow down? I just really started thinking about this and like, “Why am I hearing these words slow down? I’m in the middle of a freaking Ironman race and I’m hearing the words slow down. It really had nothing to do with what I was doing in the Ironman but I started thinking about my life, my family, my business, travel, events that I do, the chaos. About just how fast my life moves and just how life in general moves. I’m sure it moves this way for you as well. This sounds familiar, just life moves fast.

While I enjoy the chaos most of the time and while things in my life and my business for me are really, really good even though it’s really, really hectic, collectively as a whole, on this Ironman I just started thinking about my life. I’m like, “It’s moving too fast.” My life, my business, sometimes they’re moving too fast, there’s too much on my plate.

I just really started taking this to heart thinking about who I am or why I’m this way because you see I love to create. At my core, at all of our core I believe that we are made in the image of God. I believe that we’re made in the image of a creator, God who created everything that we are and everything that we do and everything in this world. I believe that inside each and every one of us is this desire and this ability to create whatever that may be, new ideas, experiences, businesses, relationships, connections, whatever it may be is we’re born to create.

I love to create new things but I haven’t always done an adequate job of creating enough space to just slow down, rest and recuperate. It’s much like an automobile that drives and drives and drives without changing the oil. Eventually it’s going to overheat and break down. That’s a lot of times I push myself, I just, I don’t know why. Just I’m driven this way. I love my business. I love what I do. Just like I don’t take much downtime and I’m like driving this engine that at times it’s redlining.

Also sometimes I’m driving, not only am I driving this engine hard, but there’s times I’m looking back at some agreements that I made and commitments that I made that really aren’t in alignment completely with who I feel called to be with not only who I feel called to be but what I feel called to do. Some of you may have heard me reference this as my zone of greatness.

I believe that’s what this voice inside of me was telling me was just to slow down and create more time just to rest, recuperate and just get back focus to creating a life and a business built on true freedom and true space to be able to create things that are my zone of greatness. To be able to create the space to respond to this voice inside for whatever it may call me to do on any particular day and to be able to work with the people, the clients and businesses that I feel that just called to work with and inspired to work with.

My message for you on today’s podcast is just to encourage you just to slow down. Just in the midst of the chaos that may be going on in your life. Because if we fail to slow down, we’re going to certainly miss some of the finer things in life. In order to have it all in life, meaning to experience true spiritual connection, we have to slow down. In order to create deep loving relationships and connections and bonds with our loved ones, it requires slowing down and creating that space with them. Taking care of our health and fitness. We’ve got to slow down and give our bodies not only the focus and dedication during our workouts but also time to just slow down and rest and recuperate. Let yourself sleep in on the weekends. Give yourself a cheat meal. Just slow down a little bit.

Then also with our businesses, just creating our “Ideal” business, and I use the little air quotes for ideal because I know the ideal does not exist. It’s just like the horizon. It’s something that we pursue after and it’s always evolving and changing. We’re always pushing after it. Creating our ideal business and generating income through the ideal ways for us to spend our time requires slowing down. Slow is fast, fast is slow. Creating clarity, creating agreements, partnerships, businesses that we’re in integrity with 100%.

I just wanted to share this message about slowing down. I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt the times when I do slow down are when I experience my greatest connections. In general, it’s when I have my greatest ideas. Even when I began to contemplate competing in the Ironman, going to the Ironman it’s when I really began, actually when I think back on it, was during the time when I had also began to slow down in my life and create more space just to be able to experience new things and consider new possibilities. That is my message for you my friends today is just slow down.

We get it. Life moves fast. That’s going to happen no matter what. We all know this but we also know that amidst the chaos of life how incredibly important it is to create some space to just slow down. My friends that’s all I have. I just want to say that I love and appreciate each and every one of you. I thank you for listening to the show. Until next time, I look forward to helping you create results in your life and in your business.

The post Brant Phillips Show 13: Slow Down appeared first on Brant Phillips.

My friends, welcome to the show. Today we’re going to talk about how your reps leads to results, how your reps lead to results. Look, I heard a story the other day about this baseball player that you’ve probably seen before but you most likely don’t know his name or who he really is or anything else about him. He’s a baseball player who played in the 1950s.

I’m going to get a little bit Wikipedia here for just a minute and tell you a little about this man. His name was George Shotgun Shuba, his nickname which I’m going to come back to was Shotgun was of course. We’re going to talk about that in a little bit. He was a baseball player and played seven seasons for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Played in a few World Series including their championship season in 1955, first national player to hit a pinch homerun in a World Series game. Those are just a few of his stats.

However, what Shuba’s most remembered for was if you remember whenever Jackie Robinson came into the major leagues and I believe he hit a homerun in his first game. If you remember the man who came out and shook his hand at home plate, that was George Shuba. He’s remembered for helping break down some of the color barriers in baseball at the time because of that photograph that was taken. It became a very well-known photo. It was titled “A Handshake for the Century,” because it was the first interracial handshake during a professional game. A lot of just positive energy and things like that came out of that situation.

Let’s get back into the purpose of this podcast. How does any of that? What does any of that have to do with results? What are we talking about here? What I want to do is talk a little bit, go a little bit Paul Harvey and say now you know the rest of the story behind Shuba’s career and talk a little bit more about this man.

In the 1970s, a book was written about the Brooklyn Dodgers during the ‘50s. Shuba’s career was one of the chapters of the book. He was featured. The book was called The Boys of Summer if you want to look this up. The author wrote something a little bit interesting about George Shotgun Shuba. Here’s what he wrote. I’m just going to quote this. He said, “Shotgun was spraying line drives with a swing so compact that it appeared as natural as a smile.” He said that it appeared as natural as a smile.

Here’s what the author didn’t know about George Shuba. During the off-seasons while working a job because pro athletes didn’t make that much money back then, they barely made anything. He worked a job, full-time job when he wasn’t playing baseball. Every single day, every single day while working this job in the offs and during the winter George Shuba would come home and practice for hours and hours and hours.

What he would do specifically every day he had this rope tied to a ceiling with a knot at the end about where the strike zone would be and with a weighted bat, a 44 ounce bat which if you’ve ever played baseball or swung a bat before a 44 ounce bat is extremely heavy. He would swing the bat 600 times a day, 600 times a day. What he would do is whenever he would come home, he would do reps of 60. He would take 60 swings and mark down an X. He would not lay his head down to rest to go to sleep every day until he had taken 600 swings.

While the author said that the swing was so compact that it appeared as natural as a smile, that was really just the result of his consistent daily reps, 600 reps every single day during the offseason. There was a story told that during the interview with Kahn, Roger Kahn the author whenever he mentioned that, Shuba laughed at him. He laughed at the way that he described him. He walked over to a filing cabinet. They were at his house. That’s where he explained to him about how he’d take the 60 swings, mark it with an X and then now only after he did 10 rounds of 60, 600 reps that he would go to bed. He did this for 15 years. He responded something like, he was like, “You call that natural? I swung a 44 ounce bat 600 times a night, 4,200 times a week, 47,200 times every single winter. There was nothing natural about that.”

In my opinion, nothing comes easy that is really worth having. Nothing comes easy that is really worth having. Yeah, I get it. Some are more gifted than others but if there isn’t practice and work put in, you’re not going to realize the results that you’re seeking. You’re just going to have a waste of potential if you’re one of these ones that are so called the gifted.

One of my mentors who’s been extremely, extremely successful in business and life for that matter, he’s about 65 now. He just made millions upon millions, upon millions. There’s a couple of things that always sticks out to me when we talk. One is he talks about discipline. Just how success is really tied to your discipline, just to get up and do the work over and over and over again, to do those little things over and over and over again. He talks about this really has to be a labor of love, how this really has to be ingrained inside of you to have that drive and that fortitude to just keep going each and every day.

Talking to this man now who is 65, you talk to him and he’s still wired looking for deals. When I say looking for deals, he’s just a private lender now. He has more money than he’ll ever need, than his children will ever, ever need for generations to come, extremely, extremely wealthy but it’s in his DNA. This is who is. It’s how he is wired now.

Another thing that he said to me one time that has always stuck with me and it’s very similar to this message is that he was sharing this to me and a group of my students at a Mastermind one time. He was going through his history of just his business experience and what he’s done over the years, he was going through decade, through decade kind of walkthrough of what he’s done. He said something that stuck out to me. He said, “It takes 10 years just to learn how to make money.” He said, “It takes 10 years just to learn how to make money.” He said, “At least real money.”

What he meant by that, doesn’t mean that you can’t go out and be profitable year one. You can. He’s talking about the 600 reps a day. He’s talking about what you may have heard referred to as the Michael Jordan rule, the 10,000 hour rule. It’s like to really become great at something, to really master something and just to excel at it and exceed at it to where it becomes just natural and in your DNA, you’ve got to put in the reps. You’ve got to do the work.

If you’re one of those who are thinking that you can just get rich quick and you don’t have to go through this process and do all this work, you’re fooling yourself. You’re fooling yourself. Sure, I’ve seen people come in to real estate or business and hit on something right away. A lot of times they’ll go through the sophomore slump because they really haven’t done enough reps. Then unfortunately, the sad cases a lot of people come in and they immediately flop because they haven’t done the reps.

If you’re committed to creating a successful life and a successful business, you’ve just got to put in the reps. You’ve got to put in the reps in your relationships. You’ve got to put in the reps in your health and your fitness. You’ve got to put in the reps with your business. You’ve got to put in the reps with your marketing. You’ve got to put in your reps with your networking, with cultivating relationships. You got to put in your reps with your lenders to raise capital. In everything that you need to do, how to analyze deals, how to build teams, how to build systems, everything that you’re going to do that you want to create results in, you have to simply just put in the reps. Put in the reps my friend. Just like my man George the Shotgun Shuba put in 600 reps a day, every single day of the offseason with a weighted bat. That my friends is how he got results.

I encourage each and every one of you, put in your reps every damn day my friends. Do it. That’s all I got for today. I just want to say I love and appreciate each and every one of you. I thank you for listening to this show. Until next time, I look forward to helping you create results in your life and in your business.

The post Brant Phillips Show 12: Reps Lead To Results appeared first on Brant Phillips.

Welcome my friends to The Brant Phillips Show where we are all about creating results in life and business. I’m going to share a little story with you today. You’re probably wondering what the intent of the title of this podcast is. I’m going to explain that very, very quickly and with some really, I feel like some really good takeaways that you can hopefully gain from today. That’s the lesson I’m hoping that you extract and the result that you extract from today.

A friend of mine who was in a business Mastermind that I was in, he was in the Mastermind with me, actually played in the NFL and actually won a Super Bowl ring, played for the New England Patriots. We’re all working out one day and he was leading one of the workouts. He was like a trainer, assuming a trainer type role.

He said something during a workout to a guy. I didn’t hear what the guy was saying but I think he was complaining or whining or groaning, crying whatever he was doing during the workout. What he said to this guy has stuck with me ever since. What he said was and I’ll just get to the point was, “It doesn’t suck, you suck.” As this guy is like moaning and groaning and crying or whatever he’s saying and I forget what he said but he probably said something to the extent that, “Oh, this sucks.” My friend’s like, my boy is like, “It doesn’t suck, you suck. It doesn’t suck, you suck.”

Think about this. This is a really, really profound statement. Think about that a lot of things in life, a lot of things in business, we’ll say like, “Oh God, this sucks. This sucks. This is so hard. This is so bad.” The fact of the matter is, the truth most often times is that that situation doesn’t suck. It’s that we in our current capacity are not able to elevate ourselves above that situation. We are actually the one that sucks whenever you turn that statement around.

You see, you have to first be real enough to admit that you suck at something before you can ever expect to be successful. It’s definitely like this in life and in business and the real estate games and a real estate game quite frequently is that if we look that hey, we all start out with zero experience when we’re doing something for the first time in business. We all start out at some point in time where we have zero knowledge and/or zero experience when we start out. That’s just where we all start out at. A learning curve is to be expected. Then there’s just some things that even if it’s not a learning curve, even it’s something that we already knew about or something that we’ve done, there are certain things that we are just, that we suck at or that we’re not really good at. That’s just what it is.

I’m going through the CrossFit Open as we speak. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the CrossFit Open is a time annually, it’s about five weeks long. Worldwide people compete to earn a chance at the regionals and the finals, the CrossFit finals. Basically they have a global workout where everyone does the same workout every single week and everyone records their scores. You have to have a trainer there to record your score and all this kind of stuff. You see where you rank at locally, in your region, in your country and worldwide.

I’m pretty good at CrossFit I would say but comparatively speaking worldwide and even just others in my region and even other people in my gym, I suck compared to some of these other people. That’s a choice where I can blame the workouts when things get really hard and these workouts get really hard or I can just blame myself. That’s my capacity. I don’t beat myself up. That’s not the purpose of this message for you to beat yourself up like, “Oh God, I suck. Oh, I suck. I’m so bad.” No, that’s not the point. The point is just to acknowledge and be real.

One of the ways that we create results and we create results in life and that we create results in business is just being really honest with ourselves because if we can’t be honest and we can’t be real with where we are at and what our current capacity is, we’re never going to turn that corner to begin creating results.

Whenever something is in your life or your business and you are not achieving the way that you want to be achieving, something that you feel like you suck at or something that you’re not producing results, just consider to stop blaming it, whatever it is. If you’re still stuck in your job and you’re investing business is not where it needs to be, maybe your marriage, maybe whatever your health and fitness like I just mentioned with CrossFit or whatever it is with your business, stop blaming outside factors. Stop blaming your lack of time. Stop blaming the economy, stop blaming blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Blame yourself. It doesn’t suck, your current capacity sucks. Your lack of training, whatever but stop playing this victim role and blaming it.

Just understand that whenever “It” whatever that is in your life, it’s going to hit the fan. Your business, it’s going to hit the fan. This is a choice that you have. You can be like the masses and simply say like this guy in the workout like, “Oh, this sucks.” Or you can begin to just admit that your current capacity is not where it needs to be and that is the only reason why you’re in that situation.

You may think, “Oh, I don’t want to.” A lot of people they want to live a lie. Quite frankly, they want to live a lie because they don’t want to admit that they’ve currently failed. It doesn’t mean they’re a lifetime failure just because where they’re at isn’t where they want to be but they don’t want to admit that they suck at something, that they have this imperfection, they have this flaw, that they’re not good at something when there’s actually nothing wrong with that. Actually, there is a tremendous amount of dignity in just acknowledging like, “Hey, I’m not where I need to be because of me,” and just taking it, owning responsibility for it.

Like I said, it’s like we’re all going to start from a place that we know little or nothing about and we have no experience in a certain area, and so we don’t really know how to create results in that area of our life. That’s when the work comes in. That’s where the practice comes in. That’s where the study comes in. That’s where the failing comes in. That’s where this sucking comes in before we will ever get to the success.

Like I said, a lot of people are just willing to admit this but then the even sadder part of this is, is that quite frankly a lot of people are unwilling to fail. A lot of people are unwilling to suck at something. What do they do? They stay on the sidelines. They stay in this, oh so comfortable comfort zone which if you’ve heard me talk about the comfort zone, there’s nothing comfortable about it at all. Whenever you begin really, really, really looking at who you are and who you want to become, the comfort zone is one of the most uncomfortable places to be really especially days are numbered on your life. It is not a place to be.

This is my perspective but look, just make no mistake about it. In order to succeed at something, we must acknowledge that we all start from this place where we’re not good at it. Rather than me just talking and it’s easy for me to sit on my pedestal and say what I’m saying right now but look, I admit. I will eat my own cooking here and say that I admit that I’ve sucked a lot, at a lot of different times in my life. I’ve had to admit that I’ve sucked.

There’s probably like 1,000 different ways and times that I’ve bought something in business or in the real estate world in running my real estate business and I’ve sucked, a lot of times. Probably 1,000 times more. I will probably suck 1,000 times more in the future because as I level up in business and as I expand to new levels and new capacities I acknowledge and understand that before I can have success at another level, there is a period of this suckage I’ll call it that I have to go through.

This lesson, it applies to all areas of my life. I’m [inaudible 00:10:52] guy because there’s been times when I’ve sucked at my marriage. I’ve been really, really bad. There’s been times when I’ve sucked with my self-control, my eating and drinking habits. I even sucked at being a dad sometimes. I’m not a perfect father. There’s times I’ve been really bad at that.

Like I said, times in business and real estate, more times than I can remember that I’ve been really bad. In a lot of situations, it didn’t suck, I sucked but I own it. I take responsibility and that is the critical piece of today’s message because when I acknowledge that it was me, only me that’s responsible for my results and not outside factors, guess what? That’s when things begin to change. That’s whenever things that I get back on track to creating results by just being real with myself, just being real with myself.

My friends, I turn this back to you. I want you to consider that the problems that you may be experiencing with your life and your real estate business or your business in general, it’s not the economy, it’s not your wife, it’s not your spouse, it’s not your market, it’s not your lack of time or your lack of money. It has nothing to do with any of those things. The real culprit, you guessed it. You sucking.

Here’s the thing. Here’s the thing. You have the choice to make. You can continue to be in this place that you’re at or simply just make the choice. Make the choice, make the commitment to change and that’s up to you.

I’m going to leave you with some homework today my friends. Just spend a little time and just ask yourself what is something in your life or business that your current capacity is far from where you desire to be? What is something in your life or your business where your current capacity is far from where you desire to be? In other words, what is something in your life or business that you currently suck at that you’re willing to acknowledge that but commit to do something about it? Think of it like three actions that you can take to immediately begin to create change and to create a new result in that area of your life and/or in your business.

My friends, that’s all I have for today. I just want to once again say I love and appreciate each and every one of you. I thank you for listening to the show. Until next time, I look forward to helping you create results in your life and your business.

The post Brant Phillips Show 11: It Doesn’t Suck, You Suck appeared first on Brant Phillips.

Welcome everybody to today’s show. Today, we’re going to talk about how to thrive in business. Let me just say that I’m not a big fan of the word thrive. It’s like the word epic. It’s a little bit overused, a little bit overplayed and I’m just not a big fan of it. I’m using it to title this podcast about how to thrive. I’m going to tell you that what I’m going to lay out in here, there’s going to be a very straightforward no BS approach. In this podcast are the ingredients of how to create a business that thrives.

I recently heard Gary Vaynerchuk say that it’s never a bad time to start a business unless you’re starting a mediocre business of course. There’s never a bad time. There’s never a bad time and I don’t care what the economy is like to start a business if you’re going to be committed to what I’m going to lay out today and if you’re going to have and do the things I’m going to lay out. Because I’ll tell you that, when I started my construction company, this is about two and a half years after I’d been investing. I’d done about 20-25 deals and I decided to start my construction company because I had already built the systems, I had full-time project manager, I had people who began asking me to provide construction services was how that came about.

When I look back on it, I saw this chart a couple of years ago. When I started my construction business, the consumer index in terms of where the economy was at, it was in March of 2009 was at its absolute lowest point. I remember my dad saying and this is when real estate was like the plague. Real estate was on fire burning to the ground. That’s when I was buying as much as I ever have. My dad, I remember him saying, he was like, “You’re going to start a construction company now?” It goes to my point, it goes to Gary Vaynerchuk’s point. It’s like it is never a bad time to start a business unless you’re starting a mediocre business. What we’re going to talk about today is going to help you to launch your business or to improve and grow your business by using some of these fundamentals that we’re going to cover.

Let’s start with number one. It all starts with your vision. You have to have a well-defined, crystal clear vision in your mind, on paper of what it is that you’re setting out to accomplish. If you do not have this, don’t even start. For real, don’t even start. If you’re already running a business and you’re not even sure what your vision is, maybe you fell into this big drift, it’s like you don’t really have an end game in mind of what you’re doing, just stop. Stop and get that vision clear, very, very clear.

The Book of Proverbs it says, “My brothers will perish from a lack of vision,” or something like that. You will perish, you will perish, you will cease to exist or your business will cease to exist from your lack of vision. Start, if you don’t have that, just start to get clear on this. Just ask yourself this very simple question. This is what I ask my coaching students right from the very beginning. I probably ask them this 100 times in the course of our coaching and mentoring with them. It’s a very simple question yet we need to ask ourselves this question over and over and over again because the answer changes sometimes drastically, sometimes minor little tweaks but the question simply is what do I want? What do I want? That is the question for you my friend is what do you want from your business? What is your vision? If you don’t have it, get clear on it.

The second thing that we’re going to talk about on how to thrive as a business owner is properly applying speed and time, because as we know time is money. The business world is like a shark tank and the slow fish are going to get gobbled up or at least get less deals in the real estate world. The action’s going to come to the ones who swim the fastest. We have to look at the day and the age that we live in with technology, with social media, with all of the tools and the resources that we have in today’s day and age. We have to acknowledge that speed to market and the time that it takes us to get things done is absolutely critical, absolutely critical.

A successful mindset is the mindset that you’re not going to delay the process of getting things done. That you are going to work your ass off and do whatever is needed. Maybe that just means employing the proper team and resources to get things done. Don’t put off till tomorrow what you can have done today because what you get done today is going to determine your results tomorrow and the next day and the next day.

Regarding this conversation around speed, speed to market, really building your team, having knowledgeable people that are available in-house really makes a difference. As a matter of fact, as I’m recording this podcast, I’m in the Philippines in Makati which is very close to Manila. I’m in the Philippines because we’re setting up our back office support team. Many of you know I’ve been outsourcing labor, virtual assistants, virtual staffing. I actually began using VAs 10 years ago my first year in business on a very, very limited capacity back then. Over the years, it’s just slowly and steadily increased, increased, increased to where we run a very large portion of our business with virtual staffing, with people from other countries.

There’s several reasons why we do this. One is for the cost of labor for the task that they do. I’m not going to get into all the tasks that they do but they do a lot. Amazingly they do a lot of the inner workings of our business. They’re absolutely a critical piece. That part is of course money. There’s incredible cost savings with outsourcing labor. If any of you have questions about this, feel free to hit me up. You can email me at brantphillips.com and I’ll be glad to share with you some insights and things like that.

We’re actually opening up this, our office in the Philippines to support our businesses but then we are also opening up, we’re going to have X amount of, a certain amount of virtual assistants here that we are going to provide services for, outsourcing services for other entrepreneurs through our new company that we’re launching and called realmarketingresults.com.

The other reason that I even began outsourcing and then one of the reasons that outsourcing is so critical is because of the speed factor. When we’re in the United States and we’re working during the day and things are getting done and that’s all fine, well and great. We get a lot done with our teams and with our employees and our staffing in the US but what is really, really cool is that whenever we shut down for the day, that’s when our outsourcing labor kicks in. There is like a two to three hour window, an overlap where we’re wrapping up for the day, my employees in the US are wrapping up for the day but they’re all working with their virtual assistant, put a recap on the day so they can close out things for them and put other things in motion while they go home. See?

While they’ve created output and efforts and work throughout the day, those efforts are continuing through this outsourcing labor that we have and this resource through virtual assistants. It’s just simply that the faster that you can put things to market, deals get done, more work gets done. That’s why all of my US employees have their own VA, their own virtual assistant for them because of the speed factor. It’s absolutely critical.

I also want to throw in about making mistakes, making mistakes. You’ve probably heard me say, “Fail forward fast.” This is something one of my mentors has been reinforcing lately. It’s like fail forward fast. What does that mean? I believe the faster that you make mistakes, the quicker that you’re going to be able to learn from them and improve what you’re doing, the better that you’re going to be, the quicker that you’re going to get results, the more deals that you’re going to do.

What does failing forward mean? To me, that means that you’re not just going out and making a bunch of stupid mistakes. You’re making mistakes, you are taking educated guesses, you’re doing due diligence on the deals that you do and the business decisions that you make knowing that sometimes things aren’t going to work out, conditions are going to change and things are going to happen but you’re failing and that’s okay because that’s how we learn. The more that we fail the more that we will actually win and get ahead. It’s counterintuitive but for those of you who are like full blood entrepreneurs, you get it. I know you get it. Those of you who are dabbling, I know this thought of failure is scary to you. You just have to trust me if you want to be an entrepreneur. You have to realize that that’s part of this game. I just wanted to throw that in there.

One of the other ingredients, one of the things that we need in order to thrive is that we got to be able to do more with less, be able to do more with less. One, we just talked about time and ways that if you’re working a job you can utilize, even though you have a limited amount of time, you can do more with others.

Right now I want to talk about money though, doing more with less. The mantra right now if you’re just starting out and you’re like when I started out and I had no money. I was buying that first house using a credit card, is that the mantra is lean and mean. Let’s face it, the mantra may be lean and mean for a very long time. Guess what? That is a very, very powerful mindset that can serve you for a very long time. I still have it ingrained in my mind to run lean and mean.

I don’t always but I have it ingrained in my mindset because when I started out, it was one of the things that I attribute a lot of my success to was I had to figure out ways to do more with less. I was working a full-time job, wife, children, all these responsibilities. In order to create the results that I wanted, I had to figure out how to do more with less. I didn’t have any money. Like I said I bought that first house with a credit card and I had to figure out how to leverage deals. I had to do more with less. This is a very, very powerful mindset because the more efficient that you are managing your finances and bootlegging things that have to get done, this is the how mindset. You will tell yourself like, “How can I get it done versus I can’t get it done.”

The only other thing I want to say about this right now is that when resources are limited and time is of the essence, the companies that are going to thrive are the ones that master the skill of doing more with less. They’re not going to say they can’t. They’re just going to ask how.

Also, I want to say that don’t make the mistake of being cheap. Don’t make the mistake of being cheap. Become efficient in being lean and mean but only on things that won’t jeopardize hitting your targets. I’m not saying that you do a Walmart rehab in a Nimah Market’s neighborhood. That’s not smart. I’ll just say that again. It’s like be lean and mean, be lean and mean but don’t jeopardize hitting your target. You use common sense and good judgment. Common sense and good judgement, common sense and good judgement. Good Lord, when I was in the police academy, this will always be stuck in my mind because it’s written across the wall and one of my instructors used to say it all the time, “When you’re making a decision just use common sense and good judgement.” Doing more with less, running lean and mean is absolutely critical.

All right. Another factor that you’re going to need in order to thrive in business is you’re going to have to get social. You’re going to have to get social. No, I’m not saying you’re going to have to take a bunch of selfies, do a bunch of Facebook live videos or anything like that but you certainly might. I’m going to go back to and how I built my business in the beginning was by networking my ass off quite frankly for the first couple of years. Trust me, I’m not a socialite at all. I’m not. You can look at my personality profiles. I’ve had several of them done and it’s just not me.

In the beginning, I networked. I was at networking events, real estate events, entrepreneur events, whatever I could find, wherever I could go and find that I could go to help sharpen the saw, meet other investors, maybe find deals, I was there. I did this for the first two years consistently. If not every week, multiple events I would go to every month. It feels like looking back like I was going almost every week to some type of event. This is just another fundamental for your startup success.

Building a successful business is going to require building a successful team, a powerful team. The only way that you’re going to do that is getting out there and shaking hands and meeting people and getting in conversations and feeling the vibes, other people that are going to be able to help you and support you. People that you feel like you can create win-win situations with and relationships and just get into that because several of the relationships that I made going back 10 years are people that I still do business with to this day. Just make this commitment that you’re going to get social and you’re going to start networking and get out there so you can begin building your team.

All right. Another critical factor, and this revolves around the word discipline. One of my mentors, he uses the word discipline. Every time we meet and get together, the word discipline comes up in our conversations. The bottom line is that discipline leads to dollars, discipline leads to dollars. What kind of discipline are we talking about? Not only the discipline required to do the work involved because we know that great businesses are built by doing those little things every single day, doing the little things every single day, every damn day, doing those little things. The discipline to do your work, the discipline to say yes when you know you need to say yes and when you know when you need to do something. Also, the discipline to say no. Having the discipline to say no.

My mentor mainly references this about whenever deals come to his desk and he’s presented with a lot of opportunities. He’s been presented with thousands of opportunities over the years. He really points to a large percentage of his success by just saying no. He got really clear on the business that he was creating, on his formula, the numbers that he uses. When deals come across his desk that meet those numbers, he says yes. If they’re outside that formula, those metrics, he says no. Same thing with me. I’ve got my formula for my deals and my businesses. That’s what we say yes to and that’s what we say no to.

This discipline ties back to doing the work because the more disciplined that you are in your marketing efforts, guess what? It’s easier to say no because you have more opportunities so that whenever you say yes, it’s a crystal clear yes. It’s an overwhelming like this meets all of our numbers. It’s not just a yes, it’s a hell yes so that everything else is an easy no.

Discipline starts with self-control but I would say that your discipline is really grounded in your vision and your commitment to carry it out because when you’ve got that strong vision that we talked about in the beginning, when you’ve got that strong vision and you’re really committed to carrying it out, then you’re automatically, your discipline’s going to kick in whenever you’re veering from something that’s not putting you in alignment with hitting that target, with carrying out that vision, your instincts are naturally going to say, “Hey. Hey, I need to shut this down. I need to have the discipline to say no because that’s not drawing me closer to this target, to this vision.” If you’re really committed, that discipline’s going to come just more naturally to you.

I’ll tell you this, and to some of you, this is going to sting a little bit. For some of you, this is going to sting just a little bit my friends. I mean it in love and you know that. If you find yourself being undisciplined from taking the actions you know will create success, you may want to take a hard look in the mirror at this point because guess what? Guess what? If you’re drifting and you’re being undisciplined from the actions that you know will create success, you better watch out.

Hey, this is Brant. I hope you’re enjoying today’s show. If you’re in a place in your life or your business where you just feel stuck or you just don’t know what actions to take to help you get unstuck or on to the path to creating the results you truly desire, please take a few minutes and go to my website, brantphillips.com. There are some really valuable resources and information that may be able to help you out. If you’re interested in really speeding up results with the help of a coach or mentor and adding true accountability and guidance to your life and business, please reach out to me from my website as well at brantphillips.com or going directly to www.brantphillips.com/coaching. Now, let’s get back to the show.

Because most likely if you’re looking in the mirror and you really get eye-to-eye with yourself, you’re not really committed to that result. This is where you got to, like your come to Jesus moment. You got to get real with yourself. Is this what you really want and it’s what you’re really committed to? If it’s not, you need to create a new vision. You need to create a new commitment that you will hold yourself and allow others to hold you accountable to because this is really where discipline comes in and it should be somewhat natural when we’re truly committed to that vision. I really hope you get that. This is a strong, strong point.

It leads in well to the next thing is like you just have to want it bad. To create success, to create a business that thrives, let’s just face it. It’s not freaking easy, it’s just not. If it was, everyone would do it and we know that everyone is not. We know that nine out of 10 businesses fail. You just have to want it really, really badly because I will tell you, for those of you starting out, listen to what I have to say. For those of you who are already in the game of being an entrepreneur in business and real estate investing, you already know that, what I’m about to say, you already know this. You got to want it bad because look, the market, the universe, whatever you want to call it is going to test your ass. You are going to get tested. If you don’t want it bad enough, guess what? Boom, game over.

Strong determination is always necessary in order for you to create success. Determination has got to be there. Here’s the thing, going back to the market, the universe throwing tests at us which is going to happen, but guess what my friends? This is the silver lining, with the test, with the obstacles, with the challenges, with the setbacks when we fail, this is when we learn the most about ourselves. During this, this is where we learn about how determined we are when we are tested. This is where we can extract the greatest lessons about ourselves and about business and how we will ultimately move our business further ahead is through this test. When we get to the other side, boom, growth occurs. The business takes monumental steps forward whenever we get through some of these trials. You just have to take me for my word with that.

Here’s another one. Be willing to change, be willing to change. One of the biggest reasons I’ve seen a lot of businesses and investors go out of business has been their unwillingness to change to shifting economies and really I would say moving targets, shifting opportunities because there’s always opportunities in the marketplace but those opportunities shift. They move, they look a little bit different, they’re not what they were before. It doesn’t mean that they’re not there. It just means that they’ve transformed into something else.

Opportunity is basically like a chameleon. Opportunity, I like that. Opportunity is like a chameleon. It’s always there but it changes its colors. Sometimes it’s really hard to see. If we don’t have the mindset of being willing to change, then guess what? We’re not going to see that chameleon whenever it changes its colors. I’m really liking this metaphor by the way that I just thought of. We’ve got to realize that opportunity is always there, it’s always there. It is like the chameleon. It is like the lizard who changes its colors. It’s always there but it’s more difficult to see at certain times unless we are really dialed in and tuned in and willing to change, because a lot of entrepreneurs come in and they are a one-trick pony. They’re a one-trick pony.

I was reading a book the other day and it was talking about Kodak. It was talking about how Kodak is worth billions and billions of dollars but whenever the writing was on the wall that hey, things are shifting in the photography industry, Kodak began making some changes. I believe they’re one of the first companies to introduce the digital camera. They began to make some changes but then they went back, they want back to their comfort zone. They went back to being the one-trick pony and they released some cameras, a new product line that was basically just like the old line. They dug their heels into the sand and guess what happened? A few years later they were bankrupt. They were bankrupt. That is not how to thrive in business.

The best entrepreneurs, the best investors are always willing to adapt to new technologies, to new markets and your willingness to adapt to change is going to be one of your abilities, is going to grant you the ability to have some of your biggest breakthroughs and some of your biggest successes. I’ll tell you that whenever I began investing, I began as a, I’m not even going to say investing, when I did begin investing at this time but is really as I began as an entrepreneur. How I began as an entrepreneur was investing in real estate. I was only investing in rental property.

Around two, two and a half years later, that’s when I began flipping houses. Around that same time also, I’d really built up really good systems in my construction side of things and how we managed our projects with my project manager and things like that to where another opportunity came up which was the construction business. Really for me and this is my path just discovered what I really love doing is starting businesses and launching businesses and just being a serial entrepreneur. They all happen to be in the real estate arena, in the real estate investing arena.

I’ll tell you, there were times whenever the investing times were difficult. My construction business has been a savior at times. Just that ability to see other opportunities. I’ll tell you, there were a lot of investors going out of business when things got really, really difficult to secure financing. This happened my second year in investing. My second year that I was an investor, I’d already began seeing guys go out of business and talking to them and talking to others, there was this excuse, there was this story was that I couldn’t do it. I’m sorry. I just couldn’t get the financing, it’s too hard, the banks aren’t lending anymore, blah, blah, blah, excuse, excuse, excuse, story, story, story.

I had the same thoughts come into my mind I’m not going to lie. After I was told by the banks that I couldn’t get any more loans, there was times where I thought, “Oh crap, I’m done. What do I do? I can’t do this anymore.” Then I just began asking myself like, “How? How can I continue to invest? How can I continue to do this?” I began forming partnerships and I began forming partnerships. Then ultimately began raising private money just because I was willing to change and adapt. That really leads into the next ingredient that you need to be able to thrive in business, to thrive with your investments.

You have to have the ability to raise capital. You have to have the ability to raise capital. This is what Robert Kiyosaki has called the number one skill of an entrepreneur. The ability to raise capital, cash flow, this is the blood of any business. This means that if you don’t have the ability to raise capital, if you don’t have the ability to generate cash flow that you’re not going to stay in business. You need to really look at raising capital as, if you’re the business owner as really one of your primary duties and responsibilities.

One of the big things that I always enforce to my students, my coaching students is it’s like the ABC, is always be closing. In this business, you should always be marketing, marketing for deals and always be raising capital. You’re always looking for deals and you’re always looking for dollars. Just having that mindset, having that mindset is going to help you to thrive because I’ll tell you that if you’re not consistently marketing for deals and you’re not consistently marketing for dollars, for capital, you probably don’t have a business. This is something that you need to have, just period. Ingrain it into your mind if you want to thrive.

Here’s another one. Here’s another one. I’m going to call this unwavering faith. Just having that belief that you are going to succeed when things get dark. Whenever you are stepping out to take some risks, and we talked about this earlier, that sometimes you’re just going to have to have some faith. You are going to have to crawl out on to that tree branch with a saw blade and cut the branch off from the tree and have faith that the tree is going to fall to the ground and you’re going to be completely fine.

Sometimes it’s like this is really scary. Trust me, look, I get it. I’ve taken the risks. I’ve been there and I’ve done that but I know that every business’ success revolves around our ability to take these educated formulated risks. You’re going to have to begin to wire yourself and wire your faith to be prepared to take these risks. They say that the greater the risk, the greater the reward. I get that. There’s truth to that. You just back it up. You back up your faith and you back up the piece that you’re going to generate with inside just by doing the due diligence, by what we talked about earlier, by being disciplined to create your deal flow, create opportunities so that whenever you’re saying yes to something it means these numbers have worked out great. The numbers look great so it’s easier to have this faith and step out but we just know that things happen in business and so that’s okay.

For those of you once again that are risk adverse, you really have to trust your due diligence and I would say trust your instincts. Trust your due diligence and trust your instincts and rest assured the longer you stay in this game, the more deals that you do, the more risks that you take, the easier it’s going to get. The easier it’s going to get. I’ve heard it said before that experience leads to instincts. Your experience leads to instincts. The more that you do it, I will tell you that the easier it gets.

We talked a little bit about doing less with more earlier. I want to talk about how to master your time management. I know that in the beginning, especially in the beginning but even just on the day-to-day basis of building a successful business that there is a mountain, a mountain of stuff to do every single day. There’s a mountain of stuff to do. We’ll say there’s an unlimited amount of things that we have to do and there’s a limited amount of time to do these things within. There’s a limited amount of help and resources. I’ve already given you some strategies about how to leverage other people and virtual assistants and things like that to get more done.

What I also want to tell you about mastering time management is that you have to learn how to say no more. You have to know what to do and not only what to do, when to do it, how to prioritize it but what not to do. You’re going to have to learn to delegate and you’re going to have to learn to outsource but you’re also going to have to learn to be a gatekeeper of opportunity, become a gatekeeper of opportunity because everything that you say yes to is going to open up your gate of responsibilities, of work, it’s going to tie up your resources, it’s going to tie up your team, your capital that you’ve raised etcetera, etcetera.

I’m not saying that you don’t open the gate, absolutely that you do but also realize that in the world of time management, in the world of opportunity that every time you say yes to a new opportunity, it means that you’re going to have to say no to other opportunities. Make sure that when you say yes to something that it’s an opportunity and a deal that you’re excited about because trust me my friends, I’ve said yes to some opportunities that have absolutely sucked the life and money out of my business for certain periods of time. It’s drained the energy of my team because of the headache that it became and the time it zapped from us etcetera, etcetera. Know when to say yes and know when to say no. That’s all I’m going to say about that.

The last thing I’m going to say here is you just got to execute. We can plan, plan, plan, plan, plan and planning is essential, planning is essential but you got to execute. You can have the vision. You can have the dream. You can lay out the plan. You can raise the capital. You can create the deal flow. You can do everything that we talked about but you just got to execute. If you’re not executing, just forget about it. You got to know, and part of executing is knowing your strengths, knowing your weaknesses and building an execution plan. Figuring out how to get things done on a day in and day out basis.

I’ll also say that for those of you that are really committed to creating a long-term business that will not only last for years but for decades is that figuring out a way, creating your execution plan that is sustainable. It’s sustainable over time. It’s sustainable with new employees that you can plug and play. You can put new people in place and just finding others to help execute this plan. Filling the gap for your weakness so that you can just accentuate your strengths and the things that you do the best. You got to execute which is this final piece to how to thrive in business.

That is it my friends. I hope you got a lot of value from today and I hope you will take action on it. If you got value, I’d love some comments and five star rating type stuff. This is my shameless plug to get some love on the iTunes. That’s it. That’s it. I think that’s all I’ve got. Hey, I appreciate you. I appreciate you for listening. That’s it. Go out, take action and create results. Go out and create results in your life and your business. You can do it my friends.

The post Brant Phillips Show 10: How to Thrive in Business appeared first on Brant Phillips.

Welcome my friends to today’s show. Today, I’m going to talk about just staying in the game. Just staying in the game. In the game of life and in the game of business, in the game of real estate investing if that’s what you do, just staying in the game. There’s power that comes from just staying in the game and not giving up. I’m going to talk to you about some of the reasons that it’s so compelling to just stay in the game because I’ll tell you that as entrepreneurs, in life and in business, we’re going to have every opportunity to give up, just to give up. To be honest, it feels really good to give up.

Let’s look at that. In terms of sitting on the couch and eating potato chips versus going and working out, it feels really good to sit on the couch and eat potato chips. While you feel good after you work out, there is that initial push that you got to go out and do that work. It’s not always something that’s enjoyable. Same thing with building a business, with pursuing investing, creating deep relationships and impactful relationships, there is a lot of work that’s involved. A lot of times that work, when we’re pressing into the work, we’re going to run into obstacles. We’re going to run into challenges. That is to be expected.

One of the things that sticks out in my mind is whenever I began my business about 10 years ago and when I was just solely focused on real estate investing, at that time, I didn’t have these other businesses. At that time, I was extremely active and going to networking events. Almost every single week, for sure I would go to several events on a monthly basis. Almost every week I was at a different networking event. I kept this pace up for a good solid two years while I was just really getting myself established.

As I began going to those networking events, I began meeting people. Again, creating friendships and networking partners and business relationships and just meeting with other entrepreneurs and investors. The thing that happened was whenever the market started to tank and it tanked quick, but when it started to tank and whenever adversity started coming in, guess what also happened? A lot of the people that I was working with or seeing or building relationships with, they started falling off. They started not showing up.

Case in point was a wholesaler I was working and he used to wholesale real estate. I met him during those times when I was first beginning my business. I ran into him not long ago. I said, “Hey man, what’s going on? Long time no see. Are you still in real estate?” He’s like, “No man. I didn’t make it. I had to go get a job. I’m doing this and it’s okay,” was his response. Sorry, my throat is so scratchy today and we’ll drink water every now and then. He’s like, “No, I didn’t make it.” It was almost like a response of like, “I didn’t make it out of war or something like that, out of an illness.” He’s like, “Man, I see everything you’re doing. I see you made it man, congratulations.” He had some regret in his voice.

I want to tie this back to just staying in the game because some of you, you may be going right now through some challenges in your life, in your relationship, and in your business that you’re having thoughts about quitting. First off, I want to let you know that that’s okay. Acknowledge that, that that’s part of this game, of battling these thoughts, battling our fears, battling and getting over the mistakes that we make.

Part of this game of just staying in the game is like, even if you “Fail” at something that you set out to do, begin to look at what your labeling simply as failure as opportunities to learn. When I went into my MMA cage fight and proceeded to get my ass knocked out, a valuable lesson was learned from that, from the MMA experience, from the martial arts world. The lesson given to me was that, “You either win or you learn.” When you learn, there’s extreme value from learning even when you “Fail.” One of the reasons for you not to quit, for you to just stay in the game is that there are so many opportunities to learn from your mistakes. These are often times the ways that we learn the most. It’s like the Thomas Edison quote. Something along the lines of like, “I’ve never failed. I’ve just found 10,000 other ways that don’t work.” I think that was in reference to creating the light bulb.

When we’re able to remove this label of failure from our vocabulary, from our mindset and look at these things that don’t turn out the way that we expected as just simply learning opportunities, then it allows us to remove regrets. Then we’re not worried about what others think and just living with all this regret because one of the hardest things to do in life is to live with regret. When we do that, when we hold on to this regret, it’s like this weight and this baggage that we carry around. When we’re carrying around a lot of weight and when we’re carrying around a lot of baggage, guess what that translates to? That translates to making it very hard just to stay in the game.

We know that longevity is one of the ways that we create success. Allow yourself the opportunity rather than quitting on your dreams and beating yourself up to just make this commitment to say, “Hey look self, I’m going to make a commitment. 2) I’m not going to self-sabotage and beat myself up mentally. I’m going to allow myself to learn from things that don’t work out the way that I intended.”

On this path of creating success and creating results, you’re going to be given the opportunity to face fears. When you’re facing your fears, you really got to tap in to finding your inner strength. Let’s face it, you’re never going to know how strong you are until you face some of these fears. That’s the only choice that you have to put your chips on the table and see what you got.

Guess what? Some hands that we play in life and some hands that we play in business, we’re going to win and some we’re going to lose. We have to keep just putting ourselves out there. Being okay with being vulnerable, being okay with taking risks and knowing that they’re going to fail. The three Fs, fail, forward, fast. The most successful entrepreneurs in the world, in the history of ever are the ones that were okay to fail, but they were able to extract the lesson from the failure and get valuable real life experience that they could apply moving forward.

Every time that we do this, even if it’s what you deem as a failure, even if you deem it as a failure something that didn’t go right, when you stay in the game, I’m going to promise you this, just take me for my word right now but the more that you stay on this path to creating success, to creating the business of your dreams, to creating the life, the relationships, the health and fitness, just staying in the game, being okay with what is, being okay with what is, whatever that result is in terms of the past, like, “If this happened, I can extract the lesson and apply it moving forward,” You’re going to gain optimism. You’re going to gain optimism in moving forward. Rather than just giving up and giving in and being like the masses, you’re going to be able to go down the road less travel by just staying in the game.

You are essentially already different from most other people in life. You’re already on the path of we’ll call the 1%, the few. It’s probably a little bit more than 1% but that’s the path that you’re on. For those of you that are on this path that you’re committed to not giving up, to staying in the game, this is where the magic happens. This is where the experience and the essence of life happens. Being able to take that next step, to walk on that tight wire knowing that maybe or maybe not there is something underneath to catch you.

We don’t really know what’s going to happen when we take that next step always but we also know this is life. This is living. This is how we define who we are. This is how we go to the next level. This is how we discover what more life has to offer because if we stay complacent and we stay where we’re at and we continue to do the same things that we’ve always done, and I don’t care where you’re at in life. I don’t care where you’re at in business, we stagnate. We will fail to discover what greater things can be obtained, what greater successes can be had, what greater freedoms can be experienced. What greater ways that we can motivate and inspire others.

My friends, today’s message is all about encouraging you to simply just stay in the game. Whatever you’ve committed to, whatever goal you set out to do, if that’s something that’s worthy and desirable for you to achieve, just don’t quit. Just don’t quit. Nike used to say, “Just do it.” Just take action and just do it. Right now I’m saying to you, “Just don’t quit. Just don’t quit. Be okay with missing targets but continue to set targets and work to achieve them. When you don’t, assess what happened, find the positive from it, extract the lesson and apply it moving forward and staying on your path.”

That’s it my friends. I want to say thank you to all listeners out there. I’d love to have your feedback. Give me some positive reviews. If you’re getting value from this, if you’re able to extract value from this, get a little daily motivation and inspiration, then I really, really appreciate that. I appreciate you. I love and appreciate each and every one of you. I thank you for listening to the show. Until next time, I look forward to helping you create results in your life and business.

The post Brant Phillips Show 9: Stay in the Game appeared first on Brant Phillips.

Welcome everybody to The Brant Phillips Show. The show dedicated to results. Today, we’re going to talk about greed and laziness. Greed and laziness. The reason we’re talking about this today is, I was talking to a new coaching student the other day. I shared with them something that I heard many, many years ago when I was first diving into the world of being an entrepreneur. I heard a speaker say that there’s only two things that stand in the way of your success. Those two things are your greed and your laziness. Your greed and your laziness are the only two things that stand in the way of your success.

I want to dive into those and talk about greed and laziness and how they can be things … That actually there’s a certain aspect that are useful about those characteristics that we all have inside of us but most times and the way that they manifest themselves is that they prevent our success. When we talk about greed and laziness, yes, they are perceived as flaws in our human character. They’re often seen independently and separate from one another but they’re really intertwined into our human psyche. We see them in all ranges of the social spectrum, from the homeless out on a street to the incredibly ultra, uber, mega rich and politicians and things like that. We see this characteristic in all areas of society and like I said, the entire social spectrum.

If you dig into a deep psychological and sociological type of study, you’ll probably read that our greed, the want and desire to have more than we need comes from our ancestors not having enough food and wanting to have warmth in the winter and things like that. I’m certain there’s truth to that. You would probably read about how our laziness stems from some of our ancestors and the amount of time that they had to work and the need to rest and to recover and recuperate in preparation for the next harvest and going out and doing long sustained work for long periods of time.

As we all know, we live in the modern day area and some of these manifestations of why we have these characteristics just don’t really apply to today’s day and age. From the entrepreneurial perspective, we’re going to put on our entrepreneurial lens and we’re going to look at why, or how greed and laziness manifest themselves into affecting your results. Your results as an entrepreneur, as a business person, perhaps as a real estate investor.

Let’s look at this. Laziness, we’re going to tackle that one first. That can show up in just a number of different ways as we know, plain and simple. For those of you who’ve been following for any amount of time, worked with me as a student or in my programs that we say it all the time. Like, “If you’re not going to do the work, you’re not going to get the results.” Plain and simple.

In order to create success, you have to be willing to do the work. Obviously, if there is no work being done, there is no output, there’s going to be no results. A lot of times, it’s not as simple as that. It’s not as simple as just doing work, doing A, B, and C, 1, 2, and 3, rinse, wash, repeat, over and over and over, but that is a part of it. Just a lack of consistency because you’ll see some people that will [flutter 00:04:58] the gates. They will want to do a million and one things in a day or in a week or perhaps in a month but then boom, they’re burned out. It wasn’t that they were lazy as if they hit a wall and they failed. They failed to plan properly. They were lazy in their planning. They were lazy in their mindset. They were lazy in their game plan and they really failed to plan so then they really planned to fail as we’ve all heard before.

Laziness manifests itself in a lot of different ways, not just in someone going out and doing the work but really cultivating a plan that is sustainable and that can be built and achieved over time. This is a really big one. Sometimes it’s the laziness just to go in and have the conversations that you need to have to do the little things, not just the big things. People think that they want to look at the end. I know that that’s where we begin when we’re building a business, we’re building a plan, you begin with the end in mind and then you reverse engineer. People don’t really see how important those little steps are not just in the beginning but on a daily basis, like on a daily basis.

I think a lot of my one-on-one students for sure they come in and see behind the scenes on what we do in terms of marketing for our businesses on a daily basis. Their jaws drop a lot of times because there’s a lot of work involved in marketing plans for an investing business to market to find motivated sellers with postcards and letters and pay-per-click and SEO email marketing, all those types of things and what we do for our construction clients etcetera, etcetera. That there’s a tremendous amount of work involved but it’s … The difference I think that from my perspective and their perspective is a lot of times that if you don’t have that burning energy and fire inside of you, that you are going to get “Lazy”, like you’re like, “Oh my God. I’ve got to do this work or I’ve got to do these things.” If that’s the perspective and the lens that you’re looking at, the work that has to be done and created and achieved, then forget about it. You’re going to be done before you get started.

Whenever your perspective is that I get to do this work to create this result, it changes everything. Those of you who know me know that I love what I do. I can work from sunup to sundown every damn day and not get tired. That being said, I do not do that but I love what I do. The work that is involved in a business, laziness typically is not a factor except when it becomes a factor. Now, there is times when I’d find myself resistant to do work. Resistant to step in and like, “Hey, I’ve got to do this. I’ve got to do that.” When I find myself resisting things that need to be done, that is a huge flag. That is a huge flag for me because that means like, “Look Brant, you need to look at this and you need to get someone else to do this.”

This isn’t saying that you’re going to have all these pieces of your business that you should automatically love to do and you should be inspired to do them. No, that’s not the case. Whenever you have these instances or these certain things in your business that you don’t feel called to do, you don’t feel inspired to do, you don’t feel enthused to do, you need to find a way to effectively outsource those things and have them done by someone else, by a team member, by a contractor or whatever it may be to make sure that they’re done so your bottom line is getting taken care of and you can focus on the things that you feel inspired to do.

Just look at the things that are in your business that are showing up that you know that you need to do but you’re not doing because of laziness. Then dig a little deeper like, “Why am I being lazy towards this item? Why am I not marketing? Why am I not generating more deal flow? Why am I not having conversations with prospective clients, prospective lenders, prospective partners? What is it that you feel “Lazy” about in your business?” Then just dig deeper. Is it because you don’t desire to do that work? Is it because it should be outsourced to someone else? Is it that there are some other things in your life, like possibly your nutrition, other responsibilities, you’re too busy, you need to create some space so that you have that energy in time to devote to those areas? Because laziness, when it’s showing up in whatever form and whatever matter in your business is going to prevent your success. It’s going to prevent your success.

Hey, this is Brant. I hope you’re enjoying today’s show. If you’re in a place in your life or your business where you just feel stuck or you just don’t know what actions to take to help you get unstuck or on to the path to creating the results you truly desire, please take a few minutes and go to my website, brantphillips.com. There are some really valuable resources and information that may be able to help you out. If you’re interested in really speeding up results with the help of a coach, a mentor and adding true accountability and guidance to your life and business, please reach out to me from my website as well at brantphillips.com or going directly to www.brantphillips.com/coaching. Now, let’s get back to the show.

The other thing I want to talk about is greed. Let’s dive into this. The most common way that I’ve seen greed play out in my own business and in students, some students of mine and just people in the market in general that I’ve worked with or seen is, we see this all the time with real estate, with overpricing a piece of real estate. You look at the comps, you look at all your numbers and you’re like, “This house should be a $200,000 house based on everything I’ve seen but I’m going to go and put it on the market at 250 because I need the money.” Or, “You know, this is a wish and a prayer, and let’s see what happens.”

While I’ll admit that there are times in the real estate market and there are times in business where you can shoot a little bit higher, there’s times to swing for the fences, but those times are very rare. They’re not the rule. They’re the exception to the rule. The 80/20 rules, those are 20% of the time maybe 80% of the time you need to be going by the numbers. Do the numbers make sense? Your numbers will tell a story. What greed basically comes down to is expecting something for nothing or wanting the return to exceed the true value, wanting the return to exceed the true value.

If you look at it, greed and laziness, this is how you can see how greed and laziness are tied together. The times when I’ve had properties sit on the market the longest are why? Because I’ve overpriced them. I’ve overpriced them based on the current market that we’re in. That’s it. When it comes down to greed, whenever you are putting out a product or a service or a piece of real estate, whatever it is and into the market place, don’t expect so much sometimes. Expect what the market value is, understand that there’s times where we can take our shots and roll higher but the market is going to tell you what your piece of real estate is worth. The market place is going to tell you what your products and services are worth. It’s a destructive behavior really that can show up that tells you that, “Let me try to get more for this, let me try to get more for this.” You will end up so many times costing yourself more time and money.

The easy correlation is with a piece of real estate that sits when it could have been sold. You could have already been on your second or third or fourth property but you’re sitting here wanting, hoping, being lazy really that this property is going to sell for 10%, 20%, 30% more than the true value is when you could really be once again working doing work, putting out effort just to create more value in the market place by doing more marketing, creating more networks, creating more deal flow to do more deals and putting out more true value into the market place but your greed has stopped you on wanting something for nothing.

Once again just look at that. Where are you being greedy? Where are you being greedy in your life or your business? Where are you expecting more than what the true value is? Where are you expecting to receive more than what you’ve really put into something? Just look at each of these areas and just ask yourself the question, “Where am I being lazy? Where am I being greedy? How am I being greedy?” That’s it my friends. If you can detect and pinpoint where you’re being greedy and where you’re being lazy in your life and your business, as soon as you can pinpoint those areas, you focus on them, you improve them. You course correct and you’ll soon be back on track to creating results. Once again, I love and appreciate each and every one of you. I thank you for listening to the show. Until next time, I look forward to helping you create the results you desire in your life and your business.

The post Brant Phillips Show 8: Two Things That Prevent Results appeared first on Brant Phillips.

Welcome everybody to The Brant Phillips Show. Today, we’re going to talk about beginning. We’re going to talk about the beginning. One thing that you’ve probably heard many times in your life is to begin with the end in mind. Begin with the end in mind. That was a concept that I first heard whenever I read Stephen Covey’s work Seven Habits of Highly Effective People many, many years ago, to begin with the end in mind. This is a powerful principle. It is something that will help you to reverse engineer your business. Whenever you’re starting out a new business venture or a new component of your business, what do you want that to look like in the end? Then you work backwards.

However, I’m going to take a different approach and a different view of the statement about beginning with the end in mind. You see, because sometimes if we get too hang up on the end meaning that end looks overwhelming, scary, painful, risky, looking too much at that end is sometimes going to be a devastating blow meaning you’re not going to begin because now you’re so focused on the end and all of the work that’s in between the beginning and the end that you fail to launch. You don’t even start.

A little story, the other day I went to work out with a friend of mine. I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of the Jim Jones thing. He goes to a gym and the lead trainer is a Jim Jones’ dude. This is one of my coaching students, the friend of mine that invited me to come to his gym. He’s been building me up for a while to this guy. He’s like, “Hey, my buddy Brant went to Breakthrough at the Beach and he has fought in MMA and we do some boxing stuff. He’s done Arrowmen. He’s been to SealFit blah, blah, blah. He’s building me up to this guy, not just over a few days. Supposedly over the last year, he’s been telling this guy about me. He’s like, “I’m going to get Brant to come in.”

I finally show up to the gym at 5:30 in the morning. Since I went through SealFit a couple of months ago, I’ve been taking a little downtime. I’m still working out pretty much every day but I don’t have the capacity I had a couple of months ago. I’m just taking a little time to let the body heal and recuperate. We get there and talking to the guy, seems like a nice enough guy. He starts writing the workout on the board. He starts writing the workout on the board. He stops writing and I’m like, “Oh, it’s not that bad.” I’m like, “This is not that bad.” Then he starts writing some more. I’m like, “Okay, I get it. I’m good. I’m good.” Then he stops writing. I’m like, “All right, it’s not so bad.” Then he starts writing again. I’m just like, “Damn.” I start having these thoughts about like, “Damn, this is going to suck. I’m not in shape for this. I’m not ready. It’s 5:30 in the morning. I haven’t had my coffee. I’m usually a work out in the afternoon kind of guy, and blah, blah, blah.” Here come the stories, blah, blah, blah.

My friends, welcome to life. That workout with him continuing to write and add things on, and he may have just been playing off what he was picking up from me, I don’t know but he kept writing stuff. Look, if you’re waiting to know where the finish line is going to be exactly or if you need to know every single little minute detail and every aspect of the journey and the undertaking that you are about to take on, then you will get so overwhelmed and bogged down by these thoughts and being overwhelmed that you will never get started. Yes, it is incredibly powerful to begin with the end in mind but sometimes, you just need to begin. You just need to begin.

With my coaching students, I talk a lot especially with newbies, I talk a lot about the rule of one. I call it the rule of one because just a recurring theme that I see with my new students that are just getting into real estate investing. Let’s say that they’re getting into real estate. They may possibly never done a deal before and they feel the need to do like 10 of everything. It’s like, “All right. What are you going to do?” Like, “I’m going to do 10 deals this year.” “All right, cool. How are you going to finance it?” “Well, I’m going to get 10 private lenders and I’m going to do-” It’s like, “Look. Look, I want you to do 10 deals this year. I did 10 deals my first year so that’s, I want you to do that. I want you to have 10 private money lenders. We’ve got a lot more than that but I want you to have 10.”

Before you can ever have 10 of anything in business, like 10 deals, before you can do 10 deals, you need to do one deal. Before you get 10 private lenders, you just need to have one private lender.

Hey, this is Brant. I hope you’re enjoying today’s show. If you’re in a place in your life or your business, or your real estate investing where you just feel stuck, maybe you don’t know what actions to take next to get you unstuck or just on that path of creating the results that you really desire, please take a few minutes and go to my website at brantphillips.com. There are some really valuable resources and information that may be able to help you out. If you’re interested in really speeding up results with the help of a coach or mentor and adding true accountability and guidance to your life and business, please reach out to me from my website. You’ll see a link at the top or by going to brantphillips.com/coaching. Now, let’s get back to the show.

I coach them, teach them, train them, encourage them to focus on one. Focus on the here and now. Focus on the present because if you go in thinking I need 10, there’s immediately this feeling of, generally, there’s this feeling of being overwhelmed. There’s this tendency to be a, you’ll become spread too thin. You will essentially be like a jack of all trades. You will fail to focus on finding the most ideal one. Finding the very best deal to get started, finding the best private lender and then with a private lender’s, when we’re talking about cultivating a relationship, when you find a private lender, the very most important thing is you take care of that private lender. You are here to guard their asset, to protect it, to secure it, secure their investment so that they earn their return and you return their capital back to them.

If you’re distracted, going all over the place, you’re not really going to give any of these 10 that you’re looking for now the service, the time and attention that they need, because what I found by utilizing the rule of one, by focusing on one thing, one aspect, I do it great. When I do it great, I’m able to repeat that. More referrals come, more leads come because I’m better. I’m focusing on one piece of marketing, focusing on one aspect of real estate etcetera, etcetera rather than all these things.

Now, I am not taking away at all, whatsoever in preparing for battle. Dwight Eisenhower said, “In preparing for battle, I have always found that plans are useless but planning is indispensable.” If you could look into my office right now, on my big whiteboard, I’ve got things drawn out for next year all over the board including, which has taken up 80% of a ginormous whiteboard, our org chart and everybody’s roles and responsibilities and some new hirers that we have coming in to the year.

We’ve all heard that, “The war is won in the General’s tent.” Even the best plans only last until the boots hit the ground. Planning, planning is indispensable. If you don’t begin because you get focused on only the planning or only looking at the end in mind and you get bogged down and you get overwhelmed and you’re looking at the trainer as he’s writing the workout on the board and you’re thinking, “Oh my God, Oh my God.” Look, look. A marathon is just a series of single steps for 26.2 miles. It’s just a concession of single steps.

My friends, simply begin. Simply begin. Focus on that first rep, focus on that first call, focus on that first step of whatever it is that you are trying to create in your life and your business. When you complete that first rep, when you complete that first step, whenever you complete that first call, whenever you complete that first page of your book, whatever it is that you’re working on, then take the next step and the next step and simply begin. Simply begin. I love and appreciate each and every one of you, my friends. I thank you for listening to the show. Until next time, I look forward to helping you create results in your life and in your business.

The post Brant Phillips Show 7: Just Begin appeared first on Brant Phillips.

(Intro)

Welcome to the Brant Phillips’ Show. This show is dedicated to results. Now, here’s Brant.

(Brant Phillips)

Welcome everybody to the Brant Phillips Show. It is your friend, Brant Phillips and I’m going to start today’s podcast of by asking you a question: Are you really playing all in? Are you really playing all in right now in your business? Are you playing all in right now in areas of your life that you desire to truly create results? Because I would have you consider that one of the most important things to determine our success or our failure is whether not we are playing all in.

So, I’m going to ask you another question. I’m going to ask you to think back on your life or on your business. I want you to think of one or two times in your life where you played a hundred percent all in. Just think about that right now. And as you pick out a couple of times in your life where you are a hundred percent committed no matter what and you played all in. I will almost guarantee you that you created results. And I will also, also have you consider that when you have not played all in, most likely you have not what? You have not created results.

Results happen by going all in. I am not talking about just some status or just average results. I am talking about big freaking results. Those only happen one way my friends and it’s when we play all in.

So, the other day I was at the gym, not my CrossFit gym. I was like at the gym and I don’t go to a regular gym that often. But I go to swim and do a few little things I do there on occasions. But anyways, I ran into a guy I knew from the past. He was a wholesaler whom I knew ten years ago maybe. When I first met him, maybe not that quite long ago probably 7-8 years range I don’t know. But he was a guy I used to know and he was a wholesaler. I bought some deals from him and he was a good dude. Good dude, hardworking guy and he was creating some success. He was doing really well. Getting a good reputation as one of the better wholesalers in our city and you know? I am not saying he’s not squared away but he looked really squared away and I was like “this is a guy who’s going to make it.” Because I will tell you that I have seen so many people coming into the Real Estate Investing Game, to the Real Estate Investing Business and fail.

We have heard the statistics that 9 out of 10 businesses fail. Well, Real Estate Business thing is a business just like any other and while I don’t believe that this statistic applies to the Real Estate Investing at the same percentage rate, but I am not really sure about that, I don’t know. But if we believe this statistic to be relatively true, then around 90% of the people are going to what? – They are going to FAIL!

So, this guy, I had put him in the 10%, like this guy was going to make it. But, I hadn’t seen him a long long time and one day I bumped into him at the gym. Happens he lives over in my area of town and I say “Hey man! What’s going on?” And he was like “Man, I am on your email list.” “It’s good to see that you’re doing well man.” But then he told me he had to get a job because of this and that and the other thing.

And it was really, you know sad because what I heard were his excuses, that he was not fully committed, he didn’t play all in and blah-blah-blah. Look, there’s nothing wrong with that. That’s just what he chose because the fact of matter is if we were to pinpoint and go back and say “Hey, where did your business fail or where did you lose?” Maybe he lost desire. Maybe he was not committed to it. Maybe it was not something that he was passionate about because I tell people all the time that when they get into real estate. Look, “this is a real business and what I do is a lot more than just real estate.”

We’ve got multiple businesses going on but this is not something you come in and just kind of look halfway committed. You need to be passionate about this. You need to love this because whenever challenging times come, because if you are not playing all in – you’re not going to make it. You are not going to make it because creating success in business or in life, in your marriage, in your relationship with your children, in your health, in your fitness – it requires at times, not all the time, it requires blood, sweat, and tears. It requires your time.

If you are not playing all in and you are not giving your time to an area of your life and business that needs that time, then you’re going to fail. It needs your effort. When you’re playing all in it means going all in with your effort

(Midro)

Hey, this is Brant and I hope you’re enjoying today’s show. You know? If you’re complacent in your life, in your business, in your real estate investing and you just feel stuck. Maybe you don’t know what actions to take next to help you get you unstuck or just onto the path of creating results that you really desire. Please take on a few minutes to go to my website at brantphillips.com. There are some really valuable resources and information that may be able to help you out. And if you’re interested in really speeding up results with the help of a coach or a mentor and adding true accountability and guidance to your life and business, please reach out to me for my website as well at brantphillips.com or go directly to www.brantphillips.com/coaching. Now, let’s get back to the show.

(Continuation)

When you’re playing all in. When you’re truly playing all in it means you’re going to play all in with your money. You are willing to put that money down on the table as so many business people who are afraid to spend money on marketing, right? Like, they’ll do the networking thing – they’ll do that but they won’t spend money on their marketing. Why? Maybe they are not a hundred percent committed. Maybe they are not playing all in. Sure, they can probably tell you some stories about a previous campaign or how they’re so proud that all the business that they’ve got has been from word of mouth. That’s a sign of not having a real business by the way. You know? But that’s just one of the signs where people don’t really put their money where their mouth is.

I say this all the time with my coaching students. Look, you will tell more about a person by looking at these two things:

1. Where they spend their time? and more importantly
2. Where they spend their money?

Because we all know that money talks, but where you see people that spend their time and their money is where their true commitment is.

And I can share you a story about my church. Our pastor is very transparent with the giving. He does a financial update thing at the beginning of the year. He’s like “Hey, here’s what money that we took in the church. Here’s what we’ve spent it on in terms of staffing, repairs, missions, giving, etc.” It is an incredibly pathetic number in terms of the amount of giving compared to the amount of people that go into the church. It was like in the 10% range. It’s very sad actually but the story behind the statistics there, the story behind the story is that a lot of these people, probably talked a good game in terms of their faith but they just don’t back it up at their check books. They are not playing all in.

When we play all in, when we’re really passionate about something, when we’re really committed to something – there’s going to be not only a time and money commitment but a work commitment. There’s going to be some discomfort there. There’s going to be sometimes where like my friend at the gym, we’re going to have some challenges. We’re going to have to ask this tough questions and just look at ourselves in the mirror and say “Am I really committed to this? Am I really committed to going and playing all in?” Because listen, listen my friends. When it comes to life when it comes to business, your relationships, your health and your fitness, your real estate investments. Whatever it is. Whatever the results are that you are looking to create in your life, in your business – the fact that matter is that you can create those results IF you play all in.

So, right now, look at your life, look at your business. There are some areas where you are not getting the results that you truly desire. Look at those areas and just admit it like admit that you’re not playing all in and either be okay with that and just ask yourself. Just take a minute and meditate on it and just like “Hey, why aren’t I playing all in in this area?” And you know? Sometimes when we just stop and think about it, what we find when we’re not really playing all in in a certain area of life or business is we’re really not passionate about whatever that thing is. And that point in time is the time to make decisions like “Hey, I need to roll up my sleeves and I need to get recommitted to this and get refocus and figure out why, where I get bugged down.” We need to shift completely. Go into a different arena. Go down to a different path.

A friend of mine at the gym chose to go get a job, now it didn’t look from his demeanor and his words that’s what he truly desired but that was the decision he made. It may have just been that real estate was not the thing for him. It could have been some areas or other business venture but whatever it is, my friends; find a way to be excited. Find something that you are truly passionate about. Something that you enjoyed doing and damn it play all in. Don’t straddle the fence and play both sides and live a loop one life and run a loop in a business. Because if you go on that path you are on a plateau. You will become a statistic like I’ve seen 90% or more over my time who have come into business and fall out to business. People get married and get divorced. People have broken relationships with their kids. People who are stagnant in their faith are the ones who are not giving, not only just financially but giving up their time, giving up their heart, their energy and others.

There are so many areas guys. Play all in. Play all in and if you’re not going to play all in – Don’t play it all. Find something else to play that you will play all in because that is the only way that you will create the results that you truly desire.

So, I love and appreciate all of you. Thank you for listening to the show. It is my honor to help you create results that you desire in your life and in your business.

(Outro)

You’ve been listening to the Brant Phillips’ show. To listen to past shows, get updates on future shows and find other resources or information about coaching, visit brantphillips.com.

The post Brant Phillips Show 6: Playing All In appeared first on Brant Phillips.

Welcome everybody to The Brant Phillips Show. What we’re going to talk about today are the fundamentals to building a successful business. I don’t care if it’s a real estate investing business. I don’t care if you’re in the service industry. I don’t care if you’re in internet marketing. We are going to lay out the seven fundamentals of a highly successful business. Before I do that, I want to bring your attention back to one concept that I’ve introduced before in a previous episode. If you hadn’t listened to the previous episodes leading up to this one, please go back and do so because these first five or six podcasts are really laying out just some foundational concepts and terminology that we’re going to use throughout future podcasts on The Brant Phillips Show.

Previously I talked about the F4. There’s two concepts we’re going to talk about. F4 and F7. The F4, it relates back to a daily commitment and investment into your faith, your family, your fitness and your finances. The four core areas or pillars of life if you will. Those are so foundational because what happens so often with entrepreneurs as we dive into the business world and starting our businesses and making money and investing in real estate. This happens so much that we lose focus of the things that are actually much more important to us but we’re so focused and driven on creating success and money that we really lose focus on those other three pillars mainly the faith, family and fitness. We really focus on making money and on our finances and on our business, we become what I like to call one-dimensional douchebag.

Go back and listen to the F4, relisten if you already listened before because it’s absolutely critical to creating true power. I like to call it power in our lives when we invest into all four of those areas. It’s a way for us to tap into a power and an energy. Then it creates an alignment and a clarity and a deeper sense of purpose when we are actively investing into those areas on a daily basis. That being said, it’s the F4. It’s important. Do it.

All right. Now, we’re going to talk about the F7. The fundamental seven key areas to build a successful business. For those of you that are real estate entrepreneurs and you are looking to flip some houses, this is where these concepts were born from, where whenever I was building my real estate investing business and I wrote my first book called How to Flip a House, subtitled Seven Fundamentals of a Highly Successful Flip. Let me lay out what those seven fundamentals are in relation to the real estate business. They are mindset, deal flow, evaluating deals, estimating repairs, financing rehab and income generation. You can learn more of those by reading my book. You can go to brantphillips.com/resources to get some information about that.

These fundamentals though, they’re essentially the same in any other business just with some different terminology. You see, when we look at the results that we have in our life and in our business, all of the results that we have are the result of some type of actions that we took that either created useful results or non-useful results. We are who we are today, when we look in the mirror, we are the sum of all of our previous actions, attitudes, beliefs and fundamentals. This is who we are. Who we are right now is because of things, the actions that we took in the past and the results that came about.

The actions that you’re taking when you’re building your business are either you’re just closing your eyes and throwing darts at a dart board hoping to get lucky or you’re building your business based on solid fundamentals. When it comes to building a business, it all begins with your mindset. If there’s one foundational piece of which your business is going to grow and expand or crumble and fall, it’s about your mindset. What is your mindset? What is your determination? What are your attitudes? What are your belief systems going into the venture that you’re about to take on. Once again, I don’t care if this is a real estate business. I don’t care if this is a service business. You’re in internet marketing, you’re coaching or consulting, whatever it is that you do, it all starts with your attitude, with your mindset.

After that, if you’re in a real estate, we talk about deal flow, generating leads. Whatever business that you’re in, you need to learn a marketing piece. You need to learn how to create deal flow to have deals, clients, customers, opportunities coming to you. Whenever you figure out a marketing piece and a marketing plan whatever that may be if you’re a business, you need to know how to analyze those deals. How can you quickly and efficiently analyze the deals to figure out what are the best opportunities for you?

When we get into the world of service-based industries or consulting type industries, I got news for you. I got news for you that every opportunity is not a good opportunity my friends. I like to actually rate clients and customers and figure out the typical characteristics of ideal clients, ideal opportunities. Of course with real estate deals, we have a clear established criteria of the types that we’re looking for and the types of deals that we’re actually not looking for. As you begin putting out your marketing, creating deal flow, you’re able to analyze those deals and analyze those opportunities to determine which clients and projects that you’re going to take on.

Whenever it comes to deciding on clients and opportunities and projects, in the real estate world, we would move to the next fundamental which would be called estimating the repairs. In the business world, this is just estimating your cost. This basically boils down to really knowing what are your hard costs? What are materials and labor costs going to be? Then another consideration is, what is your time investments into this opportunity or this client or this deal going to be? Because sometimes that’s a critical factor. Either you’re investing in a piece of real estate that’s local to you or that you’re going to have to drive hours each way or one way to get there, or maybe you’re going to have to set up a team wherever that is that that deal is located. Maybe that deal is or is not worth your time.

Hey, this is Brant. I hope you’re enjoying today’s show. If you’re in a place in your life or your business, or your real estate investing where you just feel stuck, maybe you don’t know what actions to take next to get you unstuck or just on that path of creating the results that you really desire, please take a few minutes and go to my website at brantphillips.com. There are some really valuable resources and information that may be able to help you out. If you’re interested in really speeding up results with the help of a coach or mentor and adding true accountability and guidance to your life and business, please reach out to me from my website. You’ll see a link at the top or by going to brantphillips.com/coaching. Now, let’s get back to the show.

Then we begin really crunching the numbers into that opportunity. The next fundamental is financing. This could be financing, this could be called funding, this could be called capital, and this is a critical piece. This is a critical piece because in the world of being an entrepreneur, Robert Kiyosaki says that, “The ability to raise capital is the number one skill of an entrepreneur. The ability to raise capital is the number one skill of an entrepreneur.” Where you’re currently located in your business life, this is either a skillset that you have or don’t have quite frankly. Even if you don’t have it, it doesn’t mean that you can’t acquire it with a little bit of coaching, a little bit of reading, a little bit of action and effort. This is something that anyone can do.

I will tell you also that when it comes to financing and funding deals, business opportunities, and I’ve raised capital not only for real estate deals which we’ve borrowed with private lenders mainly also with banks, with lines of credit, with hard money lenders, somewhere in the $40 million range is what we’ve parted with and borrowed and had others invest into our business over the years.

Also, I’ve raised capital for other business ventures that are non-real estate related. I will tell you this. Whether you believe that you can raise the capital that you need for your business or you don’t believe it, you’re right. You’re absolutely right. If you believe that you can raise the capital that you need or that you can’t raise the capital that you need. Whatever your belief is around this concept, it’s absolutely true.

It’s absolutely true because if you don’t believe in what you’re doing in your ability to raise that money, no one else is going to believe in you because see, I’ve learned two things. I’ve learned two things when it comes to borrowing money from others. Here are the two things. One, money is attracted to two things. Money is attracted to good deals and trustworthy people, good deals and trustworthy people. I will tell you that trustworthy people is so much more important than the good deals. Now, they’re both necessary but when it comes down to it, your lenders are going to analyze you harder than they are the deal, because if they trust you and they believe in you, they are going to trust your judgment, they’re going to trust your actions and they are going to invest in you.

You see in the real estate world, even though when they invest with you that their investment is backed by that real estate, this is assuming that you’ve done your paperwork the right way and whenever we do deals with private lenders, we always close at a tie into a company and a real estate attorney always prepares our documents so that our lenders are protected in that their assets, their investment is secured by the piece of real estate by that asset.

Here’s what I found out, is that lenders look at us as the asset. Much more so than the physical piece of real estate. Keep that in mind that money is attracted to good deals and trustworthy people. Ask yourself, “Are you bringing good deals to the table? Are you operating your life and your business in a trustworthy fashion?” Because if you’re doing those two things, guess what? You have the ability within you to raise all of the capital that you will ever need for your deals if you operate by those principles and you’re running a business that is based on fundamentals.

Let’s say that you’ve acquired your financing, your funding. Now, this moves into the fulfilment stage. In the real estate world, this is the rehab portion. This is where we’re calling contractors. We’re kicking down walls and we’re doing rehab on this piece of undervalued real estate that we’ve bought and we’re bringing value to it. This is where if you have a business that you are, this is where you are investing money that you are creating and adding value into your business so that you can add value into the market place for your customers and your clients and begin to generate revenue and turn a profit. This is the fulfilment stage.

This is where, of course depending on the type of business that we have, this is where typically the most work is going on. This is where systems are absolutely critical. This is where team work is absolutely critical. This is where having good managers in place, having a good team, having good contractors, subcontractors and just being able to lead and influence others to carry out and fulfil what your vision is as the entrepreneur.

I will tell you, and this is the sixth fundamental. If I go back over them again, it’s mindset, deal flow, evaluating deals, estimating repairs, financing and rehabbing on the real estate side of things. I will tell you that if you’re operating your business with solid fundamentals and you’ve done all six of these things correctly, then number seven which is simply generating income, maximizing each customer and opportunity, making sure that you are not dropping the ball on the fulfilment side of things or on the rehab side of things, this is the easiest part of the business. Making money is so incredibly easy my friends whenever we are operating our business on solid fundamentals. When we’re not deviating from good decisions, trustworthy principles, proven fundamentals, making money can be so incredibly easy, so incredibly easy when you operate with fundamentals.

It all starts like I said. It starts with a solid mindset. It’s going to require you to create effective marketing to get lead generation coming in. You’re going to have to be able to analyze opportunities, evaluate deals. You’re going to have to learn how to estimate repairs, estimate your costs, what are your materials going to cost? What is labor going to cost? What is your time going to be in that deal? Are you going to be able to raise the capital? To generate funding and financing for your deals?

Then you got to carry it out. You have to fulfill. You have to build your teams up so that you can rehab, so that you can renovate, so that you can execute on the contracts and the opportunities that you have so that you can get the dollars in the bank account because that’s what it’s all about my friends, creating a successful business. The F7 backed and built on a foundation of F4 which is going to create your power, create energy, create clarity, create focus and help you create something that’s much bigger, much bigger than just making money. You’re creating an impact on your family, your friends, you’re reaching your market place in society, in your neighborhoods.

Let’s not just make an impact. I challenge you, don’t just make an impact financially, because every single time I’ve read stories or talked to people about people who’ve been on their death bed and they’re lying there breathing in what’s possibly their last breath or it turns out to be their last breaths, they always talk about making more money. No, they don’t. They talk about, “I wish I would have spent more time with my family. I wish I would have had a bigger impact. I wish I would have given more.” They talk about all these things my friends. They don’t talk about making more money. “I wish I had more money in my bank account,” because they can’t take it with them. That my friends is the lesson today about the seven fundamentals intertwining that with the F4. I appreciate, honor and love each and every one of you. Now, go out, take action, create results in your life and in your business.

The post Brant Phillips Show 5: 7 Fundamentals appeared first on Brant Phillips.

All right, everybody. Today, we’re going to talk about why good is bad and bad is good. Why good is bad and why bad is good. I recently did a webinar, a coaching webinar in regards to real estate. It was called Bad Flip Gone Good. I’m not going to get too much into the real estate stuff today. Although I will record a separate podcast all about that particular deal and how it was really, really bad and it ended up really, really good.

It related to around the time, this was many years ago. We were in a particular market where we were flipping houses like crazy because there was a first time home buyer tax credit that some of you may remember. We were turning them out right after left. As soon as we were putting them on the market, they were selling just like super, super fast. What happened was sometimes whenever things are going really good, it’s not that it’s not good, it’s that when things are going really good in our life, in our marriage, in our business, in our health, we tend to get lazy. We tend to get complacent and we lose our edge. We lose our edge just a little bit and sometimes a lot bit.

What happened to me was I lost my edge a little bit got a little bit too overconfident meaning I wasn’t looking over my shoulders. I wasn’t looking ahead of the market at some things that could potentially change and potentially change really quick. They did and I got stuck holding some property. One in particular … I’ve got my wife’s little, I’m not even going to call it a dog. It’s a little, it’s a furry-rodent that is with me. I think it’s classified as a dog. It weighs about two pounds. If you hear some whining and moaning and groaning in the background, that would be my friend Daisy, my good friend Daisy who’s here. Say hi Daisy. No luck there.

Anyways, the situation, it was a situation that I hadn’t really dealt with like that. I had a financing crisis going on. I had this property yada, yada, yada, and ultimately was able to turn that deal into $100,000 net deal. Now, it took a few years later. It took shifting. It took me becoming a … It took me having to level up and learn some new business maneuvers and techniques and just really grow my capacity because I didn’t have the capacity to pull off that deal at the time until I learned it. Ultimately, that bad flip became really, really good.

Let’s talk about this in terms of your life and in terms of your business because the fact of the matter is that we are all going to go through difficult times. We’re all going to have challenges, we’re all going to have setbacks. We’re all going to get punched in the face every now and then. The real fact of the matter is that it’s going to happen. Ultimately, the cool thing is that’s how we learn the absolute most is when we get punched in the face. That’s where we learn the most about our character.

I’ll tell you what. When our backs are against the wall, that is where we get to learn how we’re going to respond. I’ve been through so much stuff over the years in terms of in my life and in my business. My back’s been against the wall so many damn times. Now it’s almost as if I’m wired that way. I believe that I am wired that way now. In Romans 12, it talks about, “We’ve been transformed by the renewing of our mind.”

The transformation, I think that’s happened in me. I believe this has happened for most successful entrepreneurs, is that one, one thing I like to note; is that whenever our backs are against the wall, whenever there’s a challenge, there’s some type of situation that comes in, that is a trigger. Roll up your sleeves and let’s fight. It’s time to go to work. It’s time to get out of this situation. This is really nothing more than an opportunity. It’s an opportunity to learn. It’s an opportunity to grow. It’s an opportunity to expand. It’s an opportunity to increase your capacity whenever these difficult times come in.

Then the other thing that I’ve learned over the years of being an entrepreneur is that life is game. Business is certainly just a game. It’s just a game. The thing is we have to learn how to play the game to win. One of the ways for you to consider of how to play this game is whenever you’re setting goals, whenever you’re setting objectives and things that you want to achieve, the first thing is …

Let’s talk about goal setting for a minute. When you’re setting goals you have to think about the situation in terms of good is bad and bad is good. If you’re out there setting goals that are like layups that are so easy to hit and they’re not really challenging you or pushing you that much, first consider just don’t do that. Just don’t even do that because you’re going to get in that situation where you’re not really stretching yourself. If you’re hitting your goals, like these little just weak ass goals, you know what? You’re really pushing yourself as an entrepreneur. You’re really growing your business in the capacity that you really could. If you’re honest with yourself and you answer that question, likely the answer is going to be, “No, you’re not.”

Hey, this is Brant. I hope you’re enjoying today’s show. If you’re in a place in your life or your business where you just feel stuck or you just don’t know what actions to take to help you get unstuck or on to the path to creating the results you truly desire, please take a few minutes and go to my website, brantphillips.com. There are some really valuable resources and information that may be able to help you out. If you’re interested in really speeding up results with the help of a coach, a mentor and adding true accountability and guidance to your life and business, please reach out to me from my website as well at brantphillips.com or going directly to www.brantphillips.com/coaching. Now, let’s get back to the show.

When we get into goal setting, you really want to be setting goals where you have slightly more than a 50% chance of hitting that objective, slightly more than 50% chance. You don’t want to set a goal where it’s like 99.9% impulse that you’re going to achieve it because likely you’re just going to quit and give up because it’s not realistic or it’s not possible. Then if you’re setting goals where you’ve got a 10% or 15% chance of failing that’s too easy, because if you’ve got like this 90% chance that you’re going to hit it, that’s way easy.

You want to set goals that are somewhere in the 50% to 55% chance likely that you’re going to hit it. If you hit it, then that’s great but don’t be satisfied with it. Immediately shift and level up that goal and set the new objective. If you don’t hit your target then that’s good. Assuming that you played all in, you busted ass and you went after it, then that’s why it is good because you don’t allow yourself this opportunity to become complacent. You don’t allow yourself this opportunity to just pat yourself on the back. That’s a way that we can trick the system. We can trick this game of business, this game of life to set these goals where it’s okay if we fail. That is a good thing because it drives us to push harder and do more.

When things do go wrong, when things do go “Bad” and I hate even using the word bad. It should really, things are either useful or non-useful. When things are bad, what is that really? When we look at the results that have ended up being non-useful or bad or whatever you want to call it, all of that really is, is feedback. It’s just feedback. It’s there in that moment. It’s there in that exact moment whenever there’s been something that’s happened, we’ll call that the stimulus. After the stimulus becomes our response, it’s our choice of what we choose to do. There, in lies between that stimulus and your response our choice of what we’re going to do.

I just want you to consider that these negative results and these bad things that we face as entrepreneurs, they’re simply feedback. That is our choice of what we do with it. I want you to also consider that these times when we are down, when our backs are against the wall, when a deal goes bad, when a relationship is falling apart, when our health and fitness is at its worst, those are the greatest times for us to come back and learn and grow and expand. The times whenever I was the brokest in my business or when the deals that fell through and where I’ve lost the most money have been absolutely the times where I have learned the most and I’ve rebounded the biggest. The times when my marriage was like on the rocks and on the ropes and at its worst point ever is whenever my wife and I have reinvigorated our marriage and just like made the commitment to play all in and just restored in areas where it was broken.

When I was the most overweight, out of shape, fat as you know what, that’s whenever I made the biggest decisions in my life and I’ve made the most radical changes in my health and fitness. The same thing on the spiritual side of things. When I was so detached and away from God is where I had the opportunity to really open up my eyes and reconnect spiritually with God and things that I was missing in that area of my life.

My friends, today’s message is all about pushing you, motivating you, hopefully inspiring and equipping you to consider that when things may seem their darkest, when things may seem their darkest, that it is always darkest just before the dawn. It’s up to you to roll up your sleeves and do the work and push towards creating the results that you desire.

I’m going to leave you with this. Psalm 30 talks about, “Weeping may last for a night, but joy comes in the morning.” I believe that scripture and I love that scripture because whenever we go through these times, the joy is going to come in the morning. Also consider in the Bible references the morning as being the morning and the daylight when the sun comes up.

Also consider that we can do a little play on words here. We can look at that as well as the joy, our joy, our results can also come through the mourning. We’re going to spell mourning with an M-O-U-R-N-I-N-G, through our mourning, through our grieving. During this time when we’re like, “God, that hurts so bad. This deal went sideways. That partner screwed me over, whatever happened, blah, blah, blah, story, story, story, blah, blah, blah, when those times in your life and during that mourning, when you find yourself mourning, when you find yourself grieving, when you find yourself hurting in whatever area of life, consider that that my friend, let that trigger go off, flip that switch and recognize in your mind that right there in that moment is the opportunity for you to learn and grow. Extract the lesson from the feedback that you’ve received. Shift gears and go out and create the results that you truly desire in your life and in your business. That’s today’s message. I appreciate and love each and every one of you. With that, I am signing off.

The post Brant Phillips Show 4: Good is Bad. Bad is Good appeared first on Brant Phillips.

The Brant Phillips Show 3: “The Hungry Heart Hears Best”

(Intro)

Welcome to the Brant Phillips’ Show. This show is dedicated to results. Now, here’s Brant.

(Brant Phillips)

Welcome to the Brant Phillips’ Show where I am ruthlessly committed to helping you create results in all areas of your life and business.

Alright my friend, so let’s dive into today’s lesson. I’m calling this The Hungry Heart Hears Best. That’s right. The hungry heart hears best. I recently read that, I believe it’s in a Bill Johnson book I was reading; Dreaming with God was the name of the book. Listen to it on audible. I don’t remember all the full context around that statement, but whenever he said it, it just stuck up with me. I shut the book down and I thought about that for a little bit. About the hungry heart hears best.

Sometimes, when we are most desperate, that is when we are most open to considering new things to really looking at the results that we previously created and most likely being dissatisfied with those results and really being real, and raw and honest with what we have created. And this applies to any area of life and business.

Today’s subject certainly applies to all areas of your life and your business applies to the F4 which you know that is:

• Faith
• Family
• Fitness and
• Finances

So, later on that day, I was at the office and a friend of mine came in. I was discussing with him about a lot of really good things I have clicking in business and some really good opportunities and he was like, “Dude you’ve made it.”

I sit at my desk and he said, dude, you’ve made it, like you have made it. And immediately, my mind reacted like: “Hell No! Dude, I’m just getting started. I haven’t even gotten close to making it.” And then he was like, “Man, you’ve done this and that. You’ve got this going on. Like American dream kind of stuff.”

He’s younger than me. He’s like in his late 20s. And I was like, “Look man, consider that adopting that attitude or believing that mindset of that ‘you’ve made it’ is one of the greatest mistakes that we can make as an entrepreneur and for me, as a man of faith and as a husband and a father.”

For example, in our health and fitness, as soon as we reach a certain goal or some physical fitness achievement, once we say, “yeah! I’ve made it”, that is where the plateau begins, okay? That is where the plateau begins and then that plateau we know at some point in time is just going down. So that’s something that I’ve always just kind of had inside of me, is this mindset to keep grinding, not only just to keep grinding but just to get better. You know?

A lot of times we will celebrate a big victory in terms of a big FLIP or some business accomplishments. I’m not one to really celebrate because to me it’s like – “OK, what’s next like what is the next thing?” Because whenever we believe that thought that we’ve made it, guess what happens next? We’re going to get lazy. We’re going to get soft. We get complacent and all those things lead up to us losing the edge. Losing that edge, that killer instinct, that eye of the tiger – whatever you want to call it. God is there in the first place anyways.

Whenever we begin like, to pat ourselves on the back that “we’ve done it”, “We’ve made it”, “We did this, that or the other thing”, that is the beginning of our next defeat.

I’ve seen so many investors who come into the real estate game and they are successful on their first deal. BUT, this happens so often, when they come in – their second or third deal’s an absolute flop.

In sports, you’ll hear this referred to as a sophomore slump right? They have a great rookie season and then that’s a sophomore slump. So, a lot of times that’s attributed to just think of like “Oh I got this. This is easy. I did this last year.” And we get lazy, soft, and complacent. We lose our edge.

Another thing in the business world arena, what happens (I think it’s human nature) to want to have this mindset of thinking that you’ve made it but if you hold on to that – what’s going to happen is the market place, your competitors and things just in the market place, market conditions are going to change. They are going to shift because you’re not keeping that eye of the tiger and staying hungry and then you’re going to get slaughtered right? The pigs get slaughtered, that’s a fact and we see that all the time in business.

I have this internal mechanism. I guess you would call it, to trigger me to not get complacent. You know? Whenever I have that thought and I do want to have that thought sometimes. And I do want to rejoice for business successes I do. You know?

For example, I am about to celebrate my marriage with my wife. We’re actually going away today, to get away for a few days. But also knowing that if I’m going into the relationship with my wife, thinking “Oh we’ve made it. We’ve been married 14 years and we’ve made it.” Well, guess what? There’s still a lot of divorces that happen even after married for 14 years or just a lot of very unhappy marriages and that’s not what I desire in my marriage. I want to continually improve it, to level up the relationship, the connection and the experiences with my wife. So, that is why having this hungry heart, we are able not only to hear but able to create new experiences, goals in all areas of our life.

(Midro)

Hey, this is Brant and I hope you’re enjoying today’s show. You know, if you’re complacent in your life, in your business, in your real estate investing and you just feel stuck. Maybe you don’t know what actions to take next to get you unstuck or just on the path of creating results that you really desire. Please take on a few minutes to go to my website at brantphillips.com.

There’s some really valuable resources and information that may be able to help you out. And if you really wish to speed up results with the help of a coach or mentor and adding true accountability and guidance to your life and business, please reach out to me for my website. You’ll see a link at the top or by going to brantphillips.com/coaching.

(Continuation)

So, you know like I said, this mindset of having a hungry heart is going to affect every area of your life – spirituality, relationships, fitness and certainly business. You just have to consider to adopt this mindset that “you will never really make it”.

That’s my mindset which is like; I’m never really going to make it to a finish line where I can say “Oh, I made it!.” The reason for that is simply I am committed to a life-long pursuit to improve, level up, increase and expand what I’ve done before. In other words, I stay hungry. Like, stay thirsty my friend (the Dos Equis guy).

I’m here to ask you to consider staying hungry whenever you’re successful, stay hungry and immediately ask the question: “How can I level up? What can I do next?” to stay hungry, continually.

Stive to continually deepen your relationship with God. Look for ways to improve your marriage and relationship with your loved ones, with your children. Look for ways to feel better and perform better, eat better physically and always look for ways to increase your wealth, increase your income and improve the systems and the lifestyle that your business provides.

No matter what level of the game that you are at in any of these areas. Life as we know, and business as we know, as you hear me often say, – it’s just a game. It’s just a game. So, wherever you’re at in this game of life and business, consider there is always another level.

There is always another level and that you know? For those of you, type A – very aggressive, folks out there. That’s why the things that keep us striving because the game of life, the game of business is not a sprint my friends. This is a lifelong marathon. It is a commitment to constantly seek “making it” but not making it to the finish line but just making it to the next level. And making it to the next level, yes might celebrate for a day, an hour but then we need to roll up our sleeves and get right back to doing the work when we reached new levels.

So, I read one time and I can’t remember where, so I’m sorry I can’t give them the proper credit, but they had this rule where, whenever things went wrong, or they lost money on a deal or whatever, they had this rule. It was called the 20-minute rule. When things go bad, things go sideways; you lose money on a deal, you fight with somebody or whatever happens. This bad thing which I like to call “bad things, non-useful things” because really there’s no bad if you glean a lesson from that and if you learned a lesson from that experience, it isn’t really bad actually. it’s actually really good.

So, when these non-useful things happen in our life, they had this 20-minute rule. Where it was like, alright I’m going to bitch, moan, whine, cry, and sit in a corner, suck my thumb like a baby, punch holes in the wall or whatever you do to blow off stress – just let it out, like let it go. We need to vent like that right? But, it’s limited to 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, you’re doing nothing else, you’re done drifting and wasting time and playing the victim role and back to focusing on how do you prevent that ‘thing’ from happening again, how do you improve results, how do you move forward to get things done rather than sitting there- whining and crying.

So, I love that rule. It’s very hard to implement. It really is, especially when you lose money on a deal or you fight with your wife. It’s very hard to just say “alright, let’s just hash this out right now and be done.” And just be done really quickly, right?

Because we tend to like hold onto things, like “Oh my God! Why did this happen to me? Blah-blah-blah. Story-story-story. Victim-victim-victim. Blah-blah-blah.” Rather than just saying, “Okay. This happened. Let me vent.” I’m going to hit something, that’s why I have a punching bag in my garage and pull up bars in my office, because I like to vent physically. That’s very useful way to get rid of this thing.

The reason I am sharing that is that the lesson can be applied as well to this conversation. So, when we make it to a certain goal. Whenever you know? Something that we accomplished, it is useful to celebrate success but NOT to a point where we rest, where we get this egotistical type of attitude but rather celebrate it so that it encourages us and inspires us to go seek and reach that new level.

You know you hear me talk a lot about setting physical goals right? So, several years ago and I personally plateaued. I was somewhat soft, somewhat lazy and one day, when speaking to one of my coaches, we were talking about setting some new goals and he mentioned about an MMA guy who was fighting an MMA cage fight. The thought of that scared me and since that time, those of you may or may not know, I signed up to fight in an MMA fight. I fought in cage fight 90 days later and I proceeded to get my ass knocked out really very quickly (lol) but I felt alive again, like the adrenaline, the juices, the pursuit of a goal and my goal at that time was just to fight in an MMA cage fight.

Maybe I should have set my goal to win the fight or at least not getting knocked out, but the point is since that time I went on to run multiple half iron man’s, full iron man’s, go through Sealfit training with Navy Seals and do other things because I know that there’s always another level. And whenever I stop striving for that next level, that’s where I get complacent, that’s where I lose my edge and that’s where things begin to crumble and fall eventually if I stay on that path.

A couple of last things I want to share – my oldest son’s last football season was last week. He didn’t play a lot. It’s a team of 7-8th graders and he didn’t play a whole lot. Played a little bit, and you know, it was disappointing for him. He worked really hard and so anyways, the last game of the season was last week and after the game was over, we got in the truck, we’re riding home and I was like, “Hey bud, your first season of tackle football’s over. What are your thoughts about it? What are your memories? Things you want to take away for next year?” And he was like, “Dad I don’t really want to think about it like that”. He said, “I’m just thinking that this is the start of the new season. I’m going to start training because I’m going to play next year. I’m going to be a starter”. Something like that and I was just really proud of him. That attitude of “Yeah, what’s next?.”

And I’ve heard it also said by Mark Cuban. He said something to the extent of “work like there’s someone working against you 24 hours a day to take what you’ve built,” or what you’ve created. Wake up every day with a mindset of like, “Today, I need to go out make my first dollar. I got to go out and create new opportunities and perform new business or else I don’t eat.”

Once again we can apply that to staying hungry in every area of our life. Set new goals. Set new challenges where you feel that you’ve become complacent in your faith, in your family, in your fitness, in your finances. Where you feel like you’ve lost the edge. I encourage you to go out today. Set new goals. Set new challenges. Get off the sidelines if that’s where you’ve been sitting, and get away from the sidelines and go grind. Go out there and grind.

So, that’s all I have for you today my friends. Stay hungry. Stay hungry because the hungry heart hears best. That’s all I got. Signing off and encouraging you to go out and create results in your life and in your business.

(Outro)

You’ve been listening to the Brant Phillips’ show. To listen to past shows, get updates on future shows and find other resources or information about coaching, visit brantphillips.com.

The post The Brant Phillips Show 3: The Hungry Heart Hears Best appeared first on Brant Phillips.

Welcome everybody to The Brant Phillips Show. The show dedicated to helping you create results in your life and business. I promised you in the first podcast that I was going to tell you a little bit about my story. Tell you a little bit about my story. I’m going to do my best. I’m going to do my best my friends to only share information that’s pertinent to tell the story about who I am, why I am, and so that you can hopefully be able to gain some insights that you can use in your life and your business to create results.

I don’t know any other way to do this except to tell my story. Yes, I was born in the very early age as we all are. I’m going to start with the high school years. Actually no, I’m not. I’m going to go back a little bit. Now that I started in this, I wasn’t going to bore you with some details but I am. I grew up in the Dallas area, a little suburb outside of Dallas called Raleigh, Texas. At the time, it was a very rural kind of area. It’s not that way anymore. It’s pretty big. I had a great childhood. I played sports all-year long. I had some really good friends and we … Just a very solid middle income neighborhood, very healthy home life. It was really, really cool.

Then however, things changed a little bit. Around the time I was in middle school, it wasn’t around that time, it was that time. I was in sixth grade. It was a little bit before the Black Friday Fallout. Long story short, the industry my father was in which was tied and connected to oil and gas, my dad was just a high school graduate kind of guy. He had learned how to draft and draw. A guy took him under his wings and he was gainfully employed for a really long time, until 1986 came.

He eventually during this bust if you will, he lost his job for a long time, a couple of years he was without work. We eventually lost everything. We were broke. We had to move. We eventually even lost the house that we moved to. Our parents couldn’t pay the bills. We lost our home. Parents went into foreclosure, bankruptcy, the whole nine, and we eventually moved to Houston.

The only reason I’m sharing that story is because some of those things that happened way back then have affected who I am and why I am the person I am because of those things. Some of the “Pain” that was experienced and just really some of the things that I saw my parents going through and the look in their eyes I knew that I didn’t ever want to be in that situation that they were in. I certainly didn’t want my kids going through stuff that I went through. Granted, I know people have things and childhoods and a million times worse than that but that was my experience. It was difficult therefore, one. I’m like, “I want to create a life where I don’t go through that again.”

Let’s fast forward. Now I’m in high school. I’m going to be honest with you guys. I struggled in school. I had no plans or thoughts of going to college. I was just like, when I’m done with high school, I’m done. I was going to be done. I didn’t apply for college. I had no plans to go and parents couldn’t really afford it. I didn’t really want to take out a student loan to go pay to go to school. Although to me at the time, that thought was just ludicrous. Whatever, I managed to get through high school.

I remember the day after I graduated, I packed my bags and told my parents I was moving back to Dallas. I had one of my good buddies from high school. He wasn’t going to college. He was in the same boat, struggled just to get out. We were like, “Let’s figure something out. Figure out what we’re going to do.” We moved up to Dallas. We went and got this job working at a warehouse. It was rough. We were loading and unloading 18-wheeler trucks for about 10 to 12 hours a day at least. I was 18 years old at the time. I’m not going to lie, it was really grueling, grueling labor. Picking up and setting down boxes all day long, loading these trucks on Pallet Jacks. This was in the Dallas, Texas area so it was hot.

We did that for maybe five or six months and it sucked. It sucked, sucked really bad and was really hard. The good thing, and I’d have you guys consider a little tangent real quick, is that there really is no experience in your life that can be all bad if you are committed to finding the positive lesson from that. This was just one of my introductions into the world of positive focus and learning how to glean insights and things like takeaways that I can use from any situation.

Here is the deal. I just remember some of the older guys that were working. I’m not even saying like they were really old. Some of them were like mid to late 20s or 30s. There were some 40 and 50-year-old guys working in the warehouse. I just saw that there were guys there who were older than me. I was just looking into my future. I’m like, “I don’t want to keep doing this.” Some of these guys were friends. I was beginning to consider them friends. They were like, “Dude, get the hell out of here. What are you doing?” I’m like, “Yeah. You’re probably right. I need to,” I’d ask myself that question, “What in the hell am I doing?”

After that, soon after I decided, let me check out this college thing. Let me talk to my buddies and maybe it’s not so bad. I really had nothing else to do. I didn’t really have any direction at that time. I decided to go to college. I did. I went to a junior college. I didn’t take out the loans and that kind of stuff. I eventually got a criminal justice degree to become a police officer. The only thing that really excited me at that time was to be a police officer. I’m like, “That seems like a pretty cool gig. I think I can do that. I think I’d be pretty good at that.” That’s what I did.

I went to work at a police department after I graduated college and I enjoyed it. I really did. At least for the first five or six years. I worked for a couple of years in Dallas and moved back down here to Houston. I had a great time. I was single. I had a lot of buddies, a lot of good times, a lot of fun and got to do some really cool things in terms of my job.

I got promoted to sergeant. When I was in Houston, I worked in the medical center area which is one of the largest medical center areas of the world I believe, centers of the world and maybe the largest now. I’m not very sure on that. I used to run VIP details for celebrities and dignitaries and things like that. I used to work with the Secret Service a lot, do details for George Bush, for the governor of Texas and just a lot of cool people. I did details for Henry Kissinger. There were other celebrities, Lance Armstrong. There were some actors and actresses and Rick Perry the Governor, I think I mentioned that. Just helped to set up the Secret Service and security setup details, entrance, exits, things like that. It was cool.

Whenever things changed and those things did change. In my last couple of years, I got married and we had our first child. The police department got a new chief and there was a lot of politics going on. Things again began to really suck there for a while. This was where I was really getting my first wake up call to this life of really having a J-O-B. Because my first five or six years, yeah I had to show up at a certain time and it wasn’t true freedom, but I was single. I didn’t care if I had to work evening shift or late shift or holidays. I didn’t care. I was hanging out with my buddies and just doing whatever I wanted to do with my other time so I didn’t care.

Whenever I began to have a family and these politics started to come down the line that I didn’t agree with things and I could see where things were going. I had no control of my time. I was having extra mouths to feed so I was having to work a lot of overtime and different hours and night shifts and weekends, all that kind of stuff. That’s where it was beginning to be a tough pill to swallow. I’m like, “Wait a minute. Wait a minute here. This is not the life that I desire at all.” I wasn’t getting rich doing it.

I remember there was like a long period of time, like a long period of time, I was working evening shifts. I would go into work, I’m sorry like at noon or 1:00 and I would get off at around 10 o’clock at night if I was lucky, if I was lucky. A lot of nights I was going home later than that or I was working a double shift and staying all night long. If I got off on time, maybe I get home at like 11 o’clock at night. My wife would be asleep because she had to get up in the morning and go to work. She had to take our son to childcare because the daycare place that was over by where she worked at, which was on the complete opposite side of town where we lived and where I worked. She’d be asleep. I would get home and they’re asleep. I would wake up in the morning. She’d be hurrying up to get ready and leave. I’d be exhausted. I would most days get to say bye to them, my wife and my son, and they were gone.

She was a hairstylist. Hairstylists’ busiest days are typically Fridays and Saturdays. Those just happened to be my days off were Friday and Saturday. It was cool because I got to hang out with my son those days. My wife would come home and she was deadbeat exhausted. She’d been working all day on her feet. Here we are, like Friday and Saturday, not really seeing each other, not very connection time. On Sunday morning, I’m going back to work. We get to go to church in the morning then I’m like back at work. Other than that, Sunday morning being pretty cool, it sucked. That’s how it was. It was hard. That’s where I began. The seed was planted in my mind at that time. I was like, “I’m not going to do this forever. I’m not going to do this forever.” Then I mentioned there’s the income thing so I wasn’t getting rich doing it.

I had also seen my father and others that were living this J-O-B lifestyle where they’re just grinding it out in this very middle class life and just struggling or just discontent with life and not really ever getting ahead. Look, there’s nothing wrong with that first off. Let me just say that there’s honor and integrity and nobility even if you will in working a job and having a career and a lot of the life that the middle income, middle class lives. That it’s a great life comparatively least speaking to the rest of the world. I’m not talking down on anybody. I just want you to know that, especially not my father who I love and respect.

I just had to acknowledge that it wasn’t something that I desired. It wasn’t something that I desired but I was at a point where I didn’t know what to do. I knew I wanted to create a better lifestyle. Check, I knew that. I knew I wanted more money. Check, I got that. I knew I wanted it. I knew I wanted more freedom. All those things I knew that I wanted. I wanted freedom in what I did and I wanted freedom for my time. I damn sure wanted to make more money. I really wanted to make a lot more money.

What I was doing wasn’t getting it done obviously so not knowing what else to do, I didn’t have like a long-term plan. Often what happens is when we fail to plan, there’s someone else who’s going to be there and plan for us. If we fail to plan, someone else is going to be there to plan for us. If you’re at that place working at your job, you’re not committed to leaving or starting your own business, guess what? Your employers are creating a plan for your next five, 10, 20 years of your life in the ways that you’re going to help them increase their net worth and their freedom and their lifestyle by having you plugged in as a widget performing some type of little job there.

I fell into a trap of I began to have these thoughts, these seeds of thought about I wanted freedom. I wanted more money. I wanted to do something I enjoy but I didn’t know how to do it. I got to the point where the politics and lack of time with my wife and son had got the best of me. I got a corporate job. I got a corporate sales job because the grass is always greener on the other side. Saying that I got a sales job is not really shedding the proper light on what I was doing. The company I went to work for, yes, it was a Fortune 500 Company. It was a good company. It was a big company. It was a financially strong company.

My father-in-law worked at that company and helped me to get the interview. I don’t think he helped me get the job. Quite frankly, I think I did well in the interview. Anyways, I got the job. What I sold was I sold chemical cleaning chemicals, chemical cleaning chemicals, that sounds good, for the industrial services industry like hospitals, hotels, long-term care facilities, restaurants. I basically sold soap. Let’s just put it like that. I sold soap. When we sold soap, our customers got complimentary dispensers so they could use a bunch of our soap. I sold the stuff, which was cool.

When you sell stuff, you have to service it. That was the deal with this company. When you’re servicing things, you respond to calls. I would literally be wearing like nice clothes to work, nice shirt, ties, sometimes a suit and jacket and all that kind of stuff the whole nine.

Then I would have this lab coat thing in my car where I would have to throw that bad boy on and go install equipment and respond to calls. I’d literally be on a sales call appointment with somebody and then maybe half an hour later, I’d be underneath a dishwashing machine at a dirty restaurant on the ground with a wrench and screwdriver in my hand installing some piece of equipment or fixing something that’s broken. There’s like steam and water and like dirty dish machine with food dropping into my face. It really sucked when I wasn’t wearing my goggles. Not to mention it was like 110 degrees in the Texas heat, those hot Texas restaurant kitchens is like burning up. I’m sitting here wearing like a shirt, a tie, slacks, sometimes wool and a lab jacket. I’m just sweating my you know what off. It was not enjoyable my friends. It was not an enjoyable place to be.

I remember even the very first day I took this job, we had to go through all these meetings and corporate whatever indoctrination. I remember I got home and my wife was like all excited. Was like, “I’m so proud of you. This is going to be so exciting. You’re home at a reasonable hour, over the weekends and things like these. How was it?” Yada, yada, yada. I remember looking at her and just saying something to the effect of, “You know what, I absolutely hate it.” I said it in a positive way though. I said, “But look, here’s the thing. Don’t worry. I’m going to stay at this company. I’m going to do well. I’m going to do really, really well until I can find out what it is that I’m really going to do with my life because I can guarantee you that this is not for me and this corporate world was not for me.”

I knew right then and there that that was not going to be the life for me. At that point in time, I had to figure out what to do while still working my job, while still working my job. Like I said, having this job for some people, it’s not bad. I just knew that it wasn’t what I was called to do. I began having some thoughts, began having these thoughts into just beginning to consider deeper, really considering deeper what I was going to do.

The thoughts were different. When I first had the thoughts of, “Oh freedom. I’m going to do something that I enjoy and create life.” Yeah, it sounds really great but let’s be specific. When it came to the thoughts about specificity, I had none. The thoughts began to be different. It’s like, “I know I’m going to do something else.” I know I’m going to do something else. I didn’t know what it was. At that point in time, listening to me speak right now, I looking back, I was the average middle class white dude American. Like I mentioned, I was raised in the family in the lineage of just a bunch of middle class dudes and average folks. They were really good, down to earth people, blue collar hard working American people. That’s to a certain extent who then and now I see myself as.

Hey, this is Brant. I hope you’re enjoying today’s show. If you’re in a place in your life or your business where you just feel stuck or you don’t know what actions to take to help you get unstuck or on to the path to creating the results you truly desire, please take a few minutes and go to my website, brantphillips.com. There are some really valuable resources and information that may be able to help you out. If you’re interested in really speeding up results with the help of a coach or mentor and adding true accountability and guidance to your life and business, please reach out to me from my website as well at brantphillips.com or going directly to www.brantphillips.com/coaching. Now, let’s get back to the show.

I got to a point I didn’t want that anymore. I’m not talking negatively about anybody, but I did not want that for me. I wanted something better. I was just to the point I was pissed off. I was pissed off at the way that my life was. I was pissed off at what I was doing. I knew that this company wasn’t going to provide for me what I wanted. Really, the big question was that it was time for Brant to look in the mirror and just have this conversation with myself like heart-to-heart, man-to-man, eye-to-eye with myself. “What was I going to do to make a change? What was I going to do to do something different? Because if you keep doing what you’ve always done, you’re going to keep getting what you’ve always gotten.” I wanted different results. I wanted different results.

At that point in time, I didn’t have any business experience. I didn’t even know other people were really entrepreneurs. I certainly didn’t know real estate investors. Looking back at that, I lived in an apartment when I started working at that job and didn’t know anything about real estate, being an entrepreneur. What I did though from just beginning with those thoughts on my mind, just considering other possibilities, I just really held on to and believed, wholeheartedly believed even when I didn’t have a lot of facts to surround it with quite frankly. I just began to believe that I could do something big with my life. I could begin to create a lifestyle that I wanted. I could find a way to get rich. Those were some absurd thoughts coming from where I came from, my family had come from.

I began to grow this burning desire inside. I’ll tell you what, I’ve never been afraid to work and I’ve never been afraid to grind. That’s what I always wanted to do. This part of my life when I’m in my early 30s now and so I’m looking at I’ve been out of college for like 10 years. Quite frankly, my wife and I, we didn’t have anything, asset wise, to the point where we started a family. We’re paying off our credit cards. I did end up taking a small student loan when I was in college. My wife had a student loan. We’re doing the Dave Ramsey thing and paying that off. Just getting to a place where we could be debt free, the Dave Ramsey, “I’m debt free.”

I just look at it and I’m like, “All right, 10 years, this is where we’re at. 10 years and we have nothing, asset wise.” I’m like, “This does not look good for my future if I don’t make some drastic changes.” I wasn’t playing the victim or anything like that. I was just like, “This is not going to work. I want to have assets. I want to make money but I want to have fun. I want to do other things. I want to wake up every day and be excited with what I do.” That’s eventually, look at my life now. I write books, I do seminars. I have The Breakthrough at the Beach event and do private coaching with my students and help them to do the same things. I’m literally living the life that I really desired. Of course, what I desire is to motivate and educate others.

Going back to my story and how I got involved with real estate is a question you may be wondering about and it’s a question I get from time to time. Here’s what happened. I’m working this job and hating it, but I’m doing well. I’m finishing number one or number two every single year in sales. At that time, that equated to what? Like 50, $60,000 was my salary. We’re talking about the early 2000s, 2000 what? 2003/2004 at this point something like that. It was okay income I guess. We could pay the bills.

Around this time, my wife had a family reunion. My wife is an East Coast girl. She’s a Philly girl. She had a family reunion that we were going to go to. It’s out on the East Coast. We flew out to East Coast. She had told me about one of her family members. It was like some distant cousin or something like that. She didn’t even know him really well but she told me that he was an entrepreneur. She knew that he was mega wealthy and did some real estate stuff. That’s about all she knew.

I’m like, “All right. I’m going to find this dude and pick his brain because I was just hungry for information.” When the student is ready, the teacher appears my friends. I went to this reunion. I’m just like, “I’m going to meet this guy and see what’s up.” I met him. He wasn’t even there that long which sucked. We didn’t even talk that long. It was like a punch bowl kind of conversation. I remember we’re in this living room and at this house that we’re at and we’re just talking, trying to make small talk. I just start coming out a little bit blunt with him like, “Hey man, I hear you’re an entrepreneur in real estate, doing pretty well. I’m in the corporate world, not digging it too much. What advice would you have for someone who wants to start a business and leave this life that I have right now?”

He started telling me about real estate. He basically started telling me what I’m doing with you guys. He started telling me about his story and how he got started. He was probably in his mid-50s I guess at that time. He said that he started by investing in real estate, buying some rental properties. Eventually bought some apartment complexes and now he’s doing massive developments and stuff like that.

I’m like, “Dude that sounds incredible. It’s really hard for me to even see myself as a real estate investor. What should I do?” He was just like, “This is so just personal development turn it up kind of stuff.” He’s like, “You have to take action. You have to take your destiny in your own hands. You can do anything that you set your mind to.” It was just small talk like that. It’s something now that I’ve heard like a million times. I never really heard anybody speak to me that way where not that they were, sure I’d had heard people speak that way and like, “Oh, you can do it.” It wasn’t people who were also experiencing results.

He was saying these things to me but they had a weight with them, the words that he spoke. That started it for me on real estate. Like a million light bulbs began to go off on just real estate, real estate, real estate. There’s a million ways to make money in real estate. I’m like, “What do I do now?” I was like, “What am I going to do now?” I began to read books. I began to read books about real estate. That’s where it started. Really, just one or two books and I began to take action.

There was immediately a lot of things I loved about real estate. I think one of the biggest things for me was the real estate offered the ability to create something from nothing. Basically, I had no money at that time. Real estate provides this creative option to do deals with no money down. I know that they don’t all go that way, with doing no money down deals although most of ours do these days, but that opportunity existed, it was there. I was like, “This is for me because of its ability to just get out there. I could start hustling and putting deals together and have the opportunity or the ability to do zero down deals.” Even that that possibility existed, my mindset was just, “I’m going to find a way to make that happen.”

There was the ability to create passive investments. There were deals that month after month were going to put cash in my pocket. My tenants could pay a principal down. There was all these things, the ability of leverage. Leveraging money, leveraging time, leveraging knowledge, all these things that we could leverage in this business that began to just really excite me. This creating something from nothing. Of course, probably number one reason everyone is attracted to real estate is because you can get wealthy. I was like, “I could get rich. I could get wealthy. I could live the American dream. I could leave my job and invest and do things with houses. I love houses.” Everybody loves houses. Just so many aspects of the business resonated with me. That is where it all started, at the end of 2006.

I literally went to a real estate networking club January of 2007 and bought my first house before the end of that same month, in January of 2007. I bought my first deal with, I used a credit card believe it or not. One of the credit cards we had just finished paying off. I used a credit card to use as my down payment. I bought a total of 10 houses 2007. I bought 10 more in 2008. Soon thereafter began putting partnerships, raising private money and all those types of things. I had about 25, got about 25 rental properties at the beginning of 2009. That’s when I quit my job. I have been blowing and going since 2007 when I bought that first deal and still buy rental properties today. We flip more than we rent. That’s all depends on a market. It depends on a market. We’re going to take whatever opportunity that each market gives us.

Today, what do we do? We have a construction company that I started in 2009 that specializes in investment property construction. We do new construction development meaning we’re building new homes and selling those. Of course, I do coaching and teaching, mentoring live events and things like that, Breakthrough at the Beach.

Here’s the deal. I just feel called to motivate and educate others man. Inspire and equip others to create results in business but also really equip them with things that they need to go out and create success in life as well because, I don’t want you to become what I became. What did I become? I became what I would call myself as a one-dimensional douchebag quite frankly. I’m sorry if that’s offensive to some but that’s what I was. I got on this path where I just got really focused on making money. Really bottomed out in terms of my marriage, my relationship with God. I was drinking way more than I should have. That was getting to a really dark place.

Long story short, I didn’t want that to be who I was. Really, it was who I was seeing a lot of the people that I was involved with in business. Even coaching because I was doing real estate coaching at that time. I’m like, “This is a pretty common thing where people are focused on making money. Money is going to solve everything. They find out it’s not. Unfortunately, at that point in time when they find out it’s not all sunshine and rainbows when you’re just focused on making money because you are really neglecting these other areas of your life. It’s really dark and it’s really ugly, and it’s really messy.

Look, if you only get one thing from me, listen to this podcast, you never listen again, that’s cool, but just consider, there is so much more to life than just making money. There is so much more to life than just making money. When I was down, the path I went on was putting it all back together. I knew that I was going to continue to do business and make money but I was like, “How can I make money, generate the income and the net worth that I want and make a lot of money? But also incorporate those four pillars, the four that I mentioned on the first show, faith, family, fitness and finances? How could I intertwine and incorporate all these things to do?” Because the financial part of my life was doing really well.

Like I said, those are the four legs of a table, the four pillars. I had this really strong financial leg and it’s well-built. At the same time, I was so disconnected in the other areas of my life. I don’t care how strongly you build one leg of your table. I’ve seen dudes who are in great shape and that’s about it. There is not much depth there when you talk, talk, start talking to them about spiritual things and they’re broke and their relationships suck. Guys who are really well-to-do financially, they may think like that’s a security. If you’re broken spiritually, you’re just hollow on one side. I don’t care. If your marriage is on the rocks or you get divorced and your children don’t want anything to do with you when you get older, I don’t care.

This is often how many times that men will lose it all. We talk about or I will talk about in my podcasts about a have it all kind of lifestyle. Having it all, not just the money, all areas being connected in your faith, family, your fitness and your finances, having it all. The path of being the one-dimensional dude, we just make a lot of money, that is often times the path of losing it all because all that you have is money. That’s when guys fall into affairs, sedation with drugs and alcohol and they end up losing it all because they didn’t take the time to invest in those other areas of life.

That was really just what I came to the realization of and really what I want this podcast to be about is my path. I’m putting it back together but helping you out there. You may be struggling in one or more areas of your life and business but I’m here to encourage and to impress upon you that when you begin committed to creating results and taking the actions that are correlated with creating the results that you desire that you can have this have it all life, this have it all life. It doesn’t mean you’re going to be a millionaire tomorrow. It doesn’t mean that you’ll ever be a millionaire. It just means that you can daily make a commitment and invest and strengthen and improve all areas of your faith, family, fitness and your financial situation.

When you begin to do that, when you do what I essentially did and I chose, my wife was leaving me. She was on the brink at least. My mother-in-law, other people were telling her, “Leave Brant. You need to get out.” It was the bottom. It was a dark place. When I was there, I chose to fight. I chose to fight.

I’ll tell you and this is part of the entrepreneur type of mindset is when your back is against the wall, when your back is against the wall, you need to be wired and create the mindset that you’re coming out swinging. That you’re coming out swinging. You’re not going to stay there long. I chose to fight. I chose to fight for my marriage. I chose to fight for my relationship with God, find a new connection and reestablish what my purpose really was and what my calling on this earth really is. I began to realize that I was made for a lot other things than just making money. I want to help serve. I want to help lead. I want to help follow from others.

I want what this podcast is about. I want to share my message with the world in hopes of inspiring others and equipping others. Even if it’s just one, maybe it’s just you, to consider you can be more. You can do more no matter where you’re at with your life and with your business that you have choices. You and only you my friend can change your reality. You and only you my friend can change your destiny if you would just take time to consider those thoughts. That those same things and possibilities that I told you about that I began to consider, that they exist for you as well, if you will first make that commitment and then begin to take action. It’s all about taking actions in order to create results.

For me, coming from that place of darkness, I simply made a choice. I made a choice to fight. I made a choice to be committed to living a life that was not one-sided, not being that one-dimensional dude that I talked about, just making money but rather to live by this code. This code that I call the F4. Go out and create results. Go out and create results. That’s it.

That is my story my friends. That is what this podcast is about. I would love for you to continue to listen, take a few minutes out of your day. Some shows will be shorter than this, some will be longer. I don’t really know. This is a new venture for me. One thing I know is that I love and appreciate each and every one of you. I appreciate you listening to the show. Until next time, I look forward to helping you create results in your life and your business.

The post Brant Phillips Show Podcast 2: My Story appeared first on Brant Phillips.

Brant Phillips’ Show

001: Start here for Results

(Voice Over) Welcome to the Brant Phillips’ show the show dedicated to results! Now here’s Brant.

(Brant Phillips) Hey, welcome everybody to the Brant Phillips’ Show. And yes I am Brant Phillips and yes this is the initial Brant Phillips’ Show, podcast and yes this show is all about results!

So, I want to welcome everybody for joining this initial podcast and here’s what I’m going to do for you, I know some of you may know me and, some of you may not, so I’ m just going to let you know a little bit about myself, my story and how I’ve got to be where I’m at in life right now. The sole purpose of telling me who I am and, what I’ m about why I’m doing this podcast today is, I want to ethically bribe you if you will to listen future podcast and shows but also I want you to know that I’ve made my life’s mission to motivate, educate, inspire and, equip others to go out and create results in life and business. So that’s who I am, that’s what I am all about.A little bit about myself, I am a Texas boy born and raised in Texas markit and spend a lot of time in Dallas, Houston and, also lived in Austin and, Huntsville and, just all over the state.

Those of you who don’t really know me, if you were to Google my name and you want to get to know me that way you will probably see me come up as a Real Estate Investor and, real estate, single family home, house flipper,rental properties, I do some coaching and mentoring, writing some books and stuff like that that’s, probably my biggest claim to fame. I love to flip houses and, I also have a construction business. I have a property management company and we do some development, new home construction, things like that, that’s how a lot of people know me. And that’s most likely why you are listening to this show and perhaps if you just stumbled upon and learn about me from reading a book or something like that most likely it was real estate because it is the biggest part of what I do.

Bigger than that, I don’t see myself as a Real Estate Investor, I see myself as an Entrepreneur, but more importantly than that I see myself as a husband, a father, a friend and a mentor. I’m not in the business in sense of just making money; although I love making money and helping people make money. I’ll talk about thatin a little bit, there is a deeper aspect of just making money that if that isn’t squared away in your life like that money is really fulfilling and, I look at myself on all these choice.We’re spiritual being created by God right? And you know that we’re here to, and this is for me I like to perform the will the thing I feel that God has placed in my heart and part of what I do is to have it a really what I am called to do for feel like I am going to do is create a big impact on the world. To really motivate and educate others, inspire and equip others to go and, take action to improve not just financial area of your life, not to just increase your net worth, and flip houses, and all real estate property things like that.Like I mentioned earlier is to really incorporate those other areas into your life and to your business and that’s this podcast is going to be about. Yes, we’re going to talk about real estate and I am going to give you lots of insights to get your business going as an entrepreneur or real estate entrepreneur, just a small business owner, multiple business are really like to you know tackle types of aspects of business but once again all-time this things back to the core aspects of life that I’ll be discussing in this show and future show something that I called F4.

F4 is a code that I live by, a lot of my students live by, which surrounds basically the four core area of our life.The four core areas of our life which is/are surround are:

1. Faith
2. Family
3. Fitness (Which is I will incorporate all of our health and fitness.)
4. Finances

Those are the four pillars of your will, and one of the things that it’s just how I operate my life is based on this code of the F4. Because I truly believe that whenever one of these pillars, one of these legs of this table of life are not in order, or they’re not there or they are not in alignment with the others, something’s going to be missing, something’s going to be aloft and that table is eventually going to fall, it’s going to be very unstable.Some of you more unstable the most if you are living that life of a one dimensional douche bag and, how you’re out trying to do is make money well that table’s going to fall my fall my friend. I encourage you to begin consider to begin looking ways you can incorporate these areas of the F4.Faith, family, fitness, and some finances to all areas of our life the really cool thing that I discovered a long line journeys as an entrepreneur and really quite frankly is my journey back from hitting the bottom,also error quotes, quote, unquote made it. You see who you are spiritually, and who you are in your relationship with your loved ones and those connections. When there is daily connection on those relationships and you’re experiencing love and joy a deep connection relationships you’re going to grow more focused and more clearer on your life. What is your motivating factor?Why is it that you are pushing hard to the business? When you begin to take control of things, and your health and fitness for example, you’re eating habits, establishing some productive useful work out routines.When you begin to experience power of your will in these other ways of life, guess what, it’s magic.My experience has been you will make more money, because when you come showing up in the business world and the real estate arena, orwhatever area of business that you’re in you just come in more focused you come in more connected and able to perform and create results and that’s what I am all about, and that’s what this podcast is all about. All about results, creating the right results that you’re truly seeking in your life and also creating those results in your bank account in the bottom line because it matters not my friend, it matters not my friends. What your bank is if your life order is chaos and vice versa. You may be in great shape, you’ve got the six pack abs, and you got the things squared awaybut if you’re broke and you’re not making in any business it matters not my friends, it matters not my friends.

My goal is that for you to comeback for future shows, if there’s something in this message already resonating with you and you are truly seeking to improve things in your life and in business I want you to come back because my students and those who attended breakthrough at the beach.When they put it together and they see that these areas, these four pillars of the F4, they’re not separate. They may look separate but we begin to find that they’re so intertwine together and the more that we are pushing all of those areas and we’re able to push them and increase them and approve them all at the same time each and every day the greater the result in the impact financial is going to be in your bank account, but you’re growing your bank account in a way that is sustainable with the other areas of life and this is essentially the message of having it all not just going down that path where you’ve got to work to become a millionaire and make all these money only define that the end of that road that you’re divorced, your kids can’t stay in you, you’re on path to have a heart attack, your overweight, you’re out of shape, and that’s just not necessary. Because, you can you can go down on this path of being an entrepreneur, real estate investor, whatever it is that is in your heart, what areas in business that you get excited about making money that you can. You can create those business results without sacrificing the things in your life, and this boils down to commitment.

Everything starts with the commitment right? Start with just the commitment say I am committed to improve these areas of my life,say I am committed to improve these areas of my business, and then taking the simple steps every day. You can call these investment, you can call these actions, you know we’re talking about your health and fitness you’regoing to say I’m going to work out fifteen minutes a day and it may be simple as that and may just start with that and you test that with the results that you are getting.It may just be, you know, I’m going to tell my spouse that I love them every day, or justdo something I’m going to send a text, maybe buy them some flowers, or a card, or sticky note and you just make a daily investment into those areas of your life, but that commitment with your eye on one thing, with your eye on the result what do you want those four areas of your life to look like, and what are you committed to do to create those results. That’s what these F4 is all about, that’s what this show is all about and we’re just going to dive in a little to my story on this podcast but you know what that is going to be the focus of podcast number two.

So, once again thank you for listening to the show my friends and I look forward to helping you create results in your life and business

(Voice Over) You’ve been listening to the Brant Phillip’s show. To listen to the past shows, get updates on future shows and find other resources or information about coaching. Visit brantphillips.com.

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