Ep. #22 - What's Your Why?

Its a basic but critically important question, the answer for which is often not a point of focus... "What's Your Why?

If you're like most people, you get up and go to work every day (with prep and travel time), devoting over 1/3rd of your day to your job - which is likely benefiting someone else more than yourself (your boss or the company or the government). Why do you do it? Sure, to pay your bills, to provide for your family - but is there nothing more?

A quote from Simon Sinek...

“If we want to feel an undying passion for our work, if we want to feel we are contributing to something bigger than ourselves, we all need to know our WHY.”

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Intro...

Welcome to Episode #22 - What's Your Why?

This will be one of my shorter episodes, as I just want to get you thinking along the lines of WHY. Or if not WHY, then maybe WHO? WHAT? WHERE? WHEN? HOW?

If you have no critical reason behind what you do, then you won't likely do it; or you certainly won't do it well and stick with it until you succeed. What even is success? Where is the finish line if you've not even defined the race? Instead, your likely to quit as soon as it gets hard - when you don't know WHY your even doing it.

Having a big why is a MUST, because most overnight successes take decades - and occur only after multiple failures. Why would you keep going through all that and for that long, unless you have a WHY that is strong. And / or your WHO is worth it. The WHAT is amazing. The WHERE is breath taking. The WHEN is before you give up. And the HOW is something you can envision. So what's your WHY?

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I started my first company back in 1996. It changed and morphed into many things before it became something that could sustain my financial needs by 2002 - when I quit my job and went full force into entrepreneurship. Back then my WHY was because I HATED BEING AN EMPLOYEE (checkout my blog post on that). I was single with no children, so the WHO was ME, and there was no consideration of WHAT, WHERE or WHEN. I just knew that it could not happen soon enough that I would become self-employed. And I knew the HOW was to be some sort of business that I would own.

I later got married and later still became a father, so my WHY and WHO changed. And I had come to realize that for me, life was all about experiences. So I did a lot of traveling with my wife and later with my son. My son has been on something like 5 or 6 cruises and he's only 11 (I didn't go on my first cruise until I was an adult) - and my wife and I had been on so many prior to his being born, that we cannot even recall the total number. And when not cruising, we'd fly directly to a desired destination.

We've gone somewhere on a trip every 3 to 6 months from the start of our 19 year marriage. So one aspect of my WHY I work so hard is to go every WHERE we can to have great experiences. And I'm glad we've done this all along, instead of waiting until we were more financially secure and thus older - as my wife and I already can't do some things we could easily do when we were younger. Wait too long to start enjoying life and you may find its over before you've had any fun.

In fact, if you are listening to this episode within a week or two of when it was posted, my wife and I are in either Dubai or Egypt right now (in the hot desert in the middle of Summer - so i'll let you know upon return if that was a good idea or not). But it was a largely FREE trip! I'll also let you know how I pulled that off in another episode about how to stack credit card points. So travel and experiences are one of the things I work hard to be able to afford. Frequent travel to all the beautiful places in this world (often with good friends and family) and amazing experiences are a major part of my WHY.

And just before we left on this trip, I got an unfinished Lake House under contract for purchase. For as long as I can remember thinking about where I'd ideally like to live - it has always been on a large lake with an acre or two of land right on the water. I've always wanted a waterfront house on a lake with amazing views, a boat house / dock for my boat and jet ski - maybe a pool and hot-tub. And my wife and son want the same. Well, it has taken me 23 years (maybe 24 by the time I close on it, get it completed and we're moved in). Living in my ideal house at my desired location, with the lifestyle that I want, has been for a long time a major part of my WHY, also WHAT and WHERE for that matter. What's yours?

Most people don’t get everything they want out of life as a teenager. You’re not usually going to have it in your twenties, or thirties. You might have to be forty or fifty years old before you really get the things that you’ve always wanted for your entire life. But you need to be able to identify those things so that you can put a plan in place to make it happen as soon as possible. And then, if you’re anything like me, you can be a twenty four year overnight success. But you need to know what your ‘WHY’ is, and you need to know how you’re going to make that ‘WHY’ a reality, and you have to put a plan in place to make it happen.

Is there a WHO, a WHAT, a WHERE - that makes up your WHY? Do you know HOW? And if it takes you 24 years as it has in part for me, can you preserver until that WHEN?

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Can you preserver? While I still work very hard today, its far different than it was 10 years ago, when 16 hour days were normal for me - (before I got into Real Estate) as I struggled to survive in a B2B (Web Hosting Service) business during the "Great Recession" where many of my biggest customers themselves went out of business. Those were some hard years. Is your WHY strong enough to get you through that sort of thing? And like I said, because of how I view life, I still traveled even during those 2 years (2009 - 2010) where business was very tight.

But it actually turned out to be a good thing for me and for the business (you know, "whatever doesn't kill you") - as 2011 was my best year by far up to that point. The prior two years forced me to greatly lowered my expenses. So when the income increased again, I was more profitable than ever. I also learned things that allowed me to increase income, which is why that business (ViUX.com) is still around making money for me today. But if your WHY is not big enough, would you even be able to take anything positive from a major setback in your plan?

And speaking of ViUX... If you're in need of a new Website or Hosting of your existing Business Website - visit V-i-U-X.com - and see what we can do for you and your business. Domain Names, SSL Certificates, Websites, Website and Email Hosting. All the services you need to have a highly successful business Website - that's what ViUX provides at the Website ViUX.com.

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And so going forward into my future, as I complete more interesting travels with my wife and son - returning to what will soon be our waterfront lake house after each. That won't be the end of my big WHY. I want to help others achieve their WHY in less time than it took me, so that is in part why I started the [... and Landlord] Podcast.

I got into Real Estate Investing because I don't want to have to work forever. I'll want to have a large portfolio of cash-flow positive rental properties and cash generating businesses that I don't have to work in myself - and I want to help others do the same. I've also got lots of business experience and advice I can share to make that possible.

To that end, I'll soon make myself available for a few FREE 30 minutes calls each week; where you can get on my schedule to discuss anything I might have insight into that can help you to achieve your WHY in record time.

With going on 5 years of Real Estate Investing experience... I'm a Licensed Real Estate Broker / Realtor; Property Manager; I've done wholesale deals and flips; I'm an experienced rehabber even up to serious foundation and fire damage - turning distressed properties into great rental homes. I'm even starting with new build construction. I know how to raise money and get deals funded. I've got over 23 years of general business experience; and I've got a tech business that can aid with just about the most important tool for anything today - the Internet. So not to go on about myself, but I think I've got the background, experience and knowledge to be of aid to just about anyone seeking to achieve their goals in Business and Real Estate - and I want to help you do so (starting as soon as I get back from Dubai and Egypt).

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Anyway, that's it for now... I'm likely floating down the Nile river at the time this episode posts, and I'll let you know how it went. But since I'm several episodes ahead, that will not likely be until next month. Until then, if you don't already know your BIG WHY, come up with something that you can be passionate about. And write it down. Make sure that you see and read it each day. Keep it on the forefront of your mind and the focus of your actions both short and long term. You'll get there, and if I can be of any aid in that process, its a part of my BIG WHY to do so.

I'll continue further into this on next week's Episode - #23 - Do You Have The Right: Mindset; Attitude; Vision; Passion?