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With the election only a few days away, I gotta tell you I can’t wait.  Not that I’ve got this political agenda to promote.  I am worn out listening to an endless barrage of commercials on TV and the radio.  It’s amazing how one candidate will talk about the other being some sort of scoundrel and the very next commercial is that same scoundrel talking about what a sneaky weasel the opponent has been during his life.  The part I find offensive is these ads happen whether it is for president or the local dog catcher.  If I vote according to each others ads, I wouldn’t vote for anyone because they are all sneaky , crazed, secret agenda, tax raising, program cutting, job cutting, lobbyist loving, cheating, big spending, non God fearing low life’s.  I don’t want to hear the words: Change, Hope, Maverick, or Earmarks ever again.

What happened to: this is a great country and together we can make it even greater.  Please don’t pound me in the ground with how terrible things are in our country or that “rat” who is my opponent.  I take offense at bad mouthing our country.  Okay, it’s not Disneyland for any of us and we have to put forth effort.  The cool part is; if you put forth that effort you stand a good chance of succeeding.  Nowhere does it say you are guaranteed success.  You are guaranteed the right to take a shot at success.  If you fail, too bad, now pick yourself up and try again.  The next time, you’ll be wiser for the learning involved in the failure.  I understand Abraham Lincoln went broke and failed many times on his way to the White House.  Walt Disney went broke 8, that’s right 8 times before getting Disneyland going.  I sort of went off on a tangent.  Oops. 

I guess my rant is due to an overdose of negative campaigning ads.  I used to listen to “talk radio” and the news stations during the day.  I would get so bummed out from all the negative stuff, it was affecting my attitude.  I have switched to sports radio (that’s pretty depressing here in Kansas City, the Chiefs are currently 1 and 7) or self improvement CD’s to help me keep a positive mindset.

What does any of this have to do with real estate investing?  Don’t get bogged down in the negative quagmire.  There are TREMENDOUS opportunities in real estate right now.  Get educated so you don’t make costly mistakes.  Plug into real estate investing groups and engage in the process.  It’s not all in the books.  It’s a good place to start, but get a mentor, a buddy system, someone to “bounce” ideas off.  Check out the information in the following link and know it’s a process. Real Investment Mentorship & Coaching  When you went to school, they didn’t give you a diploma the day you enrolled.  You had to study, prepare and practice.  There were other students doing the same thing and you had to compete against them and yourself to get that grade.  Think of real estate training as a school for real life stuff.  Sometimes you get an “A” sometimes you get an “F”.  In real life you don’t get a certificate for participating.  You either succeed or fail.  There is learning in both outcomes.  The point is, TAKE ACTION!  If someone confronted you and told you to move or they would smack you with a stick, you would move quickly or suffer the consequences.  You may not know exactly where to move too, but you would take action immediately and then assess later.  Welcome to life.  Move, or I’m gonna smack you with a stick.  Take Action!  Do something.  Learn something.

I’m Gary Hard, and I approved this message. (couldn’t help it)

As always, your comments are welcome.  Remember, engage!

I am a fortunate guy. You could say truly blessed. I have my health, a loving wife, grown kids who have turned out well and contribute to society. Package all of that along with my incredible good looks and my huge amount of modesty and life is pretty good. My English professor used to write BS on all my papers. He said it stood for “be specific”. I wonder what he meant by that?  Oh well.  Another cool thing is, I run across extraordinary people on a daily basis. Everyone has unique qualities and abilities, the challenge is having them see in themselves that great quality. We humans are funny. It’s much easier to see greatness in others than it is in ourselves. Often times you can see tremendous qualities in someone during their most trying times.  Here is an appropriate phrase; ”there is no testimony without a test”.
I see budding real estate entrepreneurs struggling with different situations. Sometimes things can be overwhelming for them. Some go berserk, some shut down, others plod through and still others find a mentor. All these options work but only one accelerates the learning curve. Can you guess which one? You are so smart!  Real Investment Mentorship & Coaching  Even Tiger Woods has a coach.

Here are some cogent thoughts from a somewhat newbie real estate investor who got kicked around a little while learning how to do deals.  (I’ve been doing this for 12 years, sometimes I dance with the gorilla and sometimes it dances with me.)

The author is Mr Rob Velasquez.  He offers this sage advice:

1. Consistent action beats inconsistency every time.  Be a “Con Man”, Con-sistent, Con-gruent, Con-fident.

2. Plan out every week and every day ahead of time on paper.  Plan your work and work your plan.

3. Focus doesn’t just mean bringing attention to something; it also means removing attention from everything else.  Become a master of your trade.  Get rich in your niche.  Be the “go to” person in your field.  General knowledge is only good on game shows.

4. Whenever you think about a situation you’re in and it makes your gut hurt….just do it (Nike would be proud).  Whatever that “thing” is, it is NEVER as bad as you make it out to be.  Action is the great fear killer.

5. I now know what it feels like to have your nose bloodied.  I don’t like it, but I’m not afraid of it anymore either.  In order to have your nose bloodied, you must engage and take action.  No one ever got hurt while sitting in the stands, nor did they feel the glory of victory while in those same stands.

6. Most of my mistakes are due to not doing what I knew I should have been doing in the first place.  Why do we resist the very thing we know needs to be done?  Old habits and fear don’t go away easily.

7. When things are wobbly, step back to regroup, refocus and make changes necessary to strengthen your foundation.  Weak foundation, weak resolve.

8. If you don’t address a particular characteristic about yourself you will ultimately face that challenge again and again until you learn the lesson and make the change.  Nothing changes until you do.

9. Don’t skip any of the steps……shortcuts are hazardous paths back to the beginning.

I thought his words were insightful and inspirational.  Hope you did too.  As always, please leave comments.

What kind of dumb question is that?  Of course I would.  Okay, what if there was a chance you could lose?  Would you still do it?  That depends.  What are my odds?  Let’s say 50/50.  Would you take the chance?  I’m still not sure.  All of us are faced with 50/50 situations on a daily basis.  Typically, we don’t think of them as costing us money but in a way, they do.  Where you are right now in life, is a culmination of all your previous decisions.  Looking back you think perhaps I would have done some things differently.  I often ask the following question.  As you look back on your life what causes you more angst (that means grief).  The things you did or the things you wished you had done?   Without exception, it’s always things I should have done or wished I’d done.

Seize the day today (Carpe somethin or nother).  Take the plunge, that leap of faith, trust your instincts.  With that being said, you wouldn’t jump into a NASCAR race car or perhaps jump out of a plane without first getting some training and guidance.  Otherwise you will probably end up seriously dead.  Then why would you think you can jump into stock market trading or real estate investing without training?  By all means seize the day, but let that be your launching platform for getting some training and mentorship.  A mentor will save you time and money.  Seize the day, get excited, get energized and seek professional guidance to help you excel at your new excited passion.  All true successes trained and studied in their particular trade or craft.  The person who scaled Mt Everest didn’t just walk up there by himself without training or a team.  I believe the phrase is; “if you think education is expensive, try stupidity”.  I know how to change the oil and filter on my van (I personally don’t do it because I loose money doing little stuff instead of concentrating on doing house deals that make me much more money than a $24.95 oil change).  If I have a bigger mechanical problem I refer to someone who has specific training to do the job.  The same goes for real estate.  Spend some money on basic training and then get guidance or mentorship on how to do other types of deals.  You will also begin building that “team” to help you scale the taller mountains.  Have you noticed I mix metaphors back and forth and tend too wander in my thoughts?  To which I reply.  So?

Back to the original premise.  Would you invest in real estate if you knew you wouldn’t loose?  Make the odds swing HEAVILY in your favor.  Nothing is a lock.  That’s why it’s called investing.  The bigger the risk the greater the reward.  Improve your chances, your “odds” through training.  Check out Real Investment Mentorship & Coaching.  This stuff is rock solid and very affordable.  The more you know and TAKE ACTION on, the closer you will be to that “sure thing”.  Check out the site and give me some feed back.

With today’s economic climate bouncing around it’s time to take some drastic action.  I’m not an overly violent person, but I’ve had enough.  The time has come for all to do this deadly deed.  We have all been overwhelmed by two particular culprits.  You see them everywhere now days and you can’t get away from them.  I’m here to tell you right now, get rid of both of them.  Do what must be done for yourself and the good of the country.  Neither one of them can be allowed any kind of power or you will surely be doomed.  That’s right, eliminate both of them.                Mr. Indecision and Mr. Procrastination will absolutely destroy you.  What?  Who did you think I was talking about? 

In his famous book, “Think and Grow Rich”, Napoleon Hill professed killing off this pair before they hog-tie you to the treadmill of failure.  Life can be a struggle or a walk in the park.  I have days that have both elements in them and you know what?  Often times it depends on whether I’m acting or reacting to something.  Many of us go through life as failures because we are waiting for the “time to be right” to do something worthwhile.  “Someday” is not a day of the week and you will not find it in your day planner.  Don’t wait, because the time will never be right.  I’ve said it before; “use your backbone more than your wishbone and your life will go much more smoothly”.  Start where you are, take that first step and the next step will be revealed.

In today’s turbulent economic times it’s easy to be overwhelmed and become fearful.  Be bold, be a pioneer, be an entrepreneur.  If you wait, you will get what is left over.  Don’t run out all will nilly either.  Get some training, talk to successful people and find out what they are thinking.  Approach a successful person and offer to buy them lunch and be in the presence of success.  It will rub off on you.  Invest in training and learn a skill.  It doesn’t matter whether it’s a physical skill or a mental skill.  The way to improve that skill is to go out and DO SOMETHING.  Think back to the first time you rode a bicycle or drove a stick shift car.  My guess is, you did poorly but you kept practicing until today, you can do either with great ease.  Doing a deal on a house is kind of like that.  You are very nervous and apprehensive at first, but you stick with it and you get better.  Get someone to be your coach or your personal “set of training wheels”.  Here’s something I highly recommend as far as training and coaching.  Real Investment Mentorship & Coaching  If you want the best training for the money, this is hands down the best.  Check out the programs and levels of mentorship.  It’s all good.

Here’s another tip.  Don’t watch TV for 30 days or at least don’t watch the news.  No one needs that much negative reenforcement.  I don’t care which station you watch regarding how it’s slanted, conservative or liberal, it’s all depressing.  Stay away from the rabbit hole, keep your head on straight.

This week has been an eventful week.  A $700 billion bailout was proposed and then voted down as being too expensive, too wasteful and a drain on the American taxpayer.  I know!  Let’s make it $850 billion.  Yea that’s the ticket.  I thought Congress was being prudent in rejecting the $700 billion.  Silly me.  It was rejected because it wasn’t big enough.

I’m still “iffy” on a solution.  My philosophy has been, if I don’t have a clear alternative to the problem, I don’t offer an opinion.  Anyone can complain about a situation and often times others pile on without the first glimpse of a viable solution.  I won’t get into politics on this website, however Barack Obama (he’s not my guy) gave a good analogy of the situation.  He said and I paraphrase:  If your neighbor’s house is on fire, you don’t wait to find out why before you start to put the fire out.  If you wait too long, it could move to your house.  You can’t say: “well you know he did smoke in bed so it serves him right”.  I don’t know if I did it justice but I liked it.  With that being said, I don’t have a warm fuzzy feeling on this bailout but I don’t have a happy easy answer other than I am very leery of the government being in charge of that much of “my money”.  I don’t want to get into a repeat of last weeks comments (even if they were poignant and on target).

Back to this half full, half empty question.  My thoughts are…………..1/2 FULL.  I have been accused of being an optimist to the nth degree.  I must admit, if you put me in a room full of manure, I’m going to be digging around looking for a pony.  My neighbor, who lives in a big house on the lake and has done quite well financially, told me yesterday that my glass was always 1/2 full.  I took it as a complement.  My neighbor is a real nice guy, but he said he sees things half empty.  Neither one of us is better than the other, however I can’t look negatively at things or I will spiral downward quickly.  If you look for the good in people and situations, that’s exactly what you will find.  Conversely, if you look for negative stuff you sure will find it in abundance.  HAPPINESS IS AN INSIDE JOB!

As this economy bounces around, find a way to adapt to situations.  That’s why I dig real estate so much, there are an infinite number of ways to put deals together so everybody wins.  Does that mean I have never had a deal go bad or lost money on a transaction?  Of course not!  Anyone who tells you they’ve never come up short on a deal either hasn’t done a deal or they are blowing smoke in your face.  The best way to avoid getting yourself in the “trick bag” is to get educated.  I marvel at people who go to all the free introduction seminars on real estate and never invest any money to learn a subject at depth.  You don’t need to fling $40,000 dollars into your training initially either.  You may choose to spend that as time goes by.  Think of it as a doctor who graduates after ”investing” a lot of money on his training.  As he “practices” he decides to specialize in a particular field.  He invests more money to get advanced training and skill.  Spend a little (little is relative) money for some real estate training and as you develop skills, spend some more to learn a niche at depth.  Here’s my pitch on a particular “brand” of training.  Check out www.ETRRF.networthusa.com.  This material is rock solid, no fluff and there is mentoring that goes along with it.  Hand holding till the check is in your hand.

With your glass 1/2 full you have the positive outlook to persevere regardless of what life (or the government) throws at you.  Get training so you don’t go out and commit “stupid”.  You don’t know what you don’t know.  Improve your life, your family’s life and all those around you.  You do that by beginning with you.  Read a book (perhaps a fabulous blog), get trained, ask questions, plug into real estate investing groups.  Here in the Kansas City metro area, join the MO-KAN REIN group.  That stands for Missouri- Kansas Real Estate Investors Network.  Build your power-team.  Maybe I’ll address the power-team concept next time.  Keep this site on your favorites.  Oh yea, did I mention to go to www.ETRRF.networthusa.com?