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You Cant Handle the Freedom (or can you??)

October 26, 2017

I hear these days that lots of people want to be free from working and be financially independent.  The only problem is that I think you cant handle the freedom. Freedom is good, but it must be matched with lots of discipline. If you don’t have it, you will never really be free.

What does it mean to be free. Free from a boss, free from credit card debt, free from a car payment, free from the hastles of driving an hour to work everyday or being free from Da Man? Everyone has their own version of what it means to be free. I want to talk about being free from a job. Personally, I started my real estate investing after I was let go from a job. Quickly I realized that I liked being free from a job. I got to work as much as I wanted and more importantly, when I wanted.

So, how did I just decide one day that I wanted to be a real estate investor? Did I read a book or two and then go out and buy something, NO. I earned a bachelors degree in Finance from UTSA and my concentration was in real estate. My parents purchased several REO properties in the late 80s and 90s from banks and from the RTC or Resolution Trust Corporation so I got to see first hand what it was like to buy discounted properties. Through college I worked for a property manager. Right after college I worked for a real estate developer. Then for about 10 years I worked in foodservice as a manager and in sales.

I had been looking for properties that were going to foreclosure. It was great to talk with the people before the foreclosure would take place. I found a few properties like that and also some that were going to tax sale. What I was doing at the time was wholesaling the properties to other investors who would then rehab them. Finally I got to the point where I would rehab myself. This was crazy land. I found a property, with the help of friends, family and some contractors I rehabbed the property and made a pretty good chunk of change. Then I sat there and did nothing because I couldn’t handle the freedom.

It was back in 2003 and I was sitting there with $15,000.00 in my checking account after my first big rehab. This would have been the perfect time to invest in some marketing to keep the deals coming. Start paying myself a salary even if it was only $2,000 per month. But what did I do?? Nothing. I should say nothing constructive. After a few months when the money ran out, I went out and found another rehab to do. I made a good chunk of money again and you would think that I would have learned, but NO.

I did the same thing a number of times for the next several years until 2008 came along. If you don’t know what happened in 2008, look it up (it was a big downturn in the market). I ended up having to get a few jobs for a few years, but I kept doing a few deals here and there.

In 2010 I married my current wife and she was not going to have any of that nonsense. She made sure that I worked a regular job AND looked for properties before and/or after work. We did some wholesales, rehabs, owner financing, rentals and anything that we could do for the next several years. We banked everything that we could, put it back into more properties and borrowed everything that we could from every friend or family member that had a few extra bucks to loan. So here I am: 7 years married doing real estate with my wife, almost 15 years doing real estate myself. I think I have finally learned to handle the freedom. It was kinda forced from my wife, but I have learned to stay busy and keep working in the direction that I want to go.

Everybody wants to say that they can do anything they want to or work whenever they want to. I would like to say that too, but I can’t, not yet. We are working to get to a place where our passive income will cover our monthly bills. We are not quite there yet. It does help though when you don’t have huge credit card bills, $250 for cable, super ultra lightning speed internet, $500+ car payment and all those other things that weigh you down.

Further discipline is working everyday with a semi-regular routine.  I get up almost every day at 530am, YES 530am. After a few exercises I take a mile or so walk or an 8 mile bike ride. A shower and then a big  breakfast and I am ready for the day. Don’t forget to take your vitamins. I take a multi, b-12, vitamin- D(10,000U) and an Omega 3-6-9 for my cholesterol. By 8am I have already answered some forums on BiggerPockets, checked emails and I have my list of things to do for the day.

A few years ago I felt like I could not get everything done and I was always tired. I decided that I needed to get some information on organization and getting more done in a day. I read “The One Thing”, by Gary Keller. Also I read “The 10X Rule” by Grant Cardone. These were both great books that I highly recommend. They helped me focus on what was important. For me it is sending out postcards to different lists that will get the phone ringing. The other thing is networking and helping others. When I help others with their issues, somehow magically my issues get solved also.

Have I mentioned Karma??

Many times I helped someone with some information and then they happened to have the answer to a question or issue that I had. My signature on my emails from my phone says, “Everybody working together is what will make it happen for everybody”. This is something that I say fairly regularly. Helping others is very important. I do have free time during the week. I always look for friends who need a little help. If I have a couple of hours why not help a friend?

After marrying my lovely wife, Gloria, she basically yelled at me like Jack Nicholson in A Few Good Men, “You cant handle the freedom”. She was right. I had to learn how to handle it. When you want to make major changes in your life, you really have to make changes. I know that sounds so simplistic, but it is really true.

As much as I like my free time to go bike riding or walking in the morning, I rarely have a complete day off. I always have my phone with me. Everyday I am ready to go see a house or talk with someone about their house. Freedom means being free. But freedom also means that you have to work pretty hard for quite a long time to get there. As I mentioned, I am not there quite yet, but I am working harder and harder to get there in the next couple of years.

When you think that you cant handle the freedom, remember to focus on what will get you there. Hard work, 10X it and do the one or two or three things that you know will get you there. Good luck on your journey to get to your freedom. If I can help you along in your journey, please don’t hesitate to ask.

Leave a comment and let me know what your biggest obstacle is to being free.