Hundreds of millions of people have marched into battle and died.
Jeez that’s a heavy opener. I really hope I can turn this article around, wouldn’t want everyone to leave depressed…
Do you ever wonder – what the heck were they thinking? Looking back, a lot of those wars didn’t matter. Worse still, most of the deaths were on the losing side, so it’s not like their death affected the outcome. So why bother?
The human mind is amazing – somehow we are able to convince ourselves to march into battle to meet nearly certain death. Let that sink in for a second. Wow.
How do we harness that power?
A Bigger Purpose
Each and every one of those men who died in the wars had their own reason. A purpose.
It might have been protecting their family or homeland. Or stopping injustice. Or spreading their religion so more can access heaven.
It might have been more personal, like proving their manliness. Or earning money to feed their kids.
With a big enough purpose, we can take any action.
Start With Why
There is a great Ted Talk by Simon Sinek “Start With Why”.
It is about how successful leaders and organizations inspire others. But it is just as powerful thinking about this for ourselves. How do we inspire ourselves to take action?
You need to know why! Not just what. Not just how.
Taking Action in Rental Property Investing
Most people on this website already know what – they want to invest in rental properties.
Some even know how – the steps necessary to get there.
But I bet you won’t take action without knowing why. There are too many obstacles in the path to just waltz right in and be instantly successful. You need a purpose for motivation.
What is Your Why?
Take some time to think about this.
Why do you want to invest in the first place? Why do you want cash flow or passive income? Why, why, why?
If your answer is something like “so my money works for me”, you need to keep going. Keep chaining together whys until you get to something that gets to your purpose or identity.
I want freedom and flexibility – not a standard job where I have to show up every week for the next 35 years. I want to be able to spend time with my family with the ability to take days or weeks off when I want. The time freedom to put family and friends first rather than being too busy. I want the ability to control how much money I make rather than just whatever the employer decides to give. The flexibility to earn more if that’s what our family wants or needs.
That is why I want the passive income and wealth from rental properties.
That is what gets me through the scary aspects like writing my first $20k down payment check.
That is what gets me through the tough days when there is a repair or tenant issue.
It is a powerful why.
What is your why?
Building a website like Rental Mindset is another big investment that takes motivation. Why do it?
Part of it is like the rental property investing itself – building some cash flow from a website. But that hardly justifies the time spent. Some of it is proving to myself that I can do it. I have built a successful offline business, can I generate interest and eventually money online?
But a big part of it is helping others. Rental property investing is the best way for someone to climb up economically. From there the possibilities are endless. If I can help people take action, it is going to help the middle class. It supports small business and a stronger economy.
Great post! My “why” is to be able to retire a little early and to really be able to live it up in retirement. I want to be able to hop on a plane and go somewhere cool at a moment’s notice, and to be able to fly in business class so I don’t have to be crammed into a tiny seat with flight attendants slamming into my elbows and cranky people on either side of me. I would love to own a house on the beach somewhere, preferably in Hawaii.
With that in my mind, it’s easy for me to stay on track. Do I really want to be driving to the fourplex on a Friday night after a long day at work, and waiting around until midnight for the tenant to leave so I can change the locks? Nope. Would I do it if it meant achieving my goal? Hell yes!
I agree with you on the blogging part, too. It’s not really worth the time spent, at least at first (17 cents an hour so far, yeah!), but over time it might be worth it financially, and in the meantime, it is a fun thing to have learned and accomplished. And being able to help others is a great feeling, too! I had a blogger tell me recently that my post on Backdoor Roth IRAs gave him the courage to set one up this year, when he otherwise would have just let the year go by without contributing at all. Sweet!
Those are great goals, especially because they are so visual. When things get tough you can visualize your beach home!
That’s very cool you had a direct impact on that one person through your blog. The money might not be there in blogging, but the potential for impact is huge.
Brian, this is an important topic that all investors should start with. Knowing your WHY helps you to refine your outcome that you’re after. The worse thing is to get started on something and have no clue where you’re going! My WHY has changed over time, but it has always driven me to take action whereas most others choose not to.
Yes! Too many people stack up money without knowing why they want it, what they’ll do with it, or when they will be done stacking it up.
My why changes as well. Right now I’m not into the popular ‘retire early’ mindset, but maybe someday I will be. Whatever motivates me works!
Just a question, i saw somewhere in your comments (not in this post) that youbare on the 37% tax bracket.
Why? Why dont you invest more like every 6 months in new properties if you make enough to do it?
Another question, why you invested in memphis rather than keeping it all together in Atlanta? Just wondering maybe you have family or something. I know you are looking for best rates in return but, i am sure you could find as many good deals in either Atlanta or Memphis.
Btw, i only have one rental but not making enough money yet since i am renting it to family. But, will buy more in the future.
Thanks.
Great questions. The 37% marginal tax rate I was referencing includes my 9% California state income tax. So federal I fall in the 28% bucket, not the $500k plus bucket!
There were 3 years between when I invested in Atlanta and Memphis. Atlanta was (and still is) a pretty good investment, but the prices had run up a bit and I liked the deals in Memphis a little better.
I am excited to start adding more properties much more frequently now. The reasons I haven’t so far is I put life before investing – I started a small business and made little money for a while, then the last year or two wedding expenses have taken over. This fall I want to add a property and will be writing about it here.
Thanks for the reply. Thank goodness i live in the miami area which mean I wont have to invest far away from home at the beginning. Miami has a great ratio something worth $100k to 160k rents from 1300 to $1600.
Have you though of selling in Atlanta to just add more properties together in one place. I am always looking for simplicity and have around same outcome. Let say you h later have at least 4 properties in memphis and you can visit from time to time in just one trip. I miss on buying properties last year because business slowed down, but I am hoping to sell the business and free time in order to buy flip and hold. But, until then I have to keep saving.
Oh, and thanks for clarifying the 37% i am on the 28% too make usually around there but get taxed much less. Good about having your business.
Yes, I think it is worthwhile to group properties together to get some efficiencies, but it is also good to diversify into multiple markets. So the fact that I’m in 2 markets is fine with me.
I’m currently treating all of my properties as passive investments, so haven’t visited any of them to work on multiple at once. It’s more about multiple property manager relationships.
Great post Brian! In my opinion, this post covers the most important concept for readers to fully grasp. Once you figure out your Why, the How will eventually be learned. Like you, I want that freedom and flexibility for my family. Not just for the fun stuff, but to also allow me to step away from work during the tough times and spend unrestrained time with loved ones. I’d hate to think about deciding to return to work just to pay the bills when that time could instead be spent with a family member. I’m a believer that your Why has to be deeper than just you. This is what pushes me everyday.
Love it! How can be easy to lose track of, Why runs deep.
“to also allow me to step away from work during the tough times and spend unrestrained time with loved ones.” Wow. That’s powerful. Great reason!