3 Pillars 5 Friends 1 Vision
January 18, 2025
3 Pillars
A while back I wrote about what I consider to be the 3 pillars of real estate investing. Turns out they are also the 3 pillars of just about every other kind of small business. Here they are.
1. Relationships
Real estate is a relationship business. It doesn’t matter if you’re an agent, a broker, an investor, a developer, a lender, or whatever. It’s a business that absolutely requires you to build relationships. Relationships get things done in business. All businesses, not just real estate. And you get to choose those relationships and whether or not to pursue them.
2. Making Decisions
You have to be able to make decisions in real estate and business in general. So many people simply cannot make a decision. I’ve seen people stand and stare at a coffee shop menu unable to decide what to get. Here’s a clue. Your choice of coffee is not going to change the world. Just pick one. It’s the same with buying properties. Some investors will take weeks to analyze a property and still can’t decide to buy or not to buy until eventually someone else makes the choice for them. Another buyer will snatch it up and run with it. You can choose to be a decision maker. Making decisions takes practice but you can do it. You have to be intentional about it.
3. Mindset
To be a real estate investor or any other kind of business owner (yes real estate investors are business owners) you need the right mindset. There is the employee mindset and there is the investor or business mindset. The person with the employee mindset thinks “I can’t afford to buy a business or a property. That’s not for me.” They just want a paycheck without the risk. A person with the investor/business mindset thinks “How can I afford that? How can I make this happen? I’ll find a way.” Think about the people you know who own a business and those who work in a job that they probably don’t even like. You will notice a huge difference in their attitudes, their beliefs, and their lives.
5 Friends
Jim Rohn always said “You will be the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with.” Think about your 5 people. Friends, family members, coworkers. If I looked at the 5 people you spend the most time with would you be just like them? Is that a good thing? Or would you rather be like 5 other people? And by the way, you do get to choose those 5 people. So why not choose 5 people you would want to be like?
1 Vision
This is what ties everything together. Your 1 vision will determine your mindset. It will determine what relationships you create. It will determine the decisions you make in your life and whether you are capable of making them. Your vision will determine who your 5 friends are. Some will fit into your vision and some will seek to destroy it. It will determine your financial momentum.
Do you have a vision?