It’s a lot to keep up on!  But have no fear, The Real Estate Guys™ are here!

In the studio, behind the shiny silver microphones for another scintillating soiree into broadcast excellence:

• Your emerging, high speed host, Robert Helms
• Your troubled co-host, Russell Gray

In this episode, we flip the mirror around and look at the world from a different angle.  Now that we’re big shot international podcasters (being downloaded in over 160 countries!), we can’t just look at the world exclusively through our U.S. centric eyeballs.

Besides, we’ve discovered through our recent trips to South Florida and Phoenix, that non-U.S. citizens are actively buying U.S. real estate that they view as being on sale.  So even if you’re a U.S. citizen with no interest in off-shore investing, your domestic real estate is being affected by foreign activity.

Plus as the Chinese economy continues to climb up the food chain (nipping at the heels of Uncle Sam at last check), wealth being created overseas is affecting markets all over the world.  One of our fastest growing audiences is in Australia.  What’s the connection?  Australia is a big exporter of commodities to…drum roll please…China!  And how’s Aussie real estate been doing?  Pretty hot for quite some time.

And just so you don’t think it’s just all about China, Brazil is starting to light up the economic scoreboard also.  Our sources tell us the Brazilians make up a significant chunk of the buyers gobbling up South Florida real estate.

And don’t forget the Canadian dollar, eh?  It’s been strong against the U.S. greenback, making U.S. dollar denominated assets more attractive.  It’s too bad old guys like us don’t get more attractive when our dollars gets weak…but we digress.

Our point is, as we all learned as children at Disneyland, it’s a small world after all.  And what happens in the big economies of the world, can affect you – pretty much wherever you are.

So, listen in as The Real Estate Guys™ talk trends in global real estate – and consider how those trends might create opportunities or challenges you should be aware of.  Hey!  It it was easy, everyone would do it.  But if it can’t be easy, you can count on us to make it fun!

And speaking of fun (warning: incoming shameless plug), we’re getting close to last call for our fabulous annual Investor Summit at Sea™.  As of this post, we have investors coming from at least 13 different countries.  It’s a great opportunity to build you global network and gain direct personal insights into real estate markets and mindsets from around the world.  To get in on the fun, click here now!

Listen Now: Download audio file (Where_in_the_World_to_Invest_-_Tracking_Trends_in_Global_Real_Estate.mp3)

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For some, it’s déjà vu all over again because this isn’t the first time fast and furious financing has faded from the funding landscape.

For others, it’s their first foray into the fabulous world of creative deal making.

For us, it’s time to take a trip to visit one of the most creative deal makers we know!

Behind the microphones for this episode of The Real Estate Guys™ radio show:

• Your good old host, Robert Helms
• Your old dazed co-host, Russell Gray
• Special guest, the one and only Wayne Palmer

When you’ve been a real estate developer, note broker, investor, gold mint owner, author, teacher; and are active in creative real estate exchange networks, PLUS you were around (and survived) the Savings & Loan crisis of the late ’80s, you have a broad and unique range of experiences from which to form opinions.  But where can you find such a person?

Salt Lake City!  So off we went to sit down face to face with the amazing Wayne Palmer.

We’ve gotten to know Wayne on our last two Summits, where he’s enlightened the audience with his teaching on both notes and equity exchanging.  In this interview, we are interested in what he sees for 2012 – both challenges and opportunities.

To no surprise, Wayne describes the U.S. mortgage system as “broken” -therefore creating liquidity issues for homeowner, investors and even equity exchangers.  However, this “problem” has an off-setting opportunity: private money.

With central banks pumping liquidity into the system, all that cash is looking for a home.  An astute real estate investor has a great opportunity to help cash rich investors find assets that provide better yields than savings institutions, and better long term growth potential than the stock market.

Wayne explains that the decrease in property values has made it a real challenge to find quality notes to trade, but the corresponding opportunity is the bargains available in the short sale market.  Are you seeing a theme?  Challenges always bring opportunities!

One of our big takeaways from this interview is that when you think currency and institutions are a prerequisite to commerce, you’re crippled when currencies and banks fail.  The problem is that you have no control over if or when these events happen. Many people are very concerned about both as we move forward into 2012.

However, when you know how to conduct business outside of currencies and institutions, you’re more insulated from fluctuations in both – and in a great position to grab bargains in a chaotic and confused market.

So if you haven’t already brushed up on your creative deal making skills, this interview reminds us that now is the time to do so.  Wayne says these market conditions are more conducive to deal making than any in recent memory.  As we’re often reminded, the wort of times often result in the best of times.

Listen Now: Download audio file (Transcending_Financing_-_Doing_Deals_in_a_Changing_Climate_.mp3)

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There’s so much you can learn about life and business through football!  As we considered how to kick off (get it?) the New Year, we thought it would be fun to look into the notion of coaching for real estate investors.  After all, what professional football team heads into a season without a coach?

So we put on our thermals and headed to chilly (but VERY pretty) Salt Lake City Utah to pay a visit on the folks at Rich Dad Coaching.

It’s no secret we’re fans of Robert Kiyosaki and the Rich Dad message.  And on one of our recent field trips we got to know some people who had good things to say about their experience in the Rich Dad Coaching program.  So who better to talk with about this subject than the Rich Dad team?

Behind the microphones for this episode of The Real Estate Guys™ radio show:

• Your frosty breathed host, head coach Robert Helms
• Your frost-bitten co-host, head case Russell Gray
• Special guest, Director of Rich Dad Coaching, Eric Lloyd

Elite achievers in every profession (not just athletics!) use coaches to provide training, accountability, motivation and encouragement.  It only makes sense that someone pursuing excellence in real estate investing would at least entertain the idea of having a coach.

So once the microphones thawed out, we asked Eric to help us understand who needs a coach, how coaching works, what to expect and how to work effectively with a coach once you decide to take  the plunge.

Eric tells us that you don’t need a coach if you’re satisfied with your current level of accomplishment. But we’re guessing most people want to improve.  And even though the Green Bay Packers won the Super Bowl last year, they still entered the 2011 season with a coach.  So even when you’re just trying to stay at the top of your game, it probably makes sense to have a coach – and certainly if you want to get to the next level.

And speaking of getting to the next level…how about those 49ers?  Look at what an amazing difference coaching makes! A team made of essentially the same players as last year’s team is one game away from going to the Super Bowl!  Though they wouldn’t think so, anyone looking at the 49ers would have to say that even if they lose to the New York Giants, they’ve had an epic year.

When you look at the 49ers turnaround, it makes you wonder what’s possible in your own life with the right coaching!

Eric explains to us that a good coach is a great listener.  And after learning about who are and what you have to work with, the coach helps you develop a game plan that fits YOU.  Just like in football, a good coach will help you play to your strengths and mitigate your weaknesses.

Eric also points out that a good coach brings a team of coaches to effort.  Just like a head football coach has specialty coaches, so Eric says a good investing coach will have associated “resource” coaches to provide technical training and additional perspectives.  We like it.  We know it’s always good to get a lot of brains working on a challenge.

There’s lot more that Eric shares with us, so be sure to listen to the entire episode – and at the end, Eric offers a free resource to reward you for your perseverance.

Listen Now: Download audio file (Getting_to_the_Next_Level_-_Are_You_Ready_for_a_Coach.mp3)

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A couple of decades later, Cuba Gooding Jr., playing an ambitious football player, screamed at his agent, Jerry McGuire (Tom Cruise), “Show me the money!”

The point is that money is the lubricant that keeps the machinery of commerce humming – and nowhere is that more true than in real estate investing.

But it’s no secret that a few years ago the world of real estate financing imploded, wreaking havoc on balance sheets from Wall Street to Main Street.  Now that the dust is starting to settle, what’s the state of the union when it comes to real estate financing?  To find out, we called up our old friend, The Investment Mortgage Guy.

Making mortgage music together in the studio:

• Your host and leader of the band, Robert Helms
• Your co-host and cleaner of the instruments, Russell Gray
• Expert guest, The Investment Mortgage Guy, Rob Bonahoom

In an industry where lots of businesses and people have quit, Rob Bonahoom has managed to persevere through massive change and market adversity to remain active in the business of helping investors find funding for their real estate acquisitions.  So we thought he’d be the perfect guy to bring us up to speed on both residential and commercial lending in the new reality of mortgage underwriting.

Rob reveals what lenders are looking for from today’s borrowers and why newbies have a significant advantage.  Even more fun, he shares specific strategies for how investors with little cash or credit can still get into the apartment game.  So if you got whacked in the downturn, you’re not out of the game yet!

Rob also gets into detail on how government backed mortgages are working for real estate investors today.  As we’ve always said, because real estate is such an important part of the economy and serves an essential human need – so politicians have a huge motivation (in spite of their disagreements about methods!) to help make money available…especially for residential property.

We go on to talk local banks (flush with cash!), FHA 203k, SBA loans and more!

So listen and learn as Rob Bonahoom shows us the money!

Listen Now: Download audio file (Show_Me_The_Money_-_Financing_Outloook_for_2012.mp3)

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Flipping over the calendar to a new year is always exciting

As we grow older, it’s easy to grow cynical.  At best, we get stuck into attitudes, habits and beliefs that hinder our ability to “think outside the box” as they say (the box representing those old paradigms that prevent us from seeing all the possibilities).

For a real estate investor, especially when operating in an economy that’s in flux, the ability to be creative is a huge benefit, if not mission critical.

We find the New Year to be an ideal time to implement change – both in our business and in ourselves.  So we thought our first article of the New Year would be about how to develop a creative mind.

As you might imagine, there is no magic formula (sorry!).  You can’t script or program creativity, otherwise computers could do it.  But there are some practical steps you can do to prepare the soil of your mind to be more fertile for cultivating creating thinking.

Remain Curious

It’s hard for a new idea to penetrate a rigid mind.  It’s like a little seedling pushing up against hard, dry soil.  Lots of good ideas never see the light of day because they can’t get past a closed mind.

It’s been said that your mind is like a parachute.  It only works when it’s open!

When you find your mind making assumptions and drawing conclusions before you’ve really seen all the evidence, heard all the viewpoints or considered all the possible outcomes, stop yourself.  Instead of making statements, start asking questions like “Why?” and “How” and “What if….?”.  Rather than predict the problems, imagine the possibilities!

It sounds easy, but it isn’t.  Nonetheless, it’s worth the effort.

Lighten Up

All those jokes about the best ideas coming to you in the shower are funny because there’s a big element of truth in them.  Sometimes thinking harder about a problem is the worst thing you can do.  It can be far better to get away from the problem by creating a mental (if not physical) change of scenery.

We don’t need to tell you how to lighten up.  You can go for a walk, take a nap, listen to a song, work on a different project, do some chores, or whatever.  It might even be something physically or mentally intense.  What’s important is to get away from the problem you’re stuck on.  “Freshen up” your mind.

Get Positively Chatty

Getting more brains on the problem is usually the best thing to do.  But if you aren’t open minded or you’re too intense, no one will want to brainstorm with you.  So get curious and lighten up first!

But once you’re in the right mindset, go get a friend or two (or five) and talk through the problem.  And remember, there’s no bad idea in a brainstorming session.  It’s VERY important to keep the session positive and the ideas flowing.  Even a seemingly dumb idea can be useful if it opens up a new train of thought that leads to the solution.

Of course, being positively chatty about your problem presumes that you invite positive people into your “master mind” group.  If you or anyone in the group is close-minded, overly opinionated, judgmental, cynical, etc., then the energy of the session will be negative and the great ideas you’re looking for won’t show up. Worse, your chances of getting your big brained friends back for another session is in danger.  Creative minds can’t stand negativity.

So pick you Master Mind friends carefully! It isn’t complicated, but you need to work on it all the time.  The easiest way is to spend as much time as possible with positive, creative people.  But where do you find those people?

The best way to attract the right kinds of people into your life is to become one yourself and then go where the right people congregate.  Achievers are always looking for other achievers to synergize with.  And once you have some of those people in your life, they become a big part of your ability to find and attract more.  That is, achievers will not only be attracted to you, but also to the people in your network.

It’s very important to continually invest in expanding and cultivating your Master Mind network.

One of our goals for the New Year is to expand our Master Mind network and to spend more time with them.  We’re organizing events and activities to make that possible.  We’re also expecting to add many new people to our network (maybe you!) and to become members of other people’s networks in 2012.

For example, at this year’s Investor Summit at Sea™, we are very fortunate to have attracted one of the greatest collections of bright and creative minds in the business.  And it isn’t just the faculty (which is amazing), but the “Summiteers”!  We have people coming from all over the world to spend a week together to share ideas and build relationships.

The Summit, our field trips and seminars, plus our soon to be announced Inner Circle program, are all part of that process.  If you’re a positive, creative and bright person, we hope you’ll come and be a part of it all.

Meanwhile, look for great people in your own circle whom you can Master Mind with.  The go our and make 2012 your best year ever!

Ready to join us? Click here to download your registration form now.

Otherwise, read on and we’ll tell you all about it!

Setting the Tone – Our trips are EDUCATIONAL, so don’t worry about getting trapped in a room and getting hard closed to buy (we call this the “timeshare experience”).

Even though you’ll meet local market experts who’d love to do business with you, none of that happens on the trip. This is about exploring the market and meeting potential team members. If you like what you see, you can follow up afterwards. No pressure!

You may want to fly Fed Ex into Memphis. they have more planes there than anyone else!

Trip Logistics

When you schedule your flight (please wait until we confirm your registration – sometimes we sell out), plan to arrive at the Memphis International Airport (MEM) on Friday in time to catch the airport shuttle to the hotel by 4:30 pm. Your registration includes your room, which will serve as home base for the weekend. We’ll tell you which hotel…and the secret handshake …after you’ve registered.

Friday night, you’ll meet your hosts (those handsome guys at the top of this page) and your fellow field trippers. We’ll have a market overview presentation (and a special guest speaker), then we’ll head out for dinner (included!). Then back to the hotel for some shuteye.

Saturday morning we’re up and at ‘em early. After a quick breakfast, we’re into the bus for a FULL day of touring the market. You’ll see a variety of neighborhoods and employment centers, and get an understanding for the overall health and vibrancy of the market.

You’ll meet a variety of experts on specific neighborhoods and property types. You’ll learn how to look for the telltale signs of opportunity (or danger!) at the neighborhood level. This is important because you don’t buy a market, you buy a neighborhood.

We emphasize single and multi-family residential because that’s what most people are interested in, but we’ll also see commercial and retail areas.

Maybe we'll hitch a ride on a riverboat queen...Proud Mary keep on rollin'!

We keep the group small, so there’s ample time to ask questions and lots of interaction with the guest speakers, tour guides and your fellow field trippers. We cap the day off with a fun dinner and some tasty libations. Then back to the hotel for a nap.

Sunday morning is a lively interactive strategy session, some Q&A, and presentations from local experts.

By now, you’re brain is swollen with market knowledge, you heart is racing with excitement, and you’ve made a lot of new friends and strategic connections. You’ll get more done in one guided weekend than most people accomplish in multiple trips on their own!

So Why Memphis?

Small town prices with big city culture. A good combination for tourists and retirees looking for an affordable destination.

It’s no secret we date other markets. Each one has it’s own unique personality and attributes. And after the Great Recession (which we heard ended June 2009, but we must’ve missed the memo), it’s critically important to be careful and strategic when selecting markets. The volume, location and quality of the jobs in a local area is essential to long term rental property investing success.

To be safe, we like markets that have major job centers that are geographically linked to the area. That is, the primary employers can’t easily pack up and move to China, India or some other location where labor and land are less expensive.

Memphis has a great strategic location and infrastructure which makes it an ideal distribution hub. Maybe that’s why Fed Ex made it their HQ. And with low cost land, labor, no state tax, and close proximity to distribution, Memphis is attractive to U.S. manufacturers who want to stay in the U.S.

It’s also important to have the price-to-rent ratio be favorable to creating positive cash flow. This is important on so many levels, there isn’t time to describe it all! But you’re going to REALLY like the numbers in Memphis!

“Live where you want to live, but invest where the numbers make sense.” – Robert Helms

Also, Tennessee is one of only seven states with no state income tax. This is attractive to both businesses and retirees. If the U.S. economy continues to struggle, and as U.S. baby boomers try to retire on portfolios that have been wounded by the Great Recession, markets like Memphis have a very strong appeal – which you’ll understand when you see it with your own eyes.

We could go on and on (can you tell?), but a website isn’t a substitute for a field trip.

So what are you waiting for? Click here now to download your registration form and we’ll continue the lesson in Memphis!

On this week’s Christmas edition of the show, we are giving our answers to a collection of your questions that are all over the map. 

No, really.  We mean it.  These questions are from ALL over the map!

The Real Estate Guys™ podcast is now being downloaded in over 150 countries.  So we get Ask The Guys questions from EVERYWHERE.  It’s very cool.

In studio this lovely Christmas Day:

• Your holly jolly host, Robert Helms
• Your ho-ho co-host, Russell Gray
• Our Santa Claus understudy, the Godfather of Real Estate, Bob Helms

After landing the sleigh on the roof of the radio station, we stopped by the breakroom and loaded up on some egg nog.  We thought getting a little red-nosed might help us see our way through the holiday fog so we could deliver our answers to all of your very interesting questions.

But Botswana?  Really?  Do you even know where Botswana is? 

We didn’t either.  But here’s what we’re discovering:  No matter where you live or invest, as long as you have the basic right to own private property, you have opportunities to make money with real estate.  Even Botswana.

And what’s awesome is that while many of the technical details are different from country to country, the basic principles and strategies of real estate investing are very similar.  So no matter where you’re from or where you’re investing, the answers to the questions your fellow listeners have can have relevance to you.  It also tells you how important it is to have experienced local technical advisors and service providers in every jurisdiction in which you invest.  But that’s a topic for another episode.

For now, listen in and learn how much you have in common with real estate investors half a world away.  It really is a small world after all!  Maybe that’s how Santa’s able to get all those gifts delivered in just one night.  Of course, digital downloads make things a little easier too. 

Listen: Download audio file (Ask_The_Guys_-_From_Bangalore_to_Botswana.mp3)

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We’re honored to be part of a panel that mega-bestselling financial author Robert Kiyosaki ( the Rich Dad Poor Dad series) has invited into his Rich Dad Boardroom on January 19th.  The topic of discussion is How to Increase Your Cash Flow in 2012.  We’re guessing this is high on most people’s goal list for the New Year! To reserve your virtual seat at the meeting, click here.

As you may know, one of Rich Dad’s key concepts is the idea of getting together with smart and experienced people to talk about whatever challenges and opportunities you’re facing.  Unfortunately, a lot of people don’t have ready access to all the smart people they’d like.

So we think it’s great that Rich Dad opens up their Boardroom to thousands of people via these live internet broadcasts.  This allows people all over the world to listen in as Robert Kiyosaki visits with the various people who are helping him shape his investment and business strategies.  Of course, we’re thrilled to be invited to contribute.  Hopefully, we’ll think of something brilliant to say! 

If you follow The Real Estate Guys™ (and why wouldn’t you?), you know that we’ve developed a great relationship with the Kiyosakis and the Rich Dad team.  So much so, that Robert & Kim and many of their Advisors are attending our annual Investor Summit at Sea™ in April.  And they’re not only teaching, but they’re staying with us for the entire week!

But why?  And more importantly for you, what can YOU learn from The Real Estate Guys™ relationship with Rich Dad?

First, it’s important to focus on the fundamental premise that effectiveness is almost always accomplished through relationships.  Sure, you can lock yourself in a closet and perform some specific task very efficiently.  But if you want to expand beyond that, you’re going to require the efforts of others, whether they are vendors, employees, volunteers, etc.

The most basic example of this is hiring someone to get something done.  You contribute the money and the other person contributes their effort.  If you do it right, you make a profit on the other person’s effort and grow your business by simply expanding that basic concept.

As a real estate investor, you effectively do the same thing by renting out your property.  In this case, the tenant gets up everyday and goes to work (for someone else) or operates their business.  And each month, they send you a portion of the fruit of their labor.  You have used the vehicle of real estate to accumulate the effort of someone else.  And if you do it right, you end up with profits (positive cash flow), and then you can keep expanding your portfolio by simply adding more and more properties.

The underlying concept is that you become more effective (and wealthier) by accumulating the efforts of others.

Sounds simple right?  Except that for most small business owners and investors, their ability to expand is limited by how they think when they look at their resources.  That is, when they look at their bank balance, they say, “I don’t have enough cash to hire someone or buy another property.”

If you’re one of the people who finds yourself stymied by lack of resources, then you REALLY want to keep reading.

One of the  most important things we’ve learned though our observation of and conversations with with Robert Kiyosaki (and other mentors) is that a business or investment portfolio can expand without being limited by lack of money.

Creative entrepreneurs and investors know how to attract the resources they need without having to pay cash for them.  This is one of the key skills people learn (courtesy of Rich Dad Advisor Wayne Palmer) on our Investor Summit at Sea™.

We get along with Rich Dad because we are both working to promote financial understanding.  And we both believe the mission is best accomplished by providing thought-provoking information.  This stands in contrast to many in the financial space who promote dependence on professional money managers for “hands-off” (brains off?) investors or one-size-fits-all magic formulas for the do-it-yourself investors.

People who want to be told what to do sometimes get frustrated with us, but we’re not catering to those folks.  Our target audience is the people who want their thinking stimulated and are willing to invest the time, money and effort to develop their own understanding.

The Rich Dad Boardroom Live Stream and our Investor Summit at Sea™ are two forums where Rich Dad and The Real Estate Guys™ are working together to provide ideas that you can add to the mix of your continuing financial education.  We invite you to take advantage of them!

Meanwhile, take a look around you as you enter 2012.  What people and organizations do you see who are moving in the same direction as you are (or want to be)?  What methods are they using to get there?  How can you help them and how can they help you?  You may find that you can accelerate your own progress without spending a lot of money!

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Let’s face it.  When you get the hots for real estate investing, there are lots of tempting opportunities out there!

But before you go out on a market field trip date or get hot and heavy with just one market, why not get a quick sampling of what’s out there?  And as great as the internet is, sometimes you just need the warmth of a real human voice.

So we decided to round up 8 different real estate practitioners from 8 different U.S. real estate markets for The Real Estate Guys™ version of market speed dating!

In the studio and calling in from around the country:

• Your ever debonair host of the show, Robert Helms
• The ever air- headed co-host, Russell Gray
• Our marvelous man in Memphis, Terry Kerr
• Our Miami market maven, Deborah Boza-Valledor
• Our amazing Atlanta affiliate, Bruce Carlisle
• A guy who really knows the way to San Jose, Jurgen Weller
• Our deal-making dude from Dallas, Jay Hartley
• Our money man from Minneapolis, Rob “Boom Boom” Bonahoom
• Our phabulous phriend in Phoenix, Timothy Theiss
• The Washington DC Wonder Woman, Beth “Bubbles” Clifford

Wow!  What a line up! Like Santa in his sled, we decided to cover a lot of ground in a short period of time.  So we hitched up our eight market reindeer and headed into the foggy air of market prognostication.

We ask each call in contributor to give us a quick update on their market from their unique perspective – and what does 2012 look like?

We quickly find out that each market is different.  And each person’s perspective is different too!  That’s the beautiful thing about real estate.  There’s a LOT of variety!

We have a lender, a couple of turnkey property providers, an executive from the largest local Realtor® association in the USA, the manager of a large residential brokerage in a very pricy area, a property manager, an investment property broker and a real estate developer.  Different people, property types and price points, market personalities and perspectives.  Fun!

Some of these markets were killed in the Great Recession.  Others barely felt it.  Some are SUPER expensive, but people are still paying CASH.  And one has lots of foreign buys stepping in and snapping up bargains.

Want to know which is which?  Well, you’ll just have to listen in!  But have a cup of coffee, because this is a fast paced show.  Enjoy!

LISTEN: Download audio file (Regional_Roundup_-_Taking_the_Pulse_of_the_U.S._Real_Estate_Market.mp3)

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As I am prone to do, I was waxing on (and on and on) – this time about how there is no one-size-fits-all solution success in business, investing or relationships. But the magic formula for success is a popular myth that is widely promulgated because it’s an easy sell.

I explained how my observation is that many business, investing,  fitness and even spiritual “gurus” make handsome livings telling people (for a nominal fee) about the one secret for health, wealth, happiness, love and success.

I went on to say that I believe when people go out into the real world with this ideal “one-size-fits-all” formula and apply it to whatever they’re pursuing, they often run into a bevy of problems.  And it isn’t that the formula doesn’t work.  It just doesn’t work for that specific person, couple or group.

Most of the time, I opined, it’s a mismatch between the formula and the unique personality and desires of the other parties involved, and what should be a labor of love degrades into a daily uphill push through joyless activities.

Only the most tenacious, disciplined (and maybe a little masochistic) person will get up every day and fight against the flow of their natural interests and desires for an extended period of time.  And since “overnight success” is another myth I could go off on (but won’t), most people quit before success is achieved.

Why can’t people, I continued, whom I believe are created as highly unique (and often quirky) individuals, embrace their uniqueness (and that of the people around them), and design their lives – including business, investments, fitness programs and relationships – based on what they truly enjoy, produces results, and brings joy to them and the other unique individuals involved in the particular venture?

As an example, I proudly held up The Real Estate Guys’ emphasis on encouraging people to take time to develop a personal investment philosophy.  This exhortation stands in stark contrast to the many “magic formula” offerings in the real estate educational marketplace.  When you invest in markets and properties that interest you, and work with people you get along with, it’s a lot easier to deal with the inevitable challenges that come along.

Sure, it’s easier to sell a one-size-fits-all system to people who don’t want to do the hard work of self-discovery, planning and experimentation.  But without all that, your investing can take you to a place you don’t really want to go.  You end up working every day with people, markets, properties and problems you don’t enjoy (yes, problems can be fun, which is why people some people like math, crossword puzzles and the like).  Maybe you have money, but you sure aren’t satisfied.  Robert and I met a guy making over a million a year running an apartment complex he owned – and he hated every day of his life.

But to clarify to my impressionable young adult son, I added that being creativity doesn’t mean cheating, abusing or using others.

Be creative, I said, within the confines of respecting the rights and well-being of others.  Otherwise, you end up like the Wall Street wizards, who fabricated assets out of nothing (derivatives) and sold them to unsuspecting investors.  As we found out, when all the leverage finally imploded, it created all kinds of mayhem in the financial lives of people all around the globe that we’re still working our way out of.

After listening to me drone on for several minutes, he simply said to me, “There’s no wrong way to color inside the lines.”

Wow.  I was speechless.

Brilliant!  He encapsulated my entire rant into one powerful sentence.

So I offer this powerful piece of profundity to you for your own personal contemplation this holiday season.  And I encourage you to embrace your uniqueness and that of your family, friends and business associates, and of your financial statements and circumstances, not matter how challenging they all may be.

Then pick up your crayon as you enter 2012, and begin coloring yourself a masterpiece that will reflect the beauty, creativity and uniqueness that is you and the people around you – something that will bring you joy and a sense of fulfillment.  I wish I could give you a color by the numbers template, but you’ll just have to figure it out on your own or it won’t be yours.  Just stay inside the lines.

For help uncovering your you uniqueness, I highly recommend Robert’s Creating our Future Goals Retreat.  It’s an empowering and inspirational 2-1/2 day workshop of self-discovery and goal setting – the perfect way to start off a brand new year!

I wish you a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and a Prosperous and Joyous New Year!

Russ