In this mind-expanding episode, we’ve uncovered some great ideas to help YOU think bigger.
Thinking bigger is all about the people you know—your mentors and your team. To step up your game, it’s important to move out of your comfort zone and get comfortable getting uncomfortable.
The key is to step back and look at the bigger picture so you can add a zero … to your bottom line, to your profits, to whatever you’re doing.
We’re not talking about incremental improvements here. We’re talking about expanding what you do EXPONENTIALLY.
To help you get there …
We met with a dynamic investor, world traveler, and creator of website Sovereign Man to talk about how YOU can add a zero to your thinking.
So live from New York … it’s The Real Estate Guys radio show, featuring:
- Your big-brained host, Robert Helms
- His zero co-host, Russell Gray
- Global investor and creator of Sovereign Man, Simon Black
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Introducing dynamic investor, Simon Black: Starting from scratch
Simon Black started investing in real estate when he was just 21. He had just graduated from West Point when he read the life-changing Rich Dad, Poor Dad, by Robert Kiyosaki.
To Simon, buying large properties and investing in real estate had always seemed like things “rich people” did.
He started asking himself “Why not ME?” The book was the kick in the butt he needed to get started.
Driving down the road one day after reading the book, Simon saw a Century 21 office, and he asked himself … “Why not me? Why not NOW?”
He hopped out of the car, still in his military uniform, and told the real estate agent exactly what he wanted. The agent said, “I got just the thing.” And THAT’S how simple it was for Simon to get his start!
Learning to learn: Two ways to figure out what you DON’T know (yet)
When Simon started out in real estate investing, he knew NOTHING.
Maybe you’re at the same place Simon was when he started out? If you feel so fresh you don’t even know what there IS to know … you’re in good company.
Simon admits it was a steep learning curve. He says the most important thing for him was to learn HOW to learn.
How can you transform yourself from a know-nothing into a successful real estate mogul? Simon tells us it starts with just two steps:
- Self-assess ruthlessly and constantly.
Self-assessment isn’t a skill, it’s a habit. Get in the habit of asking yourself hard questions about your performance: What did I do poorly? What do I need to learn? What do I need to do differently next time?
Self-assess constantly. And don’t sugarcoat reality. That’s lying to yourself. Be ruthless. It’s the only way you can figure out how to do better the next time.
- Find a mentor.
This is THE most important thing you can do as a new (or current!) real estate investor. Seek out people who are smarter and more experienced than you.
When Simon got started, he spent HOURS looking at public listings.
He realized the same names were coming up over and over again, and started keeping his own internal database of all the people who owned a lot of property.
Then he reached out to them.
He told them he was a young guy, new to real estate investing, and asked if he could take them to lunch.
He only got one response … but that’s all he needed. He took the investor to lunch and picked his brain—and kept doing it for years.
“I think I paid twenty dollars to take him to lunch, and I got to suck in all this knowledge that he’d spent years and years accumulating,” Simon says. “It was an incredible return on investment.”
Finding a mentor can be intimidating. It’s easy to look at smart, high-achieving, hard-working people and their accomplishments and feel inadequate. (Right?)
But we have learned the people at the top of their game are more than happy to share. They’re gracious, generous with their time and wisdom … and they’re extremely curious too! They want to learn from you as much as you want to learn from them.
Stepping back so you can add digits, not decimals
At some point, every investor or business owner will get so deep into their own thinking that they stop thinking of the big picture. But Simon reminds us, “We’re only limited by our own thinking.”
To really be successful, you have to step back and self-assess. Ask yourself:
- How do I apply my experience to leverage this and make it ten times bigger?
- What resources do I need?
- Who can help me?
- How do I add a zero to what I’m doing? How do I turn 100s into 1000s?
Ask yourself those questions, and you start seeing things in terms of projects and procedures. You start building teams. And you step back and stop seeing individual investments. Finding the big picture is a skill EVERYONE can acquire.
People power: Building your own team
Building a team is an ESSENTIAL part of adding a zero. Simon learned quickly that he couldn’t handle everything himself.
Robert reminds us “It’s easy to say yes; it’s hard to say no.”
To be successful, you have to learn to do two things: say no, and delegate.
Once Simon realized his biggest limiting factor was his own time, he starting learned to say no. Now he doesn’t say yes to a project unless there’s a guaranteed, dependable manager that he can hand the ball to.
If you’re juggling twenty opportunities at a time, you’re not getting a lot done. You’re not able to step back and ask yourself how you can add a zero. That’s why taking on people who can juggle those opportunities FOR you is essential.
Everyone has their own way to delegate and build a team, and there isn’t one right way. Some key factors? Maintain very high standards. And experiment!
You DON’T have to have someone on your payroll for them to be part of your team. But you do have to be able to depend on them.
And THEY have to be able to depend on YOU.
As you grow, you will become a mentor too. Spend more time coaching and mentoring so people can take over for you, and you multiply your experts, expanding your impact exponentially.
It takes time and a serious dedicated effort to form a good team. But it’s doable.
Learning from Sovereign Man
Simon Black does a lot of different things to ensure his success … and YOURS. One of those things is his website, Sovereign Man.
Simon says he often doesn’t particularly like what he sees in the world around him. The United States has more than $19 TRILLION in debt. The Federal Reserve isn’t solvent, the FDIC fails to meet minimum capitalization requirements … all these things cause concern.
But Sovereign Man has an optimistic outlook. “We hold the opinion that the path to prosperity is in production and savings and not debt and consumption. We try to help people find the right way forward.”
One way Simon does that is by hosting an entrepreneurial camp, Sovereign Academy, once a year. Fifty people are selected from thousands of applicants to attend a weeklong camp that tries to help people shine a spotlight on what they don’t know and step up their game.
Interested in attending? Visit sovereignman.com learn more and start your application.
Optimism is key!
There are two ways to think: scarcity and abundance. We want YOU to believe that there are an abundance of people who want to connect with you! Create a future where you’re offering the world your best, and that effort will be returned to you.
Your challenge for the week: Add a zero to your thinking. What can YOU do to step back and add a zero to your investments? Who can you reach out to this week?
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