We’re back from what Robert Kiyosaki described as our BEST Summit at Sea™ so far.  It’s hard to disagree.  And no, this isn’t a pitch for the Summit.

In fact, alumni already grabbed about 40% of the available spots … before we even got off the ship!

While there’s no way to describe the magic of the Summit, there are a few valuable ideas worthy of mention.

Developing social capital

New Summit faculty members Chris Martenson and Adam Taggart (The Crash Course and Peak Prosperity podcast) shared the importance of “social capital.”

After a compelling presentation about the inevitable collision between exponential growth and finite resources (a fascinating topic!), Martenson and Taggart suggested your prospects for prospering will rely heavily on your network of relationships.

That’s true whether a crisis strikes tomorrow or 100 years from now.

And it’s not just knowing a large quantity of people … it’s who those people are and how well you know them.

But even if a crisis NEVER hits, it’s wise to invest in quality relationships.

Surprise faculty member, Ken McElroy often says, “If you want to change your life, change the people you hang around with.”

This year, we had several young people take advantage of our Young Adult Program.  It allows a limited number of young adults ages 18-25 to get into the Summit for only $2,500.

More importantly, it gave these young people close personal access to many highly successful investors and thought leaders.

Our other surprise faculty member, Simon Black of SovereignMan.com joined Kiyosaki and McElroy for a one-hour private session with these young adults.

Simon said it was the most powerful experience in his four years of being a part of the Summit.

Going forward, we’re dedicating up to 30 seats on next year’s Summit to our Young Adult Program.

We believe investing in young people is one of the BEST investment we can make.  And we’re thrilled our super-star faculty agrees!

But whether you’re young or not-so-young, if you’re interested in taking your education, business and investing to the next level, it’s wise to put concerted effort into developing good relationships with great people.

Summit faculty member and legendary sales trainer Tom Hopkins (How to Master the Art of Selling) reminded us the key is being of service to others.

So it’s not what you GET that matters most … it’s what you GIVE.

That’s easy to say, but often hard to do when our own urgent needs are clamoring for attention.

Tom says always remember, “Use money and serve people.  Don’t use people and serve money.”

A billion-dollar boo-boo

Consider the recent flap over United Airlines handling of an overbooked flight.
It’s a case study in forgetting the MAIN thing.

Unless you’ve been off-planet for the last few days, you know a ticketed customer was forcibly removed … literally dragged … from a plane because the airline wanted his seat to reposition their own staff.

The details are all over the news, but the bottom line is the airline decided to “save” money by not raising the bid to buy people off the plane, or making other (presumably more expensive) arrangements to get their staff where they needed them.

In short, they served money and used people.  Oops.

Of course, the horrific decision and resulting disastrous PR resulted in a nearly BILLION dollar loss of market value.

And that’s probably just the beginning of losses which will include customers, employees … plus money spent on public relations, training, and let’s not forget … LEGAL.

It’s shocking a mature business could be so short-sighted.

Relationships are the REAL asset

The beauty and danger of real estate is it’s not traded in impersonal, highly automated exchanges.  It’s a very PERSONAL business.

If you’ve got a good reputation and great relationships, real estate is actually pretty easy.

If your reputation is poor and your relationships are weak, you’re almost always looking at leftovers.

But it’s not just about deal flow … or even raising money.

Relationships provide access to ideas, perspectives, wisdom, encouragement, and inspiration.

Relationships change who you are, how you see yourself, what you reach for, and what you believe you can achieve.

We spoke on the Summit about Roger Bannister, the first human to run a mile in less than four minutes.

Until he did it, it was commonly believed it wasn’t physically possible.

But once he did it, others soon followed … because he broke the mental barrier holding so many people back.

If this can be done in the world of athletics, where a certain level of physical skill is required … imagine what can be done in a less demanding arena like real estate investing.

During the course of the Summit, we heard from investors who started with next to nothing … and grew portfolios of THOUSANDS of rental units in just a few years.

Until you’re around them, it SEEMS impossible.  But when you meet them and hear their stories, it opens your mind to the possibilities.  It EXPANDS your dreams and beliefs.

An epic experience

There were so many GREAT sessions including Peter Schiff on navigating the Trump economy, G. Edward Griffin on how the Fed affects everyone, Fannie Mae’s chief economist Doug Duncan on the state of the U.S. economy and housing … and MANY more.

We had nearly 25 faculty members … our biggest ever!

Perhaps one of the best parts of the Summit were the eight expert panels featuring some of the biggest brains on banking, precious metals, marketing, real estate niches, the next crash, and more.

In the information age, panels are really powerful.

It’s one thing to HEAR a great mind share big ideas.  But you can do that online.

It takes you to a whole new level when you watch several great minds DISCUSS big ideas. And to be a part of the conversation yourself?  Priceless!

With limited space on each year’s Summit, we realize it’s not possible for everyone to be there.  Hopefully someday, YOU can join us!

But in the meantime, we encourage you to seek out the smartest, most accomplished people you can … and find a way to get into high quality, win-win relationships.

They’ll expand your thinking, show you possibilities you didn’t know existed, open doors and make introductions to people and places you might otherwise take months or years to get to.

There’s nothing we know of that can help you accelerate your success faster than smart investments in building social capital.

Until next time … good investing!

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