Invest in Yourself. You CAN afford it. Trust me.
What’s the first thing you think of when you hear the word “invest”? I know I think of real estate and multifamily syndications, returns, etc., but one thing most people don’t think about is themselves. The understanding/practice of investing in yourself comes with time, commitment, and taking action. But what does it really mean to invest in yourself? How do you do that? Why would I invest in myself when I can make more money just buying more deals? Today I’ll be shining some light on the subject matter. You’ll discover why you simply cannot afford NOT to invest in yourself!
So What Does it Really Mean to Invest In Yourself?
When you invest in yourself, what you’re really doing is choosing yourself. You’re banking on yourself to make moves that take you further in life. When you choose yourself, people will notice you, and they will choose you over and over again. Investing in yourself means you stop drifting through life waiting for things to happen, and instead take concrete actions that bring you closer to your best self. Because in order to start your journey to financial self-reliance, you’re going to need the best version of yourself possible.
You have to be willing to kill certain parts of yourself for others to be born, which means you have to kick the parts that no longer serve you to the curb, and make room for your true, authentic virtues to shine.
The saying goes that “You have to get people to know, like, and trust you before they will invest with you.” Well, in order to make that happen, you first have to be the best you that you can be. How many times have you ever talked to someone that was really shy and they couldn’t even look you in the eye when they were talking to you? Would you invest with person? Or what about the person who simply won’t stop talking about themselves and then at the end of the conversation they ask you for money to invest in their deal. Would you invest with that person? How about an overweight individual who is trying to give you advice on how to be physically fit. Would you take advice from that person? You get the point.
The key is to be completely authentic, while still killing off those bad habits of narcissistic behavior, lack of self-confidence, etc. The best way to overcome those obstacles, starts with you.
The Drill
So how do you start? How do you actually go about the business of investing yourself? What does investing in me look like? If the entire prospect is daunting to you, try simplifying it by breaking it up into chunks. Look at different pieces of your life that might benefit from a revamp, and at the same time start looking at how you might go deeper with certain aspects of yourself. Here are some examples of what I mean. Consider it a recipe for awesomeness.
1. AM Journal
Ah, the good old morning journal. An amazing millionaire, philanthropist, father, husband, & investor by the name of Hal Elrod, wrote a book called “The Miracle Morning.” It delves into the reasons of why mornings are the most important time of the day to get your mind right. Brain dump your thoughts into the journal. Be laser focused on what matters most to you while not intruding into your everyday life with work, family, spouse, kids, hobbies, etc. The idea of early morning journaling isn’t designed to be an inconvenience or a nuisance, but instead was designed to help YOU get in the right state of mind, ready to tackle the day ahead. The best version of yourself can be found when you set aside even just 10 minutes a day for yourself.
AM journaling has always been cherished, praised and advocated by practically every wellness coach, motivational speaker and creative on the planet. Why? Because it’s fool-proof. It has been proven that over 90% of the world’s millionaires are morning people. Even if they weren't before they became wealthy, they knew if they could turn themselves into morning people they would be one step closer to the wealth that they desired.
In the book, Hal Elrod calls The Miracle Morning his Life S.A.V.E.R.S. routine. Very well depicted I might add.
Silence - Some form of meditation, prayer, utter silence for your thoughts in order to decompress & open up.
Affirmations - Affirming to yourself that you will achieve every goal you are setting out to accomplish. The simple task of affirmations is such a powerful tool in investing in yourself and achieving great things.
Visual - Visualize where you want to go in life. Close your eyes and picture what it will look like, feel like, smell like, taste like, sound like, etc.
Exercise - I’m not saying you have to run a marathon every morning, but a simple 5 - 10 minutes of jumping jacks, push-ups, sit-ups, etc. will get the blood flowing to your brain and allow you to think/act better, faster, and longer.
Reading - I always like to read my Bible and some form of self-help book. Mostly mindset, business, investing books are my favorite.
Scribing - Which is how this plays into AM journaling. This is your journal where you write down anything and everything that you’re thinking of. It doesn’t matter what it is. Just get it down on some paper.
2. Get a Dream Team in Place
Would you hire a math tutor for your kid if they needed an extra boost? Or a therapist, if they seemed a little detached or sad? As you start to think about how to invest in yourself, you need to mother yourself with that same gusto. If you need a life coach, which I highly recommend for everyone, book the appointment. If you’ve been battling against those ten pounds, get a trainer and/or a nutritionist. If your accounting is a mess, enlist the services of a bookkeeper. If you’re feeling spiritually empty, maybe a pastor or like-minded Christian can help. There is great power in mentorship and it can come in all kinds of ways. Whatever your specific needs are, realize that there is absolutely no shame in getting some help.
In fact, almost every successful person in the world has had some form of a mentor in their life. For athletes, it could be their coach, for entrepreneurs, it could be someone who’s done what they are attempting to do before, for scientists, it could be a world renown scientist who was their professor in college. Whatever your goals are, finding a mentor and creating a dream team of people around you, will propel you to success. How does that saying go? “Show me your top 5 friends and I’ll show you your future.” How powerful is that?
3. Fake it ‘Til You Make It
Acting as if is something you should do when you have a goal, but have not yet amassed the skills or experience necessary to execute fully on it. When I started raising money for my multifamily real estate deals, I had no idea what I was doing. I listened to podcasts, read books, and talked to other people who have done it before, but nothing compared to raw experience. I felt like I was going in blind, but I knew if I just had the confidence and willingness to make it happen, that I could do it.
Sure, I got a bunch of no’s and people laughing at me because I was a newbie, but had I never got started, I wouldn’t be where I am today, having raised over $6,000,000 in private capital for our real estate deals. I had to be willing and fearless, while I stepped out of my comfort zone in order to gain that experience needed to excel where I wanted to.
Do what it takes to convince yourself—take real action. It doesn’t have to be massive either. Baby steps are a lot less frightening and a lot more doable. Educate yourself, create the kinds of things that would be expected of you in that role. It won’t feel comfortable at first; sometimes it’s terrifying. But you’ve got to make it a reflex. It’s like a muscle that you have to exercise until it becomes strong. Just like a muscle must be broken down before it can be built back up, it’s the same thing with learning a skill. First it must be broken down (getting it wrong) and then it can be built back up (getting it right).
4. Carve Out an Hour
Nothing happens without action, and it is precisely action—even in the smallest doses—that you will need as you start to become self-made. Don’t let yourself get overwhelmed by the prospect of “starting something.” Instead, think of a way you can give your time to it, for one hour per week, be it to brainstorm ideas, to write about them, to sketch out designs, to chat with your mentor, to pick a mentor. Whatever it is, commit to one hour, where you sit down, without social media buzzing in your face, without distracting e-mails to answer, and without your “real job” to deal with. Call it you time.
The act of carving out time for yourself will allow you to be the best version of yourself for your spouse, for your kids, for your friends, for your business, for your employees, for your boss, for your co-workers, for your parents. Becoming the best version of yourself is one of the most selfless things you can do for others.
5. Put Yourself Out There
Networking is king. Or queen, as it were. I can’t say enough about the value of putting yourself out there. How will people know you exist? How will you make connections. It’s true what they say: You’re network is your net worth, so get out there and meet people!
Networking is a magical thing because you never know who you will meet that will ignite a spark in you, be it professionally, creatively or even just socially. Enroll in entrepreneurial conferences, go to meetup groups, join a writing group, take a professional cooking class with a fancy chef, start your own meetup group. It doesn’t matter as long as you’re circulating among like-minded people who are ambitious, creative and like you, also hungry to connect. Who knows, maybe that one person you end up sitting next to at some conference will be the angel investor to invest in your startup idea or next deal.
The art of networking is quite simple. Be as fully interested in the person you’re talking to as possible and don’t ever make it about you. Listen to what they are saying, ask thought provoking questions, really get to learn who they are and what they do. Then, if you can add even more value by connecting them with someone you know, they won’t ever forget it. By making it all about them they desire to reciprocate your kindness with kindness by helping you out whenever you need it. Have the mindset of selflessness and you can’t go wrong.
6. Find Your Voice
No matter what direction you’re going to take as you become self-made, you’re going to have to find your voice. Whatever you embark upon will require that you give a tone, style and message to your brand, which will all culminate in the essence of how you want the world to understand what it is you’re offering.
In your pain is your brand, which means that anything you have suffered (or still suffer) becomes the seed of the problem that you, through a potential business, can aim to solve. I see it happen all the time, people have issues or problems they can’t resolve or find anyone else who can, so they start a business around fixing this issue. Take Jovanka Ciares, for example, whose health started to fail and she kept hitting walls with doctors, none of whom could help her feel better. So began her amazing career as a wellness expert!
Your brand and/or thought leadership platform will assist you in networking, educating, and growing. Once more people learn the authentic, best version of you, they will want more of it. They will start telling their family and friends about you and you will organically grow by simply being you. Doesn’t that sound great?!
7. Get Intentional
Declare yourself! If you love to write poetry, say you’re a poet. If you love to cook, say you’re a chef. If you want to start a company, see yourself as a CEO, and “act as if” until you actually are. Be intentional on figuring out who you are deep down, and make it your mission to live in those shoes.
Being intentional about your life will create so many synergies and will slowly make your goals easier and easier to achieve. Intentionality begets success.
There is much to be learned from paying attention to yourself. Everything you do, every choice you’ve made or will make, is important, because you are important. There is no narcissism or grandiosity in this. It’s about putting yourself in the mindset that your actions count, that your decisions have implications, and that you have chosen yourself and put your faith in your own ability to succeed.
Mobile, AL Market Data:
Real Estate:
The recently released Baldwin Realtors’ August 2020 real estate report indicates strong positive housing market trends continue to hold fast following the COVID-19 shutdowns of March and April in one of the more dynamic residential real estate markets recognized both locally and nationwide.
The Baldwin Realtors’ Multiple Listing Service (MLS) shows a year-over-year increase in the total number of properties sold in August 2020 for both resort and traditional residential segments, as well as an increase in total sales volume.
August numbers on total volume sold for the resort segment was $137,104,280, compared to $84,762,265 for August 2019.
Total numbers in August for traditional residential properties increased to $178,576,248, versus $120,414,394 in 2019.
A new silver lining of local news arising last month is that, for the first time since the pandemic started, the resort properties in Baldwin County reported better numbers than the traditional residential market in the county.
Average sales price saw a 17.6 percent increase from August 2019, resulting in an average pricing of $505,919.
Listings also spent less time on the on market, averaging 91 days, compared to 96 days in August 2019. The total number of closed sales also reported an uptick of 271 units, compared to 197 in August 2019 — a 37.6 percent increase.
Baldwin County’s traditional residential reporting was not far behind the resort area last month, with an average sales price increase of $311,651. This number was 16.7 percent higher than August 2019’s benchmark of $266,994.
Properties spent a similar amount of days on the market at 73 days, compared to 74 in 2019. Closed sales saw an increase of 27.1 percent from 2019, with 573 sold last month versus 451 sold in 2019.
Education:
The U.S. Department of Education announced Mobile-based Bishop State Community College was the recipient of the highly competitive $1.3 million TRIO Student Support Services (SSS) grant.
SSS is one of eight federal TRIO programs authorized by the Higher Education Act to help college students obtain funding to afford costs associated with higher education.
The SSS grant, in particular, is designed to provide students from disadvantaged backgrounds with opportunities for academic development and assistance with basic academic requirements.
SSS helps students who have limited income and are first-generation students and/or students with disabilities. The grant provides an array of comprehensive services including academic advising, financial aid advising, career and college mentoring, and assistance with academic tutoring.
These services have shown in some studies to increase the chances of academic success for many students as well as decreasing the likelihood of graduating with high balances of student loan debt.
Hurricane Sally:
We made it through Hurricane Sally, mostly bruised and battered. Sadly, some lives were lost. Areas of big property damage were focused along the coasts and shorelines. I hope for you Sally was “just” an inconvenience and disruption. The landfall at night was scary since howling wind, gusting for long periods, adds to the stress, fear and unknowns of trees falling, projectiles striking our homes or roofs being ripped off. Power outages and roads blocked by downed trees were more than an inconvenience.
Sally was an extremely difficult hurricane to forecast because of weak steering winds, leaving multiple scenarios of strengthening and paths as options. The slow motion is what allowed tremendous rain amounts closer to the beaches, and it kept extreme winds there much longer than expected of a typical hurricane.
A day before landfall, it became clear Sally was not going to Louisiana. “But the forecast changed from what you said yesterday,“ some people commented on Facebook. Yes, it did, for the same reason that when you are using GPS driving across the country, you constantly hear, “recalculating.” As new data arrives, you must recalculate your projection. Don’t plan tomorrow based on yesterday’s forecast.
“What category will it be?” That’s the same question as, “Are we there yet?” We don’t truly know the landfall category until landfall. Relying on a category to define all threats of a hurricane is like choosing a partner based on their weight. The hurricane wind scale is only for wind speed. While years ago it did have storm surge estimates, we’ve learned storm surge often does not correlate to the category at landfall.
Rainfall? Tornadoes? The category tells you nothing about those either. The category also does not tell you the duration of the storm. A category 2 storm that stalls on the coast could be more devastating than a small, fast-moving category 3 storm.
The difference between categories is 1 mph, but the difference within categories can range from 15-25 mph. A high category 1 and a low category 1 are not the same.
In any given location, Sally could have been the worst storm ever to strike, as all hurricanes have unique structures and each of us defines “worst” differently.
Compare Hurricane Sally to Hurricane Ivan, which made landfall in virtually the same spot of Baldwin County exactly 16 years prior. Sally had maximum sustained wind of 105 mph, a forward motion of 3 mph and a hurricane wind radius of 40 miles. Ivan had maximum sustained wind of 130 mph, a forward motion of 13 mph and a radius of 105 miles. That reinforces that no one statistic on a hurricane gives you the single answer to what the impact will be in one location.
As with all storms, the maximum wind is typically estimated since rarely is there a weather sensor in the path of the highest wind. Statistics often have to be estimated by interpolating known measurements and sometimes finding data after the storm that was not available in real time.
Summary
This concludes our newsletter for this month! If anyone is wanting to learn more about Ferrari Capital or our amazing investment opportunities, don’t hesitate to reach out to me via email, check out our blog posts, or our weekly podcast show titled Creative Capital! Have an awesome day! JoshFerrari901@Gmail.com