Former Worker Bee

It has been a rollercoaster for me, these past few months. I have not landed my first real estate deal, but I have learn some very valuable lessons.

Lesson #1 It is very important to have an accountability partner. However, I have learned not everyone has your best interest at heart. I have a natural gift to encourage. I really enjoy seeing people do better than they were doing; maybe that is why I love reading success stories so much. So, it was a huge wake-up call for me when my former accoutability partner tried to discourage me. At first I didn’t fully understand what was going on, but I did notice that there were warning signs. It was bothering me so much, that I had to share with a couple friends and other entrepreneurs in my network my experience with my accountability partner. They warned me that she was trying to discourage me. The word “discourage” fit so perfectly with what I was feeling. They all said (pretty much) the same thing; that she saw me as threat…as competition. In fact when I confronted her (my accountability partner) about some of the things she said to me, she admitted that she was jealous of the progress I made. I could not believe it! But, I soon after saw for myself, when she did something that crossed the lined. She did something that I considered totally unethical and I knew that that was a clear sign that this is not someone that I can trust. Even though we did not work out as accountability partners, I still wish her much success; and I don’t harbor any hard feelings. I just hope that she does not let greed and dollar signs make the decisions for her.Though it was a little painful, it was a great lesson to learned. Also, out of that experience, I ended up finding an awesome accountability partner who not only keeps me accountable, but also prays for me and my business.

Lesson #2 The Real Estate Investors Association (REIA) club that I joined is a bit intimidating. There are so many many people and we meet in a big auditorium. Which, for me, makes it a more difficult to get to know people. Whenever there is a one-day workshop, I make sure to go because it’s easy for me to talk to people when I am seated next to them at a table. Noticing that this is an area that I struggle in I bought the book (which I am currently reading) Networking for People Who Hate to Network by Devora Zack. I have learned that it is OK to be a introvert. It has helped me understand who I am and how I too can have success networking. I am more of a centrovert because I have a good mixture of introvert and extrovert characteristics.

Lession 3 I learned not to be closed minded. My local REIA offered a one-day workshop called Landlording on Auto-Pilot and our special guest was Mike Butler. I really didn’t want to go, because I don’t want to be a landlord. Actually the only reason I went is to network and I thought maybe I would take away a few nuggets. But, I learned so much and walked away with some very valuable information! I learned that being a landlord can be great if you have a good system in place. After the workshop ended I made a note to myself to not be closed-minded again. There was this experienced investor who is a landlord and he was being a little rude to the speaker. I thought to myself I do not want to be like that when I become an experience investor, a know-it-all rude person. I remember hearing something this other investor said about know-it-all investors. He said “when you come across someone who says or acts like he knows it all, run in the opposite direction as fast as you can.”