After a few in-depth conversations with other investors this week about joint ventures; particularly in structuring the ‘deal’, I thought “Is this investing thing a popularity contest?” I concluded “Not for me.”
Would I like to be the most popular? Absolutely. Can I be? Unless I consciously change the reason for which I am investing the answer in my mind is “no”.
My justification: “I is what I is and I dooz what I dooz.” (I know dooz is not a word but you get the point) It’s a common theme among my posts I know, but it is truly how I do business; you like me or you don’t and it’s really ok to sit in one of those camps.
Face it, you can’t be everything to everyone and one of the most important traits I have witnessed time and time again is successful real estate investors who have wealth & are living their passions permit themselves to be vulnerable. And in vulnerability they risk popularity.
This is a very unique trait. I have it, do YOU have it? Can you RISK popularity?
The more popularity you want the more work you have to do. To me, the real financial freedom (and with it comes some popularity) is from doing exactly what you LOVE to do without worrying what others think.
Your goal as a real estate investor in my mind is three-fold
- To become financial free so you can
- Help others become financial free so you BOTH will
- Give back to others who are less fortunate than you
If you are not investing for some ‘bigger picture’ aside from your own financial gain and material objects, you are doing it for the wrong reasons. THAT is a popularity contest.
Don’t confuse rewarding yourself though. It is perfectly fine to have rewards in your plan. But the truth is you will probably risk popularity among friends or family because you may be dedicated to increasing your assets instead of increasing your wardrobe, or you still drive a five year old car or you skip Starbucks and bring your own coffee…you know what I mean. You also have to deal with being unpopular among your business partners should you need to stand up for what you believe. And if it is for the best of a deal, then so be it. In my experience you will be the opposite of ‘unpopular’, you will have shown true integrity.
Lack of popularity for me WAS a big fear I personally needed to face years ago. For the longest time I tried to be liked by everyone doing anything to win their affection. No matter how I tried, I could not win every one over so why ‘market myself’ to be popular?
Look at Bill Gates whom no matter what you think of him, gives Millions of dollars a year to world organizations and charities to clothe and feed people. It is not widely known, but it is part of who he is. His ‘popularity’ comes from his passion of computers and software…doing what he LOVES to do. I’m not so sure he really cares what you or I think of him.
Popularity doesn’t make you wealthy in my opinion. Living your passion, reliability, commitment, strong morals and being unselfish to name a few, does. If you are looking to be popular only to gain the proverbial pat on the back from people or to find investment capital, this would not be my first choice. In the end you may lose more than popularity.
So as we approach Halloween it is appropriate to mention it is the one day we can ‘unplug’, put on a mask and be someone we are not, maybe even pretend to be popular. The day after, the masks should be stored away for the season and go back to being who you really are…even if it’s not popular!