WEEK #47: THE QUESTION THAT CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE

In progressing the latter stages of our newest three SA units this week, I had several car trips to pick up small items, sort TVs and wifi etc. My car buddy was Mark Manson on audible as I listened to his book “The Subtle Art Of Not Giving A F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life.

For anyone who’s read it you’ll know that Manson provides a fresh, and different perspective on personal development. The summary on goodreads sums it up nicely saying that he, makes the argument, backed both by academic research and well-timed poop jokes, that improving our lives hinges not on our ability to turn lemons into lemonade, but on learning to stomach lemons better.’

Listening to the book as I drove to and fro and build TV stands, the main theme from the first half of the book jumped out and made clear sense so I wanted to share it. And it’s this, that ‘pain serves a purpose’.

What does this mean exactly?

To quote Mark, “Everybody wants to have an amazing job and financial independence — but not everyone is willing to suffer through 60-hour work weeks, long commutes, obnoxious paperwork, to navigate arbitrary corporate hierarchies and the blasé confines of an infinite cubicle hell. People want to be rich without the risk, with the delayed gratification necessary to accumulate wealth.”

It reminded me of the overarching lesson of balance between support and challenge that we learned from Dr John Demartini at the Glasgow Breakthrough Event last summer.

What determines your success is “What pain do you want to sustain?”

Because that seems to be a greater determinant of how our lives end up.

“People want to start their own business or become financially independent. But you don’t end up a successful entrepreneur unless you find a way to love the risk, the uncertainty, the repeated failures, and working insane hours on something you have no idea whether will be successful or not. Some people are wired for that sort of pain, and those are the ones who succeed.”

Years ago I invested in my education to learn how to trade on the stock market – to conduct in depth fundamental analysis on companies and technical chart analysis for optimal trade entry and exit. I was enamoured with the lure of financial freedom through stock market trading in just a few hours each day. Yet, I never made the consistent effort to embed and execute these learnings. The truth is, I don’t enjoy the pain that comes with doing the in depth trade research and management daily, it’s not for me. And that’s OK, I’m fine with it. Instead I pay for help to invest in the stock market now.

On the other hand, Chris and I are both very much on the same page that we are willing to invest in our property education, apply what we learn and take the small, consistent steps, over time, towards growing a successful property business. Because that’s the sort of pain and stress we enjoy sustaining. It’s directly linked to our highest values, not just in the pleasures, but in the stress and pain because they serve as a vehicle to becoming our best selves.

Manson reminds us that there’s a lot of self development advice out there that says, “You’ve just got to want it enough!”

That’s only partly true. Everybody wants something. And everybody wants something badly enough. They just aren’t being honest with themselves about what they actually want that bad. In other words people are in love with the end result but are they in love with the process? If they’re not in love with the process then will likely never get to reaching the really big results.

So, What pain do you want to sustain? Mark Manson calls it the, “the question that can change your life.”

Because that answer will actually get you somewhere.

https://www.harpercollins.com/9780062457714/the-subtle-art-of-not-giving-a-fck

WEEK #46: 4 STEPS TO AWAKENING YOUR INNER HERO

Who’s your hero?

“A hero is an individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles” – Christopher Reeve AKA the original Superman.

Thanks to my weekly dose of Darren Hardy, my mind was stretched as it relates to this concept of hero- he relayed the story of Matthew Mcconaughey (Hollywood actor) who, when asked by a family friend at age 14 who’s your hero? the thoughtful reply was, “Me, in 10 years time”. In other words, “My hero is me, the future version of me”. Darren explained that the greatest leader and hero you could ever know is the one you are capable of becoming. I don’t know about you but this thought challenged me at first, and then I loved the idea of it. For anyone  else who connects with the never-ending best self journey, this is bound to resonate.

I’m going to share the 4 steps to awakening your inner hero that I learned from Hardy in a moment. First, how was your week? Where did your inner hero show up?

It feels like Chris and I put in a bit of a hero shift this week moving the ball forward in our SA portfolio. Here’s a few highlights:

  • Ironing out the snagging list for handover of 3 out of 5 flats in a block on commercial lease 
  • Thanks to James at Fusion and the delivery team these flats are well on their way from zero to hero, soft furnishings in next week.
  • 2 recruitment interviews.
  • Reactive and proactive maintenance across 3 properties in our portfolio.
  • Resolving boiler issues and maintaining guest relations .
  • Prepping for annual accounts submission

So, you might be wondering, what are those 4 steps I mentioned earlier? Well, have you ever been stuck trying to figure out how to bridge the gap between the vision you have for yourself or the attributes you admire in others, and where you are currently?

As Darren H enlightened me this week, ‘Inside you is that admirable, powerful, awe-inspiring person you have always wanted to become and have always been capable of becoming.’ Interestingly, what he shared was very close to what the wise Dr John Demartini taught us during the course Chris and I attended last summer. I know some reading this will be familiar with Demartini’s ‘traits of the great’ exercise. Here are the 4 steps to help you bridge that gap we identified earlier:

#1: Think of your heroes and list them out, all those who you admire most, see as enviable, admirable and heroic.

#2: Brainstorm a list of the single words you would use to describe each of these people

#3: Narrow all the lists down to the top 12 most important attributes to YOU from all of these – you now have a clear picture of your heroic you i.e. you’ve just described the hero in you, the one you are capable of becoming.

#4: Evaluate yourself on a scale of 1-10 for each of these attributes (if you’re not sure, ask your spouse, business partner, colleague). Anywhere that is less than a 10 highlights your personalised ‘Hero Plan’. Now your personal development plan can be focused on developing those specific attributes.

Here’s the curious thing – you wouldn’t have recognised those attributes if you didn’t already see them in yourself.

Now the rest is over to you. “The difference between knowing and and becoming is doing”- Darren Hardy.

Since I reported on this 4 step process I had to do the exercise myself. I set a timer for 20mins and went for it in a flow of consciousness.  Here’s an abridged version just to highlight the 12 words that make up my personal “Hero Plan”

  1. Massive action taker 8
  2. Values led – 9
  3. Immense conviction – 7
  4. Bloody hard worker – 9
  5. Bold – 6
  6. Confident in self – 6
  7. Dedicated to his profession and to learning – 7
  8. Habitual – 8
  9. Abundant – 7
  10. Generous – 7
  11. Consistant – 7
  12. Authentic – 8

WEEK #45 KEY PRINCIPLES OF VENDOR FINANCE

What a packed week! Tuesday saw me back in Sheffield for a fantastic monthly meet up with the Development Discovery crew. A few days back in East Lothian working on recruitment and our SA business, followed by 3 days at Progressive Towers for Chris and I learning about Business Systems with Jason and Ray.

With such a busy week of content there’s too much to share in one post but here’s a few highlights from our Development Discovery Day which may well be of value to all the budding developers out there.

We started the day with a mini round table mastermind where each member updated what they’ve been working on the last month, any challenges faced and their learning objectives for the day. Common learning points to cover were:

  • how to go from outline to full planning
  • how to deal with lapsed planning
  • targeted commercial
  • optimising existing owned land
  • how to do vendor finance
  • Cohort updates

Each project group updated the room on the progress of their development site. In our case we are going through  a pre-application process to optimise our site from 11 to 14 apartments. This is a snapshot of our discussion on the progress of planning and the new design:

– Our mentor Alan felt the revised design will sell much better. 

– In regards to previous challenges of massing and scale- this has been addressed with the following adjustments from our Architect:

  •  Upper floors have been set back so its less imposing
  • The roof line has been lowered with a flat roof so there is not any mass above the original height of the first planning design (*annoyingly there are not any ratios or anything to determine massing, it’s very subjective.
  • A vennel between the front 2 blocks has been created to open up a coastal view for the apartments at the rear of the development which will add to the value
  • The ground level where the footprint of the building will sit will be lowered by half a metre helping to reduce the scale and massing. The ground level will then be feathered away to level it out and we will install French drains (essentially soak away drains that prevent ground water from flowing towards a building) around the perimeter of the building.
  • The overall design palette of the building now looks really sharp using grey Trespa panels  https://www.trespa.com/
  • The balconies have been redesigned so will be easier to construct and drain rain water

Overall a super insightful exercise to go through these planning issues and work towards something that should ultimately be granted planning because the design has been informed by feedback from the planner.

When, rather than if, planning is granted it will raise the valuation of our site as it is and of course dramatically increase our projected GDV. Very exciting and fingers are firmly crossed.

Alan later walked us through some key principles of vendor finance which has worked extremely well for him to create win win outcomes on several sites.  As a little insight, one of the key things is to do your homework and go to meet the vendor equipped with a project folder containing details of how a potential site scheme could work, good comparables, a site valuation and any helpful insights informed by the local plan affecting the area.

What you are essentially doing with vendor finance is minimising risk by speaking to the right people to eliminate as much guessing as possible, and ultimately create a fantastic win win scenario whereby the vendor can achieve the price they want (and more), while you minimize risk and create a fully self funding development.  This strategy can work extremely well with commercial sites that might be costing the owner money (i.e. if it has a struggling business).

Here are some key things you can look for:

  •      Empty buildings
  •      Failing pubs and hotels
  •      Sites that have been sitting on websites and not selling for months

The other key ingredients to this are approaching the vendor with a problem solving mindset and being completely honest throughout.

We used the remainder our time in Sheffield for a mini mastermind session focused on helping one of our cohort members brainstorm possible  options for a large country hotel site with land.

It’s now Sunday morning and after a fun night out with the group from our Business Cashflow Masterclass, we have the final session at Progressive Towers with Ray and Jason before we drive back up the road to East Lothian.

Have a great week ahead.

WEEK #44: THE SIX SECRETS FOR NETWORKING SUCCESS (FROM THE WORLD’S RICHEST RUG DEALER)

This week I discovered the true story of Pejman Nozad, a ‘rugs to riches’ story of an Iranian immigrant rug dealer who became Silicon Valley’s hottest Venture Capitalist with a net worth of $50million. More on that in a moment.

How has your November kicked off? For Chris and I, we’ve been busy with both strategic and operational things, for example:

  • firming up the scope of works and furniture order lists for some new SA units that will be coming online in the next couple of weeks
  • progressing our recruitment conversations for an Operations Manager
  • reviewing and finalising commercial lease documents
  • resolving 2 guest lock out issues
  • exploring conversations with some prospective new clients

What about on the learning side this week, what new learns stand out for you? If you don’t know the story I started referring to at the beginning of the post, it’s simply fascinating and I encourage you to read into it, meanwhile here’s the shortened version.

Pejman Nozad moved to California in 1992 with limited grasp of the English language and $700 to his name. He secured a job in a Silicon valley rug shop and began selling rugs in the area. A lot of these customers were venture capitalists and entrepreneurs  and over time he began building a valuable network. He began connecting founding entrepreneurs with local VCs by inviting them to the rug gallery and generally being helpful to founders. He gradually started investing in his client’s companies and eventually convinced his boss to start a “tech venture fund” (with his savings and his boss’ investment).

Their fund became the first investors in Dropbox, Lending Club, SoundHound, Danger, Zoosk and others.  Pejman Nozad is one of Silicon Valley’s greatest connectors, yet he doesn’t have the staple calling card of Silicon Valley. No M.B.A. No Ph.D. No “technical background whatsoever” (his words). Nozad’s path to Silicon Valley power broker — and VC investor with a net worth in the ballpark of $50 million — was a far simpler one: He sold carpets….and became an expert networker!

Here are Pejman Nozad’s six secrets for networking success, that helped him build a net worth of $50million:

#1 GIVE

Always be willing and eager to help others with an introduction or your time, and do not expect anything in return. Give first and don’t keep score.

#2 BE REAL

Be proud of where you came from and share your story with others. Be completely human and authentic. Zig Ziglar wisely said that, “If people like you they will listen to you but if they trust you they will do business from you.”

#3 COMPLIMENT

Compliment the achievements of those around you and do it with a genuine sentiment, and tie it to who they are deep down. People yearn for validation and recognition, and you can build great bonds by looking for those things that people feel proud of and pointing it out.

#4 DO YOUR HOMEWORK AND FIND COMMON GROUND

In conversations search for common ground. Even better, be prepared – take the time and interest to learn about the person you are meeting. When you do this finding common ground and making a connection is easy.

#5 USE YOUR NETWORK SPARINGLY

Use your network wisely and only at the right time, for the right person and for the right cause. Be careful , purposeful and intentional when making withdrawals from your relationship bank account. There is a time for requests and withdrawals but make it count.

#6 BE AUTHENTICALLY YOU, ALWAYS, EVERYWHERE AND WITH EVERYONE

Don’t create walls between your personal and professional lives – it is one big network of people. We don’t need to exhaust ourselves being slightly different personalities between work, social and family. Be just as personally helpful and at ease with a work colleague as you would with a family member.

In closing we have a quote from Robert Kiyosaki – “The richest people in the world look for and build networks, everybody else looks for work.”

I hope this post proves helpful to you. Please share any of your networking success strategies for others to learn from here.

P.S. If you want to find out more about Pejman Nozad, here’s a couple of links:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/victoriabarret/2012/03/21/silicon-valleys-hottest-vc-is-a-rug-dealer/#766094b231d5

https://medium.com/@pejmannozad/tech-s-most-unlikely-venture-capitalist-bb002488f297