Sunday, December 6, 2009

Temporary Defeat


It has been exactly 3 months since my last post. Which was definitely not intentional. 3 months ago we moved from Detroit to Salt Lake City to pursue a new career. Needless to say life has been very interesting. Turning 30 this year has given me a very new perspective on life. My tolerance for risk has decreased. I've realized the importance of family and what my overall goal is now for my family.

The mistakes that I have made in the past in business cannot be repeated. Right now I am starting over in a brand new career, but unfortunately I am not starting at 0. I am in the red and having to dig myself out of a pretty decent hole.

The most important thing I have learned is to create a stream of income that comes in monthly first! Then invest in real estate. You see a few years ago my only stream of income was coming from real estate and that was it. So if my ventures in real estate did not produce one month - I had no income. I then reached a point where I was unable to receive financing anymore and the whole operation came to a screaming halt. I chased that venture for 12 months - confident that next month something would break. Well something did break and that was just about everything I had.

My lesson learned here is about sustainability. Going into business is not about the short term. If so, you will fail. I had a good run while it lasted but not I am paying the price painfully for business mistakes. Napoleon Hill calls this Temporary Defeat - we do not fail and we are not defeated unless we accept it and stop. I am a more prudent businessman and now have to play catch up.

The new career I have embarked on is that of the family business - Commercial Insurance. My father has been in the business for over 30 years; which is very difficult for me to fathom doing the same thing for that long of a period of time, quite impressive though. His knowledge of the industry is bar none. The one thing I like most about the insurance business is I close an account one year and if they renew I get paid year after year - which in a sense would be considered passive income.

It is very important during these times for us to work smarter and not harder. Look around and realize how blessed you are.