Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action
WHY?
Today’s book is Start with Why by Simon Sinek a powerful author, TED speaker, and inspirational leader. This is really a great book but I also appreciate how much this man has done to improve military leadership by using proven decision making habits to address leadership.
Welcome to the How to Apply it to REI series where we take the best business, personal development, and biographical works and apply it to the world of real estate investing.
Why? As real estate investors we ask that question a lot. “Why are you selling?” “Why do you think your property is worth that amount?” “Why is your rent late?” All important questions, but did you notice an important similarity with all of them? They were all outwardly focused, aka, looking at someone else for the answer.
This book has us looking to ourselves for the answer to why. Why are we investing in real estate? I’m also going to get into “how” and “what” because a vision without action is day dreaming. Add how you are going to proceed and what you are going to do then that becomes a business.
Lesson 1: Start with “why”
Why are you in the business of real estate investing? Well to make money of course! But is it really?
True every business out there needs to make money, but you can literally do many other (often times easier) things to make money. There is a deeper reason there.
Simon uses the examples of Apple (to fight the establishment), Microsoft (equip people to be their best), and Southwest Airlines (champion for the common man). Having a why matters because without it you are competing on the same playing field as everyone else. The brands that have a why are iconic. That is why people line up for hours to get a new iPhone the day it is released. No one is creating a mob for the newest Dell laptop. That isn’t to even say that Dell makes bad products, it is just that Apple has created something so deeply connected with people that they will literally inconvenience themselves for their products.
How does this apply to real estate investing? Trace back your values to why you want to do this. Is it a family business and you want to honor your heritage? Is it because you believe everyone should have a safe and clean home? Do you know what it is like to live in an unsafe place in the world and now you want to change that? I of course am listing out all the nice reasons, there are definitely others. And like everything that I do on this site I want you to think for yourself and make it your own. I only want to show you the map, the path is yours to make.
Ok, you are thinking to yourself, that sounds great, but is there a practical reason to have a why? Absolutely. Knowing why acts like a filter to all your decisions. Why is your value system and when you come up against something that is not part of your why you can make faster decisions.
Let’s say for example your why is to have clean, affordable homes. Well if that is your why and your niche then you won’t be making over improvements on marble for the bathrooms, exotic granite for the kitchen counters, and heated floors. Don’t lie, you know there are projects where you just want to deck out the property with everything to make it the most impressive on the block!
We are humans and tend to get caught up in emotion and potential. That’s ok, but having a why re-centers us and is a built in gut check. It will permeate through all your decisions for the business. It is your beliefs.
Have a why, be different, be unique, and stand out. If you are going to be in this for the long run then why not create a business built on that?
Lesson 2: How
How is your personal values and principles. I like the example used in the book. It isn’t the concept of integrity (not actionable), it is always doing the right thing.
If we have the how, then we have our guiding standards for the way we act in every scenario. How builds an actionable pathway off your why beliefs because there are more quantifiable metrics. Therefore, there is accountability. I know there are some real estate agents that read my posts. If this was your how, ask yourself, are you acting in the best interest of your client/principal?
I’ll give you another benefit of a proper how, you don’t have to compete with everyone. I am willing to bet that if you are in a small to major city there are plenty of other people who are interested in real estate investing. If you feel like you need to compete with every single one of them then you are going to lose it to stress.
However, if you know your why and use the guiding principles of your how then you are competing against yourself. If you push yourself on a daily basis to live with your why and how then the competition pool shrinks to just you and your company trying to outdo yourself.
Yes, other people can do the same actions as you, but who else is doing it for your reasons?
Lesson 3: What
“I buy and sell real estate”. That is a common answer many investors give when asked what they do. It is a what. It is totally valid. However, at this point I hope you want more than just being commonplace and typical.
What is easy to see. It is tangible. But the problem is that most people start here. If you just want to buy and sell real estate without thought on the why and how it is easy to get lost.
Starting from the what is the reason many newbies face analysis paralysis and chase all the shiny objects. Oh, today I want to flip houses, no wait I want to wholesale for the quick bucks, actually I just want simple buy and hold for cash flow.
Starting with what just scatters efforts so you end up with mediocre results, or worse yet, no results. Actually, even worse than that, don’t even start in the first place.
As you grow your business people you hire need to know what they have to do. That is in their job description. But if they know why they are doing it and how it is to be done then they will be more willing to follow you and your cause. People get bored of doing things but human nature makes us want to be a part of something.
I hope that everything you’ve read above is helpful. If you’re interested you might be wondering, Mark, what is your why, how, what? Here it is, this is what I believe in:
Why – Freedom with significance.
I don’t show you the steps but I do show you what is possible. That is on purpose.
I don’t think there is just one way to do anything in life. I think that we should all be free to make our lives as we choose. Live and let live. I want to help others achieve freedom. Freedom from debt, from a job they hate, from lives not worth living.
There isn’t a dollar amount or a lifestyle that is best. Freedom is what you want my friends and I believe we can all rise together.
How – Learn and implement mindsets from others.
I am smart enough to know that I don’t know anything. I really enjoy sharing my thoughts and insights with you. Maybe it strikes a chord and you agree. Maybe you think I’m full of shit. That’s ok.
The important thing is to listen to new ideas and learn from the mindsets of others. Make things your own. You don’t have to always agree with me or anyone else for that matter. But what you should be doing is taking in the information and deciding for yourself. Notice how I worded that phrase “from others”. I didn’t say from leading experts in the field of real estate because there are great minds outside of real estate. I just happen to use the real estate platform because I love real estate investing also.
However, at the end of the day you can take anything I talk about on this site and apply it to your life in other ways. From others also means people that you wouldn’t at first think have anything to offer you. It is wise to take things with a grain of salt and understand who is giving you advice.
It is inevitable that if you stay in real estate investing long enough you will find the doubters. People who haven’t tried real estate investing but will give you a long list on why it doesn’t work. Even if you show these people proof they will doubt. Sometimes what you can learn from people is what NOT to do, these are also valuable lessons.
Great minds can be found in all walks of life. Keep an open mind and always, always, always, keep learning.
What – Create and share a knowledge base that helps others be their best.
I have always been and shall always be a life long nerd. I do this with passion and a love of learning that will forever keep me entertained. The thing is, all the knowledge in the world is useless in a single man.
I believe that knowledge should be shared. I think that is the way to a better future. We live in such a PC world where people are somehow ignorant and offended at the same time. I believe if we opened up to learning a great many of the ills of society will be cured.
What I do is share what I have learned and in the context of real estate investing I think there is the possibility to gain that freedom that is my why.
I am going to be honest, I was pretty hesitant to share this particular post. It turned out to be one that is really personal and even a bit emotional. The thing is I believe in what I share on this site. I truly hope that you have gained some value from reading this.
Please pick up a copy of Start with Why. There is just no way that I could do this book justice in a single post. It is quite literally life changing for the way that I think about my business. I cannot recommend it enough.
Thanks for joining me on this journey and feel free to send me an email to connect. I hope you enjoyed this post, stay tuned for more to come!
Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action
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