Six Key Things Every Successful Person Should Know 

(By Kevin)

Anyone who knows me knows that I have always been a person who loves to look at various business models and try to learn from them.  I started working for others when I was 15 and took early retirement when I reached 56.  During that journey I have experienced the good and the bad, the exceptional, and the ridiculous while working for others.  Every business had something to offer, and I have learned from each and every one.

Our direct marketing business company has the most perfect business model I have ever seen.  It is genius!  It has all the tools, systems, and leadership in place to allow anyone to become a world class entrepreneur.  Will everyone who joins be highly successful?  No they won't, not because the systems don't work, but because they need to adjust their mindset to that of the entrepreneur.  How do I know this? Because I have witnessed so many people, from all walks of life, with all kinds of educational backgrounds, some with tragic pasts, become highly successful in this business.  If they can all do it, then anyone can do it.

So without hyping the company, because that is not my intent, I am going to share with you some of the lessons we have learned, or relearned, over the last year while working with this company.  These lessons will apply to everyone who wants to be achieving more, whether you are an employee or an entrepreneur.

First, there is a great difference between the way entrepreneurs/leaders think and the way employees think.  This is why so many people who start their own businesses, whether those businesses have storefronts, deal in real estate, or are run from home, fail.  The entrepreneur/leader understands that "If it is going to be, it is up to me."  They must have the drive and discipline to build their organization to achieve their dreams.

This was actually a difficult transition for me.  I was fairly successful in corporate America but when it came to being my own boss I failed at first.  In corporate America, even as a senior leader, I had leaders over me, someone to be accountable to.  I had a yearly, quarterly, monthly, weekly road map.  I knew what needed to be done and how to do it.  As a leader of other employees I just needed to help them catch the vision and keep them headed in the right direction.   

As an entrepreneur you are accountable to only you.  You are 100% responsible for your vision, planning, and execution each day.  Even with a system to follow you are responsible for the daily execution of that system.  You are the only one holding you accountable so it is easier to become distracted. 

Second, before you go into business for yourself, you need a dream that is bigger than the challenges you will encounter along the way.  The dream must be big, I mean BIG!  This will be your "WHY" for doing the business.  Why does it need to be so big?  Because there will be challenges along the way.  There will be distractions, setbacks, rejections, and yes failures.  If your dream is BIG enough, you will get up every time you are knocked down, dust yourself off, learn, and get back to work on your dream.

For me, money alone is not a big enough dream.  My dream has to be what I can do with the money.  My BIG dream is to personally demonstrate to my children that they do not have to be dependent upon anyone else to be able to take care of their families.  I also want a few things money can buy so they are part of my dream, for instance we want: a house on a lake in Maine, to serve a mission for our church, to help our family who can't help themselves, and to help others.  You get the idea. YOUR dream must have substance in order to give you something tangible to shoot for.

Third, now that you have a dream to focus on, give specifics to it.  How much will it cost?  When will you achieve it?  Be specific, picture it in your mind.  Put pictures of it where you will see it every day.  This will put your subconscious to work for you (Read "Think and Grow Rich" by Napoleon Hill, click here for free download).  YOUR dream will drive and sustain you when times get tough.

Forth, when the failures come, and they will, learn from them.  At this last convention we were privileged to spend a couple of hours with Mr. John Maxwell, a tremendous teacher and leadership coach.  He shared with us some of his failures along his life journey and how he learned from each one.  He is a guy who considers himself a "failure factory" even though has written more than 70 books and is a world renowned speaker.

The difference between those who succeed and those who don't is this: those who don't succeed will often let the failure define who they are or block their way.  No one and nothing should define who you are except you!  Those who succeed understand that everyone fails.  They embrace the failure as part of the process. They learn from failures and stay focused on their dream.

Mary Jane and I have had some big failures along our journey.  I call them expensive seminars.  We learn what we can and move forward.

Fifth, attitude will determine your altitude in life!  I learned early on in corporate America that I could teach almost anything to someone willing to learn, except attitude.  Therefore, when I was interviewing someone for a position on my team I constructed "what if" or "what would you do" type questions that presented different scenarios that would give insight into their attitude.

The good news is you can improve your attitude.  I work on my attitude everyday.  This last year has been very helpful to me in this regard.  As I have removed some of the junk from my mind, i.e. too much news, and filled it with more constructive information, I find my attitude is much more positive each day.  We know we are going to the top, the only question we have now is who is going with us?

Six, develop an attitude of gratitude.  Being grateful for the blessings you receive as well as the challenges you experience will help you stay on the path to your dream. An "attitude of gratitude" keeps you humble enough to continue learning and provides you with a heart big enough to help those you can along the way.  Both of these traits will help you achieve any success in life you want.

Well that's all for now because I'm trying to keep this short.  However, as an added bonus I encourage you to watch this funny and insightful 13 minute video about success and happiness.  You'll enjoy it, just click here.

I also encourage you to sign up for the Maxwell Minute; its free and a great way to start your day.  Click here to experience a Minute with Maxwell that I like.  There is also a place there to sign up to receive your own daily Minute with Maxwell inspirational thought.

Industry News  

(by Kevin)

Rising Interest Rates Heighten Investor Concerns   

Strong upward pressure on interest rates this year has spurred many investors to anticipate climbing cap rates and the risk of softening commercial real estate values. Numerous other factors, however, will also affect property performance and values, indicating a rise in cap rates may not be on the immediate horizon.  The Fed's decision not to taper it's quantitative easing adds to the complexity, raising new questions for investors.

To help you navigate the complex investment environment, Marcus & Millichap Research Services has prepared a Special Capital Market Report on interest rates and how they will affect commercial real estate values.  This report takes an in depth look at interest rate trends and their correlation to asset performance and values.

The report begins as follows: "Fear and uncertainty often bedevil investors at certain points in the real estate cycle, and concerns have amplified as minutes from recent Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meetings confirmed the likelihood that the Federal Reserve will soon begin "tapering" its $85 billion monthly purchase of long-term Treasurys and securities. These purchases, part of the Fed's third phase of quantitative easing (QE), have held Treasury and mortgage rates at artificially low levels. The risk that the Fed will soon begin a withdrawal of their infusions was compounded by the surprisingly strong upward revision of GDP to 2.5 percent growth in the second quarter."  

The four page report is full of graphs and has too much detail to summarize in the this newsletter so I recommend those of you who are serious real estate investors to click here to go sign up for their mailings and receive this free report.

Laughs and Interesting Stuff 

(Kevin and Mary Jane)  

Funny Shorts:

On a coffee cup in the office: "Some days, the best thing about my job is the chair spins."

I feel so bad. I didn't make it to the gym today.  That makes 5 years in a row.

You can tell a lot about a woman's mood simply by her hands.  If she's holding a gun it is probably a pretty good indication that she's angry.

To all you paranoid people who check behind your shower curtains for murderers, exactly what is your plan if you find one?

Apparently, when someone tells you to get a grip putting your hands around their neck is not what they had in mind.   Who knew?

When I was little I was always asking mom for money.  She used to always say, "What, do you think I'm made of money?"  Well of course we did, isn't that what mom stands for?

M- Made

O - Of

M - Money

You know that old question? "Is the glass half full or half empty?"  Technically the glass is all the way full, 50% water and 50% air.

Tomorrow is a mystical land where 99% of all human productivity, motivation and achievement are stored.

If you can't afford a doctor go to an airport - you'll receive a free x-ray, a free breast exam and if you mention bomb or Al Qaeda you'll get a free colonoscopy.

You know how to prevent sagging as you get older?  Just eat until the wrinkles fill out.

When I asked my mother who is a retired Registered Nurse and is now living in an independent living facility what the best form of birth control after age 50 is she said, "nudity."

My wife said, "Watcha doin' today?" I said "Nothing."  She responded, "You did that yesterday."  I replied, "You're absolutely correct however I wasn't finished."

I finally discovered what's wrong with my brain: On the left side, there is nothing right an on the right side there is nothing left. Yikes!

Earl and Bubba Go Fishing

Earl and Bubba are quietly sitting in a boat fishing, chewing tobacco and drinking beer when suddenly Bubba says, "I Think I'm gonna divorce the wife - she ain't spoke to me in over 2 months."

Earl spits overboard, takes a long, slow sip of beer and says, "Better think it over ..............women like that are hard to find."

Keep On Smiling!

(so people will wonder what your up to AND its contagious)