The #1 Reason People Miss Out On Great Opportunities (Including me!)

A few month's ago I lost out on a good deal for one really stupid reason: I didn't have any money.

An investor contacted me and let me know he had acquired a property he needed to move. He gave me the info and I told him I would get back to him.

I ran my numbers and researched the property and concluded that this was a good deal. A very good deal.  Any other time I would in fact jump all over this deal. My only problem was that I was currently in a few other deals at the same time.

This meant all of my money was currently tied up and I had no money to put into this new, good, deal.

But that didn't stop me! I thought to myself: "What would a smart investor do?" Find money!

So thats what I did. I contacted other investors in my database and presented the scenario to them. In fact, I only did this once because the first investor I contacted was interested. They saw the value as I did and asked me how much money I needed.

So within 4 hours of first being presented the deal I contacted the original investor to let him know that I was in!

And you know what he told me only 4 hours after offering me the deal? "Sorry, someone else took the deal already."

Was I mad at this investor?

OF COURSE NOT!

Was I mad at myself?

ABSOLUTELY.

This guy did what I would do if I needed to unload a property fast: contact everyone on my database (just as I did when I was looking for money.)

My mistake was passing up the good deal just because I didn't have any money. The thing is, money really isn't that hard to find when a good deal exists.

If you find a great opportunity, money is not hard to find. Don't believe me? Next time you find a great opportunity, bring it to me! If the deal is good enough, I will find the money. And next time I won't hesitate.

Why The Answer to Your Retirement Isn't Money, It's INCOME

Whether you are 20 or you are 50, your retirement may feel like its really far away... but the truth is that its not. 

Reason #1: If you have more income coming in then expenses going out, you can retire any time you want.

Reason #2: Anything can happen at any time, and these things usually cost a lot of money. 

So to make this less boring, lets replace the word retirement with "EMPIRE". Doesn't that sound neat? How much money are you saving every month to put towards your EMPIRE?

Yes, much better. 

So what is an Empire? Imagine its a large bucket. How large? Thats up to you. The bucket grows as it is filled. But often there are holes in the bucket that are used to pay for expenses and silly liabilities.

The old way to think about retirement was to fill the bucket up until 65, then retire and start draining the bucket until one day you finally kick the bucket. 

Problem #1: What if your bucket is empty before you kick it? 

Problem #2: Re-read Problem #1 because that should scare the crap out of you!

What most retirees don't realize is that your expenses actually INCREASE as you age. Even with Medicaid/Medicare/Insurance the cost of living goes up as you age. 

"I remember when going to the movies cost a nickel!" - Your Grandparents

Don't forget about inflation! Every day the government is making your dollars worth less and less. The best way to understand this is that it once actually did cost only a nickel to see a movie!

But the government keeps printing money, making the money you have saved less and less valuable. So not only are your expenses going up, but the value of the money that you still have is going down. 

"Da da da da da da da da da" - Empire Music from Star Wars

Good thing you aren't "saving for retirement" but instead are "building your empire". 

Empire Building is simple:

     -Education: Take control of your finances. Cut stupid expenses and spend every free moment thinking about how you can increase your income. 

     -Decision Making: Do your own research so you can make your own decisions. Do not leave this aspect of your life up to someone else, especially someone that earns a commission. This is your EMPIRE for you to rule and no one else. 

     -Discipline: No excuses. Find Your "Why" and stick to it! 

Retirement vs. EMPIRE Building

Remember the bucket? Of course you do.

With retirement, you spend your life trying to fill your bucket until you are 65. There are many holes in this bucket but hopefully you are adding more water to this bucket than is draining. Then one day you stop filling your bucket (retirement) and you hope you have enough water left over to last you until you die. 

With EMPIRE Building, you spend your entire life creating new streams of water (income!) that continually pour into this bucket. Even if they are small streams today, they are important. You minimize the holes in your bucket and as your bucket starts to fill up, it grows. 

Your bucket gets larger and larger over the years as more and more streams are added to it. 

One day you will realize that you have more streams than holes. Many more in fact. And since these are automatic (you don't need to do anything to maintain these streams) you can choose whether or not you want to keep adding new streams. (The Cash Flow Lifestyle!)

You decide how big you want your Empire to be. While it is important to always live below your means, its up to you to continually raise your means. 

Or, you can just save for 'retirement'.

Follow Skyler on Twitter

6 Best People to Follow On Twitter for Entrepreneurs

As most entrepreneurs can attest, if you cannot find something you are looking for in the world, it is best to create it yourself. So without much further ado, I give you my list of top Entrepreneurs and Business People that you MUST be following on Twitter.

1. Mark Cuban @mcuban
     If you didn't already know, I once greatly disliked Mark Cuban. And then I heard him speak at a conference. And then I read his book: How to Win at The Sport of Business. And then I started watching Shark Tank. And then I started following him on Twitter. And then I wrote: How I Came To Really Like Mark Cuban. 
Click for Complete Mark Cuban Bio.

2. Ashton Kutcher @aplusk
     Model turned Actor turned Venture Capitalist, Kutcher has financed such companies as Summly (Just bought by Yahoo! for $30 Million), Socialcam and FlipBoad. With over 14 million followers, no one does Twitter quite like Mr. Kutcher.
Click for Complete Ashton Kutcher Bio. 

3. Richard Branson @richardbranson
    "Tie-loathing adventurer and thrill seeker, who believes in turning ideas into reality. Otherwise known as Dr Yes at Virgin." If you only get the chance to read one Biography this summer, make it Richard Branson's
Click for Complete Richard Branson Bio.

4. Elon Musk @elonmusk

     Founder of Pay-Pal and electric car company Tesla, Mr. Musk tired of earth and started SpaceX, a privately owned space exploration company. Yes, you read that correctly. Mr. Musk has made a living (and quite a living) by literally turning dreams into reality. "Failing is an option here. If you aren't failing then you aren't innovating enough."
Click for Complete Elon Musk Bio. 

5. Mark Suster @msuster

     Two time entrepreneur sold both companies (second one sold to SalesForce.com) is now full-time Venture Capitalist looking to invest in the next big thing. Actively seeking out young entrepreneurs and tweeting sage advice along the way.
Click for Complete Mark Suster Bio. 

6. Skyler Irvine @skyler_irvine

     Real Estate Investor,  Founder of CashFlowLifestyle.net and Natural Gas advocate Skyler is a must follow for tracking global and national trends that will impact you financially. Author of this blog, Skyler is easily accessible on Twitter and also his Facebook Page at www.facebook.com/TheCashFlowLifestyle.
Click for Complete Skyler Irvine Bio

Want to add someone to the list? Tweet @skyler_irvine

Forget your what, you need a WHY

Want to get things done? You need to find your why.

Why?

Exactly!

Lets say you you want to make one million dollars over the next 5 years. This is your what.

What = Make One Million Dollars over 5 years.

Normally you would then decide your how, as in how am I going to do this.

Work overtime. Invest well. Start a company. Learn a new skill. Write an e-book. Win Survivor. Find oil in my backyard.

These are all hows to help you achieve your what. Simple enough. The problem? You are lacking your why, and every successful achiever knows that the why is the most important part. Here's why:

I want to make a million dollars in 5 years. A month goes by and I am not much closer to my goal. I realize that working over time sucks, investing takes a lot of education, I don't have time to start a new company because I am working over time, let alone the time to learn a new skill. Writing an e-book sounds hard, I can never go on Survivor because I got hungry while writing this sentence and I don't have a back yard to find oil in because I rent an apartment.

The common result? I either say I want to make a million in 10 years because 5 is just unrealistic, or I convince myself that I don't really need/want/deserve a million dollars anyway and I was just being silly.

I do this because my brain doesn't like conflict. It has to believe in something because that is what feeds brains, but when there is a conflict like I want to make a million dollars, but making a million dollars is hard then one of two things happens.

1. I convince my brain to believe something else. Conflict solved.
2. I overcome the hard part and do what my brain wants. Conflict solved and desires achieved.

I recommend #2.

This is where your why  comes in.

What do you want? $1,000,000 in the next 5 years.

Why do you want it?

-To retire early
-To start a new life
-To pay for a life saving surgery
-So my spouse can quit their job
-To pay for my kids colleges
-To travel the world
-To buy the car I always wanted.
-To build a time machine!

The why is up to you. But it must be POWERFUL. It must be something you really want to achieve. Something you truly desire.

The why is what gets you out of bed early in the morning or keeps you up late working longer. Your brain will constantly play games with you when times get tough and you will have a choice to make. This is when you remember your why.

Forget about what you are trying to accomplish and focus on why you are doing it.

You have probably already come across this when people talk about vision boards. They work because they remind you why.

Want to lose weight? Why? To look good? Fit in your favorite pants? Live longer? Every time you look at a menu or decide to skip a workout remember your why. Picture it in your mind. It is powerful.

Over time you will only make choices that get you closer to your goals because the desire will be too strong not too.

Your brain will stop playing tricks on your and you will be so determined you will not be able to understand why others don't focus on their why.

So what are you going to do about it? Or better yet, why are you going to do it?

CashFlowLifestyle.net

Should I invest in BlackBerry (Formerly RIM)

If you blinked, you may have missed it. Research In Motion ($RIM) officially changed its name to BlackBerry ($BBRY) and released its very long awaited BlackBerry 10, with the intention of re inventing the smartphone market.

So the question you want to know is, "Should I be investing in Blackberry?"

The short answer: No.

The longer answer: Keep reading:

     1. At this point, there is no 'investing' in BlackBerry. This company has traded between $5-$150 over the last few years... This is red flag number one, and why I believe there is no 'investing' in BlackBerry, only trading. What's the difference?

Traders dont worry about long term growth, they are often in and out within a day. A stock like this a trader's dream, and a HUGE reason you should avoid it.

     2. The BlackBerry 10 is BlackBerry's hail marry pass to save the company and reinvent the industry. Does this phone look like the industry has been reinvented?

I showed this photo to my wife and I said it looks like a cheap iPhone knock off. Her response: "It looks just like a Droid phone."

So BlackBerry's efforts to 're-invent' the industry is to come out with their version of a product that already exists.

     3. EcoSystem: BlackBerry simply doesn't have it. At least a competitive one. Google's Android and Apple's iPhone is more than just the hardware. They make their real money in the cash flow created in their EcoSystems.

When you buy an iPhone, you have access to literally millions of Apps with more added every day. Microsoft is learning this the hard way with their recent dud the Windows 8 phone.

So should you invest in BlackBerry? If you like the phone, buy it. But a company can make a nice product and still not be a valuable investment. BlackBerry is one example of these companies for the reasons above.

This phone can be an amazing product, but your money should be your number one concern when investing.

You should be investing in companies that will be around forever. Do you think this company will be around for ever? Look at some of the biggest tech names over the last few decades.

HP. Circuit City (retail). Apple (Up, then down, then up, then down...) Kodak.

There are just too many other great investments out there to be considered before coming close to this company. And if you haven't noticed, the Dow Jones is close to hitting 14,000! Remember a few years ago when the Dow Jones touched 6,000?

Don't look now, but we are in an incredible Bull Market and the Fed plans to keep printing through 2014... if you haven't started yet you should start investing soon.

Here is a good place to start: Why you MUST be investing in Dividend Paying Stocks.