What a weird freaking week it's been for me! I was really hoping for a kick-ass start to 2015 and instead the New Year greeted me with a bunch of weird crap that I'd rather not waste my time on. But, what can you do? It's the cost of doing business and doing well, right? (At least this week ended well. I'll tell you about it in a minute!)
By the way, I should mention that as a successful person, you'll notice that people will only want to take away what you have. I think this is because they feel like deadbeats themselves and don't believe they have the power to create financial freedom on their own...so they feel that they have to find a way to steal it from you in some way. That's just normal. The more successful you get, the more you'll notice that people will try to concoct bullshit ways of taking your money from you including, but not limited to, (andespecially) frivolous lawsuits.
But having lived on this planet for a full 4 decades, I've been noticing something a little unique happening in our most recent times. It seems that as our time-space quantum physics seems to be speeding up (to ensure that we can end up on the "light side" instead of the "dark side" metaphysically and spiritually), we have to "pay" for our wrongdoings rather quickly. The universe is set up for "instant karma," if you will. (So, I guess John Lennon wasn't too far off, was he?)
When I was little, I would see people doing some unspeakable things and wondered why they didn't pay for it. Forget about the justice system. I'm not talking about that. (We all know how skewed and useless that system is.) I'm talking about the universe and thatjustice system. This is when my dad would explain that eventually everyone has to pay the piper whether it takes days or decades...or even happens in the next incarnation.
This is when I would actually notice that decades later these same people who I wondered how/why they escaped their well-deserved karmic fate, suddenly something devastating would happen for them and in their lives. They would contract some painful and drawn-out disease, dying a painful death. They'd get cancer on an equally painful and miserable level. Someone would screw them over and they'd have a significant reversal of fortune. Or whatever.
The good thing is that I vowed at a very young age to do my best to be a good person and, most importantly, to be good to other people.
Good thing I adopted this personal belief system: if you've noticed, things are speeding up. Not just a little...but a lot!
When you wrong someone, you pay right away. It happens in "seconds" in comparison to how things played out only a short time ago.
So...for those people out there who are looking for a f*ree pay day (as with a certain loser student of mine who decided to file a lawsuit...and is now claiming "elder abuse"...interesting how I can "abuse" a senior citizen in NY when I'm in California but I must have some really long arms, I guess) you'll have to pay the piper. Even if you miraculously get your ill-gotten gains by stealing money from someone else, you'll get yours. That's just how the universe works. It's called "karma." Look it up one day on Google when you're bored.
On the flip side, I have a student of mine who's been with me since about 2010-ish. (I pretend to remember when students started with me but the fact is, my memory is next to shot these days on small details like that.) He's a really good guy all around, honest and caring. He submitted a property portfolio (a set of buildings part of the same apartment complex but APN-ed separately) in Texas that turned out to be a deal exceeding $12 million.
And that was the deal that just closed today. I just got the email confirmation from my investor in Texas that they just closed!
Whoooooo!!
Let me tell you about this student. He's been nothing but a gem. Very respectful. Studying as much as he can on apartment building investing for almost 5 years now. And he's been super nice to me (which helps, especially when you want an "in" with my investor partners; respect goes a very long way with me). Now he's splitting a $12-million deal without putting a single red cent into the deal.
What's the split going to be? He's getting 33% on the gained equity (which takes place over the next 3 years) and he's getting a nice monthly chunk of change on his 33% of the cash flow: $11,200 a month!
And my student? He can now retire if he wants but instead he's working on one more deal in the same area which will get him an additional $6,000 a month in cash flow if that one goes under contract in the next week or so (as we anticipate).
When you're a good person and you work toward your goals with conviction and desire, you get rewarded with success.
When you're a piece of crap and you do things to stab people in the back while acting like a worthless victim, you end up with a reversal of fortune (and not the good kind).
You know what the worst part about the piece of shit who is filing the lawsuit against me is? I actually sent over his PDF (and not the Excel spreadsheet that I kept requesting of him) to my investor partner right before I left on my New Year's break and 2 days ago my investor partner sent me an email and indicated that he was very interested in the deal. And when my Texas investor tells me that he's "very" interested, as long as he gets the business plan as requested after that point, it usually goes under contract within about 14 days after that.
So...seems to me like that little "karmic reversal of fortune thing" I was just talking about is already taking it's toll. (That was quick!) And we didn't even get to court yet!
(And in case you're wondering how much potential cash Mr. NYC screwed himself out of for being a dick: $8,321 a month in cash flow in his pocket and a possible estimated gained equity split over 3 years of $660,000...or a total of $959,556 over the 3-year partnership period. That is, if my investor partner decided to work with him on this deal and if the numbers presented were accurate. It's amazing how fast someone can lose a million bucks for being a dumb shit!)
Interesting how life works, isn't it? ("Instant karma's gonna get you...")
What did I tell my investor partner about that PDF deal? I simply told him that the student who submitted it wasn't able to comply with getting additional information about the property "due to circumstances beyond his and/or my control" is how I put it in my email, word for word. And we left it at that.
If my investor partner presses the issue, I'll come clean with him and explain that this student is a "legal loose cannon" and he creates too much of a potential legal liability for both of us to consider working with him on any partnership level. (Rich people will neverwork with those who they believe will create undue legal problems for them. They have enough problems to worry about than to do partnerships with someone who is known to file frivolous lawsuits.)
But the good news for me is that we have too many other opportunities in the pipeline to go after right now to worry about a kick-ass deal that just fell through the cracks...and it's doubtful that my investor partner will ask about his deal ever again.
Here's something important I want to tell all of you right now:
Success is a lot easier to attain than you think. If you've felt like you've been spinning your wheels endlessly, it's because you're going in the wrong direction or not hooking up with the right people or the right opportunities. It's not you...unless it reallyisyou. Because if you're a piece of shit like the student who filed the lawsuit against me, it really is you. In which case, you've made your bed and there you'll lie for the rest of your miserable life.
What do I mean by that?
When you take someone like me who does my damnest to provide the verybest education and opportunities for my students (that you won't get from any other "guru" out there) and then you choose to not only refuse to listen to basic instructions but you stab me in the back on top of that, the universe will have some interesting experiences to share with you in your near future...and none of it will be good. Mark my words on that.
But the good news is that -- with the exception of a very small minuscule percentage of my student database -- 99.99% of my students are freaking awesome! And I'm almost certain that you are one of them! (Unless you're Mr. NYC...then you're not. Definitelynot!)
So...I've had a couple of you ask about getting involved in The $9,000,000 Opportunitythat I presented in Detroit. (1) Since I made it clear that only those who attended the eventwill participate, I will not be going back on my word, (2) we're coming up on the end-all deadline that I can receive deals by so I can't realistically have new students send me deals right now, and (3) I will have another opportunity like this come up later this year. There are always new opportunities. I'll keep you posted on when these will come up. (Right now I have something "possibly" coming up in May and "definitely" coming up in October/November.) Hopefully you'll find it worthwhile to make the trip if you're actually interested in pursuing this next opportunity.
In the meantime, many of you have started off waking up out of coma, realizing that it's now 2015, and wondering what you can proactively do to get your ass moving in a fiscally positive direction.
My initial and original Aggressive-to-Passive Income Methodology still stands strong. Ideally you'll choose a kick-ass Aggressive Income Business to (1) replace your current job or business (so you can stay in that "entrepreneurial mindset" without having some freeway drive or cubicle drain you dry 50 hours a week) and (2) funnel those additional cash flow dollars into Passive Income Assets (i.e. multifamily residential-commercial real estate).
With that in mind, I have something killer to share with you right now. Many of you know I've been building my "suite" of New Wealth Warrior Aggressive Income Strategiessince last year. It was to come in 3 installments, each to stand alone on its own. The first was Kindle Cash Flow, the second was Direct Mail Order Millionaire, and now the third and last New Wealth Warrior Aggressive Income Strategy is finally here: Internet Cash Flow.
This is, perhaps, the easiest of all 3 to pull off for the fastest possible path in gaining traction with Aggressive Income.
What is the Internet Cash Flow System exactly?
I'm covering every method I've used to successfully make money online since 2007 when I first seriously started making money online. Then I had to eliminate the stuff that no longer works and leave behind only the stuff that works now in 2015.
And that was a challenge for me.
Too many Internet "gurus" out there are still teaching crap that used to work in 2008 that hasn't worked in years. It's imperative that when getting an education on making money online that you get the correct information otherwise you'll find yourself in a fruitless tailspin.
I have my Internet Cash Flow System available now...and also a kick-ass deal on my one-time-only Internet Cash Flow 2-Day Boot Camp Seminar I'll be doing in Los Angeles on March 14th and 15th. Here's the link for the deal: http://www.monicamain.com/internet_cash_flow_blitz
If you have any questions, give us a call at 661-295-5050. The deadline to get the deal above is only a few days away.
P.S. For those of you wondering if Lea is coming back, she's confirmed to start back here at Global Success on Monday, January 19th. Thanks for all of your cards, emails, and phone calls. You guys and gals made her feel loved and appreciated enough to want to come back.
And here I was hoping to kick off this New Year with some awesome-ness. Sorry to report that the first thing I get when I sit down at my desk this morning is a freaking lawsuit.
And from none other than Mr. NYC.
Yes, you read that correctly. You know, Mr. NYC from my Detroit seminar who refuses to follow the instructions for The $9,000,000 Opportunity by not sending his deal in the form of an Excel spreadsheet? He's suing me for $10,000 for "blacklisting" him and for "defaming" him because, after all, his legal name is Mr. NYC, right?
Hmmmm...
Strange. This whole thing is the weirdest deal I've ever experienced. First of all, I never blacklisted him. I simply asked him to send me the file in the CORRECT format so that I could forward the deal onto my investor partner to be looked at. This is, of course, a requirement that was (1) fully disclosed/discussed at the seminar, and (2) was very clearly outlined in the investor flyer that was given to each student at the event.
And here I am, still waiting for the correct file format from Mr. NYC. I was even willing to give him a second chance to send me the correct files. Instead, I get a lawsuit.
So...blacklisted is what he'll be, I guess, since he still refuses to follow instructions as clearly listed on a one-sheet piece of paper that he and everyone else at the seminar received.
Now, let me explain how mentally dilapidated this guy is. He'll spend money for air travel from New York and to stay in a hotel in LA to file a lawsuit against me. Then, he'll spend that same money next month to come back out to present his case as the plaintiff.
This is, of course, after he sends me chocolate-covered strawberries for Christmas and asks to meet me for lunch while he was out in LA last week. Not sure if he's just a manipulating douche or if he's got multiple personality disorder but...who sends someone a Christmas gift and offers to take someone out for lunch while anticipating to file a $10,000 lawsuit against them at the same time? Weird, I know. Really weird.
I'll put this experience up there with the stalker I had at this same Detroit event. This Detroit gig was the shittiest event I've done, I think, just because of all the crap that's come from it from Mr. NYC to the stalker weirdo. (What next?? Or rather...who next?) And all because I wanted to present a bona-fide opportunity to my students via my Texas investor partner, this is the thanks I get, I guess!
Un-freaking-real!!
I've been training students since 2001 and this is the very first time I have ever been sued by a student. Ever! This is freaking crazy! And he thinks he can force his way in doing business with my investor partner with this type of erratic and psycho behavior? He has to be completely foolish and out of his mind if he thinks he can establish business relationships with people like this. I swear, I have never seen anything like this before. Never!
Well, between you and I, he's in for a few surprises that I'll reveal to you after the court date next month.
Most of you know how tough I am. I've been through everything you can think of plus a bag of chips so...a bogus lawsuit is something I can steamroller over in my sleep. Furthermore, I consider myself pretty well-suited for what I call "bulletproof asset protection." This is why I tell my students -- including you, dear friend -- to choose your battles wisely. Very wisely. It's not cheap to file a lawsuit against someone, even if it is out of a small claims court. And, if you happen to win, it's very expensive, and mostly futile, to try to collect.
So, say Mr. NYC actually wins in court. (Since I cannot reveal the details of the lawsuit for legal reasons before this goes to court, I can't tell you just how unjustified, ridiculous, andfrivolous his lawsuit is just yet...and how winning for him really isn't likely.) I don't think he realizes that collecting on a lawsuit is the next part of the battle (and the hardest part). The one that most people end up losing. How does he actually think he'll collect the money from me? By putting a gun to my head? (Although as psycho as his displayed behavior has been -- including endlessly harassing me and my staff since the November event in Detroit -- I actually wouldn't put it past him to do something rash that will land his ass in jail for a long time. He's proven to be mentally unstable as far as I can tell just from his rash and rampant behavior.)
But Mr. NYC won't win because of some gross errors he's made in his lawsuit. (Again, I can't discuss what that is just yet. More on this after the court date next month...I have to keep some aces up my sleeve.) He'll have to make multiple trips out here from New York to LA to get his lawsuit right. That will cost him a lot of cash, folks.
Here is a basic business lesson for all of you from this:
1) Choose your battles wisely; lawsuits are expensive and emotionally draining. They're not worth it unless you were really "wronged" in some way AND you can prove it. (Judges these days don't take too kindly to wasting taxpayers money with nonsense, especially judges in LA.)
2) Bulletproof yourself like I have so, even if some numb-skull files a frivolous lawsuit against you and actually wins, they'll be able to collect exactly nothing.
3) Start a "maximum leverage" business because owning a "regular business" totally sucks. This includes the kind where you have employees and a specific type of customer. This is part of the reason why I've gone into semi-retirement since about the summer of last year. (Yes, I've been in semi-retirement. Bet you've hardly noticed, huh?)
This brings me to something I think you should look into and something I'm doing with my business as we speak. Over the past couple of years as a boatload of changes have been occurring with the Internet, I've been pushing my business onto what I call my offline-to-online hybrid business model. This has allowed me to cut my staff and my overhead by about a quarter of what it used to be. Yes, you read that correctly. I cut everything down to a quarter which allows me to pocket more in profits while alleviating much of the headache and legal responsibility I was dealing with before.
You have a distinctadvantage that I don't have. If you're starting a business from scratch with tools that I wish had existed when I was beginning to grow my business online, you have the advantage of what I call "maximum leverage" in your business-to-be: maximum profits, minimum liability, and little (or no) stress.
Why can't I just create "maximum leverage" where I'm at now?
It doesn't work that way. Once you're "in the game" and you have a full-blown operation going, it's hard to "go back" and "reboot" from scratch, if you know what I mean.
But...I am utilizing the strategies from where I stand now. It's just never going to be as fiscally efficient as what you'll be able to do with a business since you'll be starting from "ground zero" or from scratch. And that's freaking awesome!
The cool thing I can offer you is this: the exact strategy you need to have a fully thriving and highly profitable Internet business that you can start (and ideally keep) as a home-based business.
As for Mr. NYC, I can only wish him the best of luck in his mental world of delusion and circus fun. I hope he learns for the next time that when you are given a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, it doesn't pay to screw it up in the worst possible way. It's like winning the lottery and then suing the lottery commission because you lost the winning ticket. Who doesthat?? (And for those of you listening carefully, when you are offered an opportunity of this magnitude, don't piss it away. Okay?)
By the way, as of right now, my investor partner and one of my Detroit students is clear to close on our first deal on Friday, January 9th. We have a total of 5 more deals under contract to date. Three more are set to go under contract within the next week or so. And this opportunity is going to make a handful of students multi-millionaires.
Yes, Mr. NYC, that's what you're missing out on, thanks to yourself and your despicable actions.
P.S. Remember, 2015 is set to be a kick-ass year. I already feel it in my bones. My overall strategy I teach my students is Aggressive to Passive Income. My Internet Cash Flow Strategies is about as Aggressive as you can get as quickly as possible with the most minimal start-up cash. Check it out now: http://www.monicamain.com/internet_cash_flow_blitz
I don't know about you but I like writing down my New Year's Resolutions every year. Typically I'll write them out by hand (I know, who does that anymore?) and place them in a "secret place" that's nothing more than a mini treasure chest located on my tall dresser in my bedroom.
Over the past couple of years I've been experimenting and I've noticed something that I think will blow your mind about why certain New Year's Resolutions come true while (most) others don't.
I've been doing the "secret treasure chest" thing for the past several years. What I do is write a page worth of New Year's Resolutions -- that with 100% conviction, I want to see come to fruition -- and place them in the chest, not to be peeked at for the entire year.
Weird, I know.
This totally goes against the old "motivational guru" strategy of tacking your goals and desires on your bathroom mirror to view and read multiple times a day.
Why do I refuse to look at the list for the entire year?
When you look at a goal several times a day, it's very easy to feel depressed about not having the goal yet or not making any progress toward the goal. This makes you feel miserable about that desire and drives it away from you faster than pulling it toward you. Eventually you become frustrated with the goal, tell yourself that it's not worth it, then that dream dries up and blows away in your mind as you continue marching to the beat of someone else's plans for your life...even convincing yourself that "it's not so bad." (I'm referring directly to any goals having to do with financial freedom.)
However, when you make your list of very clear and concise goals and dreams then put them away, you are basically ordering your subconscious mind to "make it happen" while not putting any pressure on it for making it happen now or in a certain way or by a certain date. It'll happen when it happens, ideally by the close of the new year, of course.
I don't have a 100% success rate doing this. No. (Sorry. I wish I could report that I did.) But my success rate is a consistent 70%.
How is it always 70%?
Because I never write more than 10 goals. Ten is the maximum. And I accomplish 7 out of 10 every year, year in and year out.
If you ask me, getting 7 out of 10 things you ask for each year is pretty freaking good. Don't you think?
Okay, so let's analyze the rules of success for New Year's Resolutions:
1) You must write down a list of your goals and dreams in your own handwriting (instead of typing then printing them out) and they must all fit on one piece of paper (single or double sided).
2) Your goals must be clear. "I want to be rich," isn't a goal. It's a pipe dream. It's unclear and non-specific. Being rich could mean having $500 and living in Guatemala while everyone else there has nothing. So, a realistic goal could be, "I'll reach a $10,000 a month bottom-line passive income cash flow with multifamily real estate by the end of 2015." That's specific. Also, avoid goals that don't really have measurable parameters like, "I'd like to be a loving mother and wife." What the hell does that mean? If that's your goal, add some clarity to it to define what being a "loving mother and wife" actually means.
3) Your goals have to be realistic. An unrealistic goal: "I'll win an Oscar for Best Picture in 2016 based on a movie I write, produce, film, and release in 2015." Not gonna happen. It's impossible. Another unrealistic goal: "I'll buy 1,000+ apartment building units with no cash and no credit in 2015." While acquiring 1,000 units isn't unreasonable, it usually takes about 3 years to pull this off. Start small and overshoot instead of going too high then psyching yourself out (thus doing nothing for the goal because it's too impossible to undertake). A realistic goal: "I'll acquire 100 multifamily units by the close of 2015." Another realistic goal: "I want to lose 20 lbs. and tone up to a bikini body by the summer 2015." This is totally realistic unless you weigh 700 lbs...then it may need a bit of tweaking to work out better for you.
4) Do not exceed 10 goals. You don't want 15 or 20...or more. It just confuses your mind and overwhelms yourself into inaction. If you can whittle it down to 5 very clear and concise goals, even better.
5) Fold your paper and stick it in a "secret place" where you won't look at it and nobody else will find it. You are forbidden to look at the piece of paper until the last day of this year. (That would be December 31, 2015.)
Now, once you put that piece of paper away, it's time to start what I call the "immersion" process right away. Immersion means picking one or two of those goals and start getting involved in making them happen. Talking about it will get you exactly nowhere. But doing something about it -- even if you're not sure it's the right path to take to get there -- will bring you to the goal.
You see, the universe loves action. So, even if you start working on something that may actually be the wrong path, the universe will "right" your path almost immediately after you start moving in some direction.
Case in point: I had set something (which I can't tell you yet) forth in motion last July. It was "forgotten" as far as I was concerned. In this past October, I started my MFA program for Creative Writing at UCR. I wasn't (and I'm still not) sure what (if anything) I will be doing with creative writing as far as a "career" goes but I wanted to "immerse" myself in (a) the world of writing with others who are passionate about it, and (b) start moving into some direction because I got tired of sitting on the fence about it (for the past 20+ years, mind you; anyone sitting on the fence for that long can get crotch rot or something much worse).
A month ago, I went out to my first 10-day residency in Palm Springs for this graduate degree. I wasn't there for not 24 hours before someone (and I won't tell you who...yet) contacted me about this one "thing" (which I'll tell you about soon) I did in this past July. Yes, it has to do with writing. No, it has nothing to do with creative writing, which is why I was at the residency last month.
What does this have to do with anything?
When you start "immersing" yourself or taking serious action into the direction of some goal that you have passion for (yet may not be sure about how you'll pull off or if it's the right direction), your path will not only become immediately illuminated for you but you'll have people falling into your lap to help you on this new "righted" pathway.
Yet none of this happens with inaction and indecision.
So, when you write down your very clear, concise and believably-attainable goals and desires, don't worry if they're not the right fit or if you're not sure you're making the right decision (or worry on how you'll pull it off). Pitch your coin into the wishing well and then take whatever steps you believe will help right now. Let the universe do all the "heavy lifting" for you including offering guidance into a new (or better) direction when the time comes.
Again, nothing will happen unless you prove to the energy gods that be that you are serious enough about making your goals happen by moving into some sort of direction of execution of your written "contract" you made with yourself (i.e. your New Year's Resolutions in your secret location).
Finally, it's here. It's 2015 and things are about to become super awesome!
I'm excited for this upcoming year since I know the economy is about to take off full force and you stand to benefit with a huge financial windfall if you know how to navigate the economic waters.
Secrets for Lining Yourself for Wealth in 2015
One thing I've always admired about myself is my ability to be able to make money. Some of my other areas of my life suffer -- mostly those areas having to do with relationships and family -- but I have some comfort in knowing that I can at least take care of myself...and very well at that.
Many of my students ask me about trends and the best ways of making money. My basic paradigm of Aggressive to Passive Income still is my most solid tried-and-true strategy for the fastest way to financial freedom. But how does this work in reality and what's the easiest, most efficient way of going out this strategy?
First, you find an Aggressive Income business that interests you the most. Over the years I've presented many different Aggressive Income options for my students to choose from. Since each person has a different personality, it's your job to choose which type of Aggressive Income business is most suitable for you. (There's nothing worse than a student asking ME to choose which Aggressive Income business is best for them.)
So, what types of Aggressive Income business options should you consider? I've offered training on New Wealth Ninja (Internet and other Aggressive Income options), Distribution Profits, Kindle Cash Flow, Direct Mail Millions, Aggressive Real Estate (Flipping/Wholesaling), and now my latest (and last) of my Aggressive Income Strategies: Internet Cash Flow.
Secret Strategies for Passive Income
The obvious reason for raising cash via Aggressive Income Strategies is to funnel this cash into Passive Income Assets. It's also for the purposes of quitting your job, especially if you can barely tolerate fighting freeway traffic or clocking in one more day.
But...you can start acquiring Passive Income Assets before you have the cash to shovel into these property deals.
Here are some tips in doing this:
1) Get your personal credit squared away. You need a mid-FICO of 680 or above to become what's called "A paper" to lenders (or to qualify for the best interest rates.
2) Start building business credit once you get your personal credit up to par.
3) Find a specific city/state in the country (and only ONE single area) where you will building your Passive Income Empire. Yes, this area CAN be 3,000 miles away from where you live and does not have to be local to you.
4) Raise enough money to be able to cover 1% to 2% of $1,000,000. (And in case you cannot operate a calculator, this is $10,000 to $20,000.) This will allow you to participate in the 100% LTV Bond Funding Program.
5) Start investing in residential-commercial (apartment building) assets.
Yes, it's really as easy as that.
The hardest part about doing any of this is getting your ass out there and just doing it. It's building confidence and the only way to do that is to start working the steps and seeing success. They confidence will begin to build slowly but surely.
So...let's both make 2015 our year of super success and prosperity but hitting the ground running and starting now. Right at this moment!
I received a somewhat surprising email from my Texas investor partner this past weekend that sort of surprised me, especially since he's from Houston.
He said this, "Tell your students that I'm not taking deals for partnership in Houston right now. There has been some new information having to do with the oil industry that has been disturbing which will cause major shrinkage in that industry. This will greatly affect the Houston apartment building and housing market."
Hmmmmmm...
He should know. He knows the market better than anyone I know. And if he's saying that Houston is not a good idea right now then maybe Houston isn't a good idea right now.
Something about the Houston market has always bothered me since the beginning of our recession/depression (back in 2005...remember that year?): Houston was the only real estate market that never fell apart. As far as I can tell, it didn't feel any recessive pinch like the rest of the markets have. It's like a ball bouncing up and never coming down. It defied all economic laws like no other area of the country I've ever seen.
Of course, I'm only 40 so there's probably a lot of economic things I haven't seen or known in my lifetime. So, I just chalked it off as a circus freak show like a two-headed serpent or the bearded lady and never gave it a second thought.
Then when I received this email I started thinking...Is it really possible that while every city in America -- including those that have seen the most economic devastation like Detroit, Cleveland, and Memphis -- is starting to boom, that a place as financially solid as Houston has always been could now come crumbling down?
Yes, this could very well be the case. In fact, if economic laws never fail, Houston inevitably will have to undergo it's own economic recession even if every other city in the United States is booming at the same time.
Coincidentally, I was just reading in Bloomberg Business Week last week about how Houston is going to start feeling the pinch due to oil prices falling and oil companies (who have headquarters in Houston) cutting back. Insofar, they have actually been cutting back for quite awhile now including laying people off.
And that's never good for the housing market whether you have apartment rentals or you're trying to sell a single-family home.
Between the fall in gas/oil prices and, ultimately, our mass consciousness going into the more "green" direction of utilizing solar and battery power for cars, it is becoming more and more clear that these oil giants won't stay financially relevant forever. It's only a matter of time that every dinosaur eventually dies to make way for new cutting-edge and more efficient ways of doing things.
Unless Houston becomes the center of another type of industry, I'm afraid we're looking at a Detroit replay over time. It may not become so devastatingly bad but if you work the equation the way it is, I don't see how else Houston could fare in the battle of trying to stuff an obsolete resource down people's throats; this would be just as effective as, say, trying to sell people buggy whips in today's day and age. It would only work if you're selling the whip to city of dominatrix's and I'm not sure there's enough of them around to support an entire market, especially that of the size of Houston. (Hey, maybe the oil could double as "lube" for the dominatrix's activities.)
So, it seems that Houston didn't avert the depression after all. Unfortunately for the Houston market, while the rest of us in America are enjoying an economy that's better than what the Roaring 20s kicked out almost a century ago, Houston will be eating beans out of a can under a bridge and crying over its own financial calamity. But as far as I see it, when we all have to pay the piper, we ALL have to pay the piper. Nobody gets a fr*ee ride.
Are you surprised at this Houston economic verdict for 2015? I am. Sort of. Then, on the other hand, I'm not due to it always seeming "unfair" that they never felt the squeeze when every last one of us did. Now it's their turn.
The unfortunate thing for this dose of bad news for Houston is that it won't be an easy case of the financial squeezes and it won't be a short-term recession either. This one if for the long haul so...if you own property in Houston, be prepared. If you're thinking about buying property in Houston, think again.
How do you know if I'm right or not?
Well, first of all, I'll be the first to admit that I'm not always right but I'm right about 99.999% of the time, and those are pretty good odds. Second, although I suspected that the Houston market would eventually have to come to terms with the recession the rest of us have been schlepping through for the past 9 years, I actually stopped thinking (and ultimately caring) about Houston back in 2010 when I myself stopped investing there.
Let me remind you that the bulk of this "warning" about the upcoming Houston economic pinch isn't coming from me but rather someone who is highly familiar with the market. This man is much older than I am and much wiser in the world of real estate investing. When he tells me to stayaway from his home town (which, I may add, he's completely in love with) because of an impending financial crunch then trust me when I say I'll be fullyheeding to his warning.
There are too many other cities you can still make money in and completely circumvent Houston while staying in Texas (if that's where you want to invest). There's Dallas/Fort Worth which is an extremely profitable set of cities. There is Waco which is also a solid cash flowing city for multifamily real estate. There's also San Antonio, Lubbock, Amarillo and Corpus Christi to name a few. (Stay away from border cities like El Paso and Laredo because of issues with drug trafficking. Also, Austin has low CAP rates and tends to be overpriced for what it is.)
I don't know about you but I'm done with this year. I've already ripped down every single one of my 2014 calendars all though out my office and my house. And I did this before Christmas even. That's how done I am of the year 2014.
Even worse (or better), I survived 2 very long lonely days: Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Having no family makes this particular time of the year excruciatingly painful from an emotional perspective. So...glad that's over! (And I thank the TV gods for the Lifetime Movie Network for surviving another holiday!)
So now, it's back to business for me even though we have one more holiday left. (But I've blown past the most difficult of the year so...we're all good!)
I like to hit the ground running, especially as we're going into 2015 next week.
One thing that keeps coming up over and over again is this 100% LTV Bond Funding Program. Since this is one of the ways I'm now acquiring property, I wanted to explain a little more about the program.
When I did the Detroit event last month, Ronnie presented the basic criteria of the bond program which included, at the time, a minimum property price of $5,000,000. However, the Monday after the seminar, he received a new updated criteria sheet from his bond funders who had dropped the minimum purchase price to $1,000,000.
The reason I'm telling you this is because I'm sick of getting emails from students who either attended the Detroit event or watched the videos who apparently don't believe me when I keep telling you guys and gals over and over again via email that the minimum property price has dropped from $5,000,000 to $1,000,000. I don't know how to be more clear and this is the last time I'll be mentioning this change to you.
Next, you'll have to have a property that can support a 100% LTV mortgage at about an 8% fixed interest rate (30-year amortized). In areas of the country that have low CAP rates like Seattle or Los Angeles or New York...you're not going to be able to make a 100% LTV property cash flow unless you're knocking 50% off the asking price. And no seller will accept that offer from you. Instead, you'll have to focus in on areas of the country that can support 100% LTV deals after, of course, you shave off 10% to 15% off the asking price of any property you're looking at (which you should always do when buying a property anyway).
Where are these areas of the country?
Smaller "big" cities like Cleveland, Detroit, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Atlanta, and Memphis to name a few make excellent areas to work with. Any area that doesn't have low CAP rates (as an average) that consistently fall below 8% across the board.
Remember, your 100% LTV has to be supported by the cash flow of the property. Deciding to invest in low CAP rate cities will guarantee that you'll end up with a negative cash flow property and your bond funders won't fund a negative cash flow deal.
Next, I have students asking me why the funders want to see that you have 1% to 2% of the purchase price of the property when it's a 100% LTV bond funded loan. The funders need to see that you are somewhat financially sound to the point where, when walking into the property after closing, you can pay for any upgrades, repairs, or get any units (needing new paint and carpet) rent-ready for new tenants. There's nothing worse than funding a property to find out that the lender has funded someone who doesn't have 2 nickels to rub together and can't do basic things for a property if needed.
Also, my students want to know about credit criteria. These funders will allow for people to have some credit issues/problems. I do recommend that if you don't have good personal credit and you don't have built business credit, start getting it together, bub. This upcoming year isn't one to be messing around and dragging ass otherwise you'll lose out on every last opportunity out there!
Seems pretty severe and unbelievable, doesn't it? That there could be a "secret" having to do with your Christmas tree that can make or break your success for all of the upcoming 2015 year?
Yep, it's true. And no, I didn't believe it at first either. It seemed more like an old wives tale than anything until I actually started to take notice of what happened with and without the Christmas tree.
It was Christmas 2010 when I first noticed. A little birdie (who we'll call Ron Espinoza) told me that if you take your Christmas tree down before the New Year then you'll have "bad luck" all that year. But...if you keep your tree up until AFTER the New Year then you'll have "good luck" for the entire year.
I laughed. How stupid is that concept?!
Then I noticed...or maybe allowed the "belief" of this new information to settle in. For Christmas 2010, I had my brother and his kids sleep over. For anyone who knows my brother, they'd know him as a neat freak who likes to clean, put stuff away, and even throw away things that we still need (such as storage boxes, etc.) because he hates clutter. So...on Christmas Day -- yes, you read that correctly -- he took down my Christmas tree right after everyone opened all their gifts. The tree and every reminiscence of Christmas was gone by Christmas afternoon.
Fast forward to 2011...starting with the first quarter of the year, to be exact. I got the fiscal crap beat out of me in family court by getting hammered with an ungodly sum of child and spousal support payments from my greedy 2nd hubby. This, of course, was after I signed off on the last of my remaining partnerships (as to not have to go into personal bankruptcy) so that the greedy jerk wouldn't get half of my millions in property equity. That capped off the loss of over $7,000,000.
Progressing into the second quarter of 2011...I found out that my dad was embezzling from my company. And if that wasn't bad enough, so was my trusted assistant at the time. During this time I decided (probably inappropriately) to get married to hubby #3. (That didn't end well.)
The final two quarters of the year were a blur. I was exhausted, miserable, hating life (and everyone in it), and treading water in every way imaginable. I moved my warehouse during this time into an energy-sucking vortex of a building that was, of all things, haunted to boot; this is where the remaining balance of my energy and enthusiasm evaporated each moment I stayed there. Eventually it would disappear to nearly nothing.
By Christmas of 2011, I still wasn't convinced about the Christmas tree thing. The little birdie reminded me about it...again. I'm like...so what? I put up a pop-up tree that takes about 60 seconds to put up and 30 seconds to take down. Disgusted at how horrible 2011 was, I wanted it to end, starting with taking down the tree quickly! It was gone and out of my house by the next morning.
You can imagine that 2012 probably wasn't that great either. It wasn't bad from a financial standpoint, as I'm lucky to always have the "magical" ability to make money. But my personal life was in shambles. It seemed that every moment of that year, every cell in my body was feeling some level of deep emotional depression. It wasn't a great year either but certainly not as traumatic as 2011.
So...Christmas 2012: I left the freaking tree up. Yes, I left it up over New Year's Eve and even several days past the New Year. (I know. Talk about living "dangerously" and living on the edge, right?)
How did 2013 turn out? Freaking fantastic in every way. Sure, I was still going through my emotional pain and filed for divorce later that year. But it was still good and I knew things would get better.
I left the tree up over the New Year from 2013 to 2014.
What happened with 2014?
This year has been AMAZING!!
Okay, so my divorce from who I feel is the love of my life was finalized on St. Paddy's Day but I feel fantastic. I turned 40 this year and it's been an amazing year financially, physically, mentally, and even emotionally where it's been hurting the most all these years. I feel more empowered and...it's been amazing.
So...will I be leaving my Christmas tree up between now and next week? You bet I will! Planned date for Christmas tree disassembly and storage will be 1/4/2015.
And I plan on 2015 being my best freaking year yet due to a very important contract I just signed last week (that I won't tell you about until sometime next month). And no, it's not a property deal contract.
Thinking back, I tried to remember what I did with my tree during the Christmas of 2009. Come to think of it, it was a live tree. My lazy 2nd hubby wouldn't take it down because the stump was stuck in the metal base part that holds it up. So the tree not only stayed up over that New Year's Eve but I seem to remember the freaking tree stump stuck in the base sitting on our back porch well into spring when my brother had to take a hack saw to it.
And 2010 was one of my best financial years ever!
Think twice about taking your Christmas tree down before the first of the year. In fact, to be safe, wait until the first weekend of the new year before taking it down. Then you'll have a kick ass 2015 like I will.
Superstitious? I don't know. Who cares? What do you have to lose by waiting to take your tree down until after January 1st?
And think about it: what if I'm right about everything I just said? Wouldn't it be worth it to just wait and see what happens?? (I think so!)
Before I get into this important matter, I want to let you know why I believe this is integral to bring to your attention. Starting in 2015, I'm going to be bringing more and more investor partnership opportunities to my students which is why I think it's essential that you learn what to do and, most importantly, what NOT to do in an investor partnership situation. Knowing how to conduct yourself and what's expected of you as a student participating in multi-million-dollar investor partnership deals can financially change your life so it's critical that you understand these elements in order to, well...not screw it up like some of my students have.
Last week I sent you an email about how to handle relationships with investor partners or any "money people," for that matter. I used a student who I call Mr. NYC as an example of what NOT to do. And if that wasn't enough of what NOT to do, Mr. NYC decided today to permanently blacklist himself.
How did he manage to screw up such an amazing opportunity? Well, I'm going to explain it to you so that when you are in the process of dealing with any money people (investor partners, lenders, bankers, etc.), you conduct yourself with 100% professionalism while being nice in the process because that -- in and of itself -- will take you a lot further than you think!
Now, as you remember, Mr. NYC was the only one in my entire Detroit seminar group who has refused to follow instructions for the $9,000,000 Opportunity by sending his property deal over to me in the form of a PDF file, which I have no use for. Not only did he refuse to send over the Excel spreadsheet as requested several times but he wanted to act like a childish asshole by sending me the same PDF file over and over again...about 8 or so times in a row just to solidify the fact that he wanted to be a jerk-off (all the while burning all of his bridges with The Opportunity). My response to each and every one of his PDF emails was to ask for the required CFE in the form of an Excel spreadsheet.
And I asked for this same Excel spreadsheet over and over and over again, not entirely sure how to make myself anymore clear except to put a 150-foot blinking red neon sign in Central Park for Mr. NYC to see saying, "Send me the f****** CFE in a f****** Excel spreadsheet format already!"
So, after these numerous fruitless email exchanges (that did nothing but waste my time), I sent that email to all of you last week to make sure that you all fully understand what you need to do in order to not burn your bridges with your money people. I find that learning from the mistakes of others is the fastest, easiest, and, of course, most entertaining way to learn something.
Today I get the rude and vile email from Mr. NYC who cussed me out in the worst and most non-gentlemanly way (and if he said any of it to my face, he would have been laid out in the parking lot with a bloody nose) while demanding that I send the deal over to my guy in Texas.
Okay, here's the problem with that. First of all, the deal sucks. It's a portfolio that isn't broken up (like it HAS to be in order to be presented to my investor partner). Second, when my investor partner asks me how it is to work with Mr. NYC, what the f*** am I going to say? "Yeah, he's a peach. Most awesome guy I've ever met."
No! Absolutely not. I have an agreement with each one of my investor partners which totals about 13 that I work with regularly now. And I have to give them the run-down of what it's like to work with this student.
And here's myreport for Mr. NYC:
Rude, pushy
Not very bright; a box of rocks can probably figure more out than he can
Refuses to follow basic instructions, as clearly laid out for him MULTIPLE times
Will not abide by any simple request
Cannot get the appropriate information on the property in a reasonable time, or AT ALL in this case
Is a total jerk-off, thinks he's "the man" and can push people around, possibly because he's from New York?
Do I recommend working with this guy? Is this guy going to be easy to deal with in negotiations? Is he going to make the process of managing the property easier or harder? When we ask for a quarterly report, are we going to get it on time? Or at all??
You probably know the answers to those questions with Mr. NYC.
In the past I've been a little lax when it comes to working with students on my own investor partnership deals which I stopped doing back in 2010 and I'm going to start doing again come the first of this year. But when it comes to my investor partners, I'm very strict with who I let through only because it's MY reputation on the line if things go south. Every single investor partner ALWAYS asks me what this student is like. ALWAYS!! And Inever lie about my experience with a student. Never. I'm not going to start now.
This is why I like meeting my students at events, especially after hours during dinners and at cocktail hour where I'm more relaxed and so are they. All the while, I'm reading my students to see what they're like. I can deal with people who don't have a lot of smarts or experience as long as they are easy to get along with. It's amazing what I'll put up with so long as my students have one simple quality: easy to get along with. That's my onlycriterion. (Surprising, isn't it?!)
Yet Mr. NYC seems to have screwed that up. And then he has the nerve to "demand" that I send the deal to my investor partner, all while expecting me to apologize for...I guess having some basic requirements of how to send me a file set into place, I guess. Yeah, okay. Hold your breath for that one, Mr. NYC. It's clear that he has no clue as to who he's dealing with. Apparently he thinks it's still 1952 and that "demanding" women bow down to his beck and call is the way to conduct himself. He messed with the wrong bitch on the right day.
So, here I am trying to dissect this situation. It goes back to self-sabotage, I think. How else can a reasonably "normal" person take a $9,000,000 Opportunity and manage to screw it up so badly in only a few days time? That would be someone who subconsciously doesn't believe he's worthy of success, I guess.
I never had a $9,000,000 Opportunity to work with back in the day. I never had investor partners to work with when I started out. I didn't have jack shit except my burning desire to do this and the unwillingness to accept no for an answer. And with that I was able to become successful...slowly, over time, and with a lot of elbow grease.
Yet here I am giving my students an opportunity that I could have very well hoarded for myself and yet I opened it up to my students so that they could benefit from something I didn't have when I started. I thought I was doing my students a good deed. Turns out that, for some, it's something I need to apologize for because, as Mr. NYC stated, I don't have any ethics. Hmmmm...if I didn't have any ethics, I would have taken the $9,000,000 Opportunity for myself and said nothing to NONE of my students about it even though my investor partner wanted deals from a variety of people in different areas of the country. However, we have a deal in escrow, one more that will be in escrow as soon as the seller signs the contract (hopefully this time next week), several more going under contract as we speak, and the first of these deals set to close in 2 weeks. And none of these deals are mine. They all belong to my students. But, I guess I don't have any "ethics," as Mr. NYC claims. (If you want to see how "no ethics" work, go hook up with the likes of Armando Montelongo who will take $30,000 from you just to give you a property bus tour, whatever the hell that is. Then you'll realize that I'm an angel in comparison!)
I'm convinced that some people just don't want success and they'll create their own conscious and subconscious obstacles just so that they can boo-hoo to everyone about how life is so unfair. That's all fine and well. I just wish they wouldn't include me in their personal psychological clusterf*** because I have better shit to do with my time right now.
As far as Mr. NYC is concerned? Who knows what he'll do. I think he's too stubborn to understand how to work with investor partners. Or maybe it's that New York attitude that's ruining everything. Some of those New Yorkers are so freaking rude and self-entitled that you wonder how they'd ever work with someone who's NOT in NYC. (My Texas investor partner is such a nice guy that it would never work out with someone who is as pushy as Mr. NYC is anyway. I believe everything happens for a reason and Mr. NYC put himself "out there" as a jerk-off as to protect my relationship with my investor partner which may have otherwise been ruined because of what an asshole he turned out to be.)
If you're one of those people who finds out that the world is against you, maybe the world really isn't against you. Maybe it's just you who is againstyourself. I know...tough truth to consider but worth considering (and fixing) if you want a different life than the one you have now.
Well, today started off reasonably happy. I volunteered in my daughter's classroom for approximately 25 minutes where I was put to good use: consolidating bottles of Elmer'sglue. But hey, it's a brainless task and sometimes we need those once in awhile, right? Especially during this hectic (and mostly un-enjoyable) time of year for me...and many others, I'd imagine.
Of course, those happy moments of glue compiling were short-lived the moment I came into the office for...yep, you guessed it. A pile of over 200 new emails waiting for me which, of course, reflects that 90% of the people who email me have an "emergency" of some kind. (In which I fantasize about responding in the rudest way saying, "Please hang up and dial 9-1-1." Or rather, "Please cease emailing me and go jump off a bridge.")
Now, I say that in jest, of course. Most of my students are incredibly amazing people. Let's be clear about that! But it happens to be those handful of screw-ups and those I'm convinced have ridden (and are still riding) the short bus through life that really messes up my good mojo for the day.
And today, I must mention, there are several of those.
One in particular would be someone who is adamant and outright hellbent on not following basic instructions.
Now, a little back story: When I did the Detroit event last month, I presented an incredible life-changing opportunity in which my students who attended (and only those who attended) could participate in The $9,000,000 Opportunity. An investor partner who I've been working with for -- forever, it seems -- is ponying up $9,000,000 cash (not including due diligence and closing costs) to put down as a 20% cash down payment which will result in the acquisitions of about $45,000,000 in property between now and this coming spring.
Pretty good deal, don't you think?
In fact, one portfolio we put under contract last month is set to close the first week of the year. And we just put 2 more under contract in the past 2 weeks; one of these 2 deals is a property located in the greater Detroit area (one county removed...not sure it's really "Detroit" but close enough). One more deal will more than likely go under contract right before (or after) Christmas...whenever we can get the listing agent to wake up out of his holiday stupor.
[As a side note, if you want to get a gander at how -- when I tell my students that opportunity in a certain area is coming (as I've been saying since 2011) -- I'm usually right 99% of the time. Check out this video when you get a chance about how Detroit is bouncing back: https://www.yahoo.com/travel/detroit-bouncing-back-from-bankruptcy-by-bianna-105564601702.html. (This is why I've been working in this area for the past 3 years.)]
So...I can't really complain that every single one of my students who attended the Detroit event this past month is following instructions as presented on a clearly illustrated bulleted one-page flyer. All students, except for one, of course. (There's always that ONE person that can't follow basic freaking instructions.)
Well call this difficult student "Mr. NYC" since that's where he brags he's from with each and every event he attends of mine. (Yes, he's been to several events.) Now, Mr. NYC is a nice guy. I actually like him.
However, what I don't like is that Mr. NYC refuses to follow freaking instructions!!
Let me give you a little clue-in on how ALL of my partnership arrangements work with my investor partners. They've all gotten used to looking at things on my CFE (Cash Flow Evaluator, which you can get at www.monicamain.com/cfe if you don't have it yet). And they like to get these files in the form of an Excel spreadsheet rather than a PDF because they can change the numbers in certain respective columns if they want to "test out" different scenarios such as lowering management costs, lowering the interest rate (since many work with local banks that can give them killer interest rates), lowering the asking price (to see where the cash flow will be), increasing rents, etc. to see where their cash flow numbers land.
And in case you haven't figured it out yet, you can't do all this with a PDF file. You can't do any of this with a muddy fax or a printed out CFE file.
Yet Mr. NYC keeps sending me the same f****** file in every way imaginableEXCEPTthe required Excel file format as clearlyoutlined during the event.
Even worse, he calls my staff all day every day (since the beginning of this f****** week) wondering what I think about the deal.
First of all, the first PDF file he sent me had a ridiculous negative cash flow of something close to losing $9,000 a month. Yes, a $9,000 a monthLOSS in the PDF file (of the CFE). Yeah...where do I sign up for that kind of shit deal?? (Apparently with Mr. NYC.)
So, I rejected the deal based on (1) not receiving the required Excel format of the CFE, and (2) because we will not invest in a property that's taking ANY kind of loss. Period. (Isn't that common sense, folks? I thought so, too.)
If that rejection wasn't enough, he sends the same deal by way of overnight express. Yep, in the mail. Same exact deal. So, at this point we're getting further and further away from my basic requirement of getting this deal in the form of an Excel spreadsheet via email. Rose tried to give me the envelope and I refused to take it. Why? Because...what am I supposed to do with it? Since my investor partner is taking deals via emailONLY, what do I do? Send the printed out CFE to him in the mail? And, yet again, he can't do any of the things I outlined above (changing the numbers in certain columns) with a print-out of the deal.
Years ago I learned some hard lessons about not following directions. So, I've learned when I can buck the system and when I need to fall in line like an order-taking soldier. And when you're working with Other People's Money (OPM), you must -- I repeat MUST-- fall in line as an order-taking soldier. Period. No exceptions. You cannot make your own rules when using all of someone else's resources (especially money) unless your somebody like Warren Buffett. But, if you're not Warren Buffett, fall in line, soldier! Fall in line!!
Here's the other thing I learned when working with investor partners -- or any kind of partners (including that of marriage, believe it or not) -- is that you have to be easy to work with. Wow. What a freaking concept! You mean that the wealthy people holding the purse strings don't want to deal with jerk-offs and assholes when doing deals or funding projects? Especially idiots who refuse to follow instructions? Yep, you got it, Bucko. Millionaires and billionaires who want to do business and investment partnerships have to know that you're willing to concede to their basic requests and requirements...and that you're easy to work with. If not, they'll fund one of the many other people out there with kick-ass deals and businesses that are easy to work with. Simple as that.
So...back to Mr. NYC who can't (or won't) send over the right file.
Here we are in the very beginning phase of this process (not even getting to first base yet) and we are already experiencing a high level of difficulty. How is the rest of the process going to be when it comes to getting due diligence done or asking for financial docs on the deal? What about management? How's that going to work out? It'll be a nightmare, that's what.
I've been working with some of my investor partners for over a dozen years and I know what they guys want and who they like to work with. The other thing that a lot of my students don't know is that these investor partners ask me what I think of the student who is submitting the deal over. And I have never lied to any of my investor partners of what I think of a specific student sending a deal over and I never will. My reputation requires me to be 100% honest with them when it comes to this otherwise they'll never partner in on another deal again.
I'll also mention that there have been more than a few really solid kick-ass deals that we've ended up rejecting and not doing at all due to oneelementonly: a difficult student coming in as an investor partner.
A word to the wise: whenever dealing with any money people -- including money brokers, banks, lenders, and investor partners -- you have to give them what they want while being an amicable person. If you can't do that then...do something else and leave this business alone.
Am I being too harsh here? I don't think so. I think one of the reasons so many of my students keep reading my emails and continue learning from me is because I'm real. I tell you the real truths about how the business world works. And if you don't want the real deal, go buy an infomercial guru's course and learn how the fake world of investing works. See how far that gets you.
But if you want to know how the real world works, hang with me, kid. Because this ride is about to get real fun really fast in the months to come. (And I can hardly wait!)
First off, I'm crashing due to a 10-day graduate obligation I had in Palm Springs that just ended this past Sunday. And I'm freaking exhausted!
Then I saw Ruth. She's the one who has cancer. I hadn't seen her for months as she's been battling the disease. She informed me that they had to stop treatment. The subtext of that sentence was that...well, not too hard to figure out. When I saw her today, I was looking at someone who is not only clearly dying but probably won't make it another year on this earth. To look in the face of death and then to look at her son who is barely 6 years old, knowing that he's about to lose his mother...tough moment. Very tough.
And if that wasn't enough, on my way back to the office, I got a call that my dad is in the hospital and has been in the hospital since last Saturday night. When I called him on the phone at the hospital, he sounded weak but well. And I also found out that if he wasn't rushed to the hospital last weekend, he would have passed away. Instead of typing out this email, I would have been making arrangements instead.
So...some heavy moments today. Very heavy. And I'm not sure what to think of it all except to say one thing: you never know when it's going to be over until it's over.
I think about Ruth. She knows she's dying. There was a split second of emotional weakness where I saw tears well up in her eyes the moment she told me that they stopped treatment. It was the moment that revealed that she'd given up hope.
And hope is everything.
My mom died of cancer more than 9 years ago. The moment she lost hope was the moment that she died. Actually, it took 6 weeks after she officially gave up for her body to die.
I saw that loss of hope today with Ruth. And I knew that a part of her had already died; she's just waiting for the body to go now.
What a depressing, sad day. Top it all off and we're having rain, rain, and more freaking rain. I know we need it in our drought-devastated state of California but we can only handle so much at a time before the state starts land-sliding and flooding due to the damage from the fires.
A couple of weeks ago I was having a conversation with my young daughter about all the crap that the government is spraying in the skies in a desperate effort to change the climate/weather. I explained to her that, unfortunately, when you are spraying chemicals, there are adverse effects to such acts including problems with health such as getting cancer, for instance.
You know what this wise young lady told me?
She said, "Well, I don't have cancer now so I'm not going to worry about it."
And I had no rebuttal because...well, what can one say to that? But I thought...Well said, little one. Well said.
Now I have to remind myself of that now. Right now, in fact.
With so many depressing things happening in the world coupled with these shitty commercially-driven "joyous" holidays coming up, I tend to get pulled down into a cesspool equivalent to a saber-tooth tiger sinking into a tar pit, never to see the light of day.
However...at the precise time that all this crap is happening, I'm on the verge of a major breakthrough that will not only be life-changing to me but can also be life-changing to the world as well. (More on this in the weeks to come; it's freaking exciting!!) Yes, that's right.
Last Saturday I was contacted by someone (and I won't mention who...yet) about something (and I won't mention what...yet) that will be incredibly huge!! (I promise to let you in on the secret in a few weeks. I just don't want to jinx myself here.)
What keeps me going through the holidays is knowing that soon -- very soon -- they'll be OVER! Yes, that's right, troops. This crap will blow over before you know it. If you think about it, we're so close to the finish line. Two weeks and 2 days away!!
And you can handle 16 more days, right?
What I keep telling my students is that 2015 is going to be an exceptional year for many of you who decide to participate in...well, anything! Yes, anything that is profit-generating will succeed and in order to not be successful, you'd basically have to be handcuffed to an iron headboard in the basement of Hannibal Lecter's house to miss out.
Even though success has always come "easy" to me (because I'm focused, I go for it, and Idon't accept failure as an option), it'll come even easier. And it'll come easy for you too IFyou get off your dead ass and do something about it.
That's the key. You have to zero in on what you want, get this warrior focus thing going, create a simple easy-to-do action plan, and follow the simple steps. And that's it, folks. It doesn't get any harder than that.
Now, I should mention that today is the day that I'm also letting my students in on something I'm going to be doing next year (within the first quarter of 2015) that will blow your mind. And you should check it out here: http://www.monicamain.com/internet_cash_flow_blitz
Check it out for a short but powerful audio seminar that will get you excited. It's something my students have been waiting about 7 months for!
By the way, doesn't it take talent to take a message from totally depressing to totally exciting within mere minutes? I think so.
And that's how easy your success for 2015 is about to get!
See you at the top!
Your mentor,
Monica Main
www.MonicaMain.com
P.S. The BOGO deal for the Mentorship Groups in 2015 is going on and some of my groups are getting full. I can only take a limited number of students for each group so click on this link if you want in on the deal: http://www.monicamain.com/buy_1_get_1_free_mentorship
P.P.S. Monica Bucks is still available but only for a short time left. Here's the link for that deal: http://www.monicamain.com/monica_bucks_2014
