Guide 2 the Grind

Positioning is one of the most important, yet least examined, parts of human interaction.  

Every time we pick up the phone to call a prospect, or try to convince our significant other to do what they don’t want to do, or even when a child is asking for something from their parent, someone is the “F-U” or “Alpha” position, and someone is in the “Beta” position.

Let’s take a look at this in the simplest of terms, a child asking their parent for something like ice cream when it’s getting close to dinner time. The parent is in the Alpha position, because they have something the child really wants. Now the only way that the child is able to convince their parent to give them ice cream before dinner, is to give the parent something they want in return. 

Kids are the best at this by the way, because they don’t have the fear of what others may think to hold them back. If being cute doesn’t work, they start to ask “why”, and the inevitable “because I said so” comes next. Depending on the child and the parent relationship this can escalate to crying and yelling, and temper tantrums… until one side gives in.  

Here’s the thing, the struggle only occurs when the Beta side (the child)  isn’t getting what it wants. So they try to bargain, then deploy emotional tactics, then finally launch an all out assault on the senses with their temper tantrum in an effort to figure out something that the Alpha side really wants. In a lot of cases the Alpha side gives in because they’d rather have peace and quiet, and the ice cream seems a fair exchange for that.  

Let’s flip this and apply it to a sales situation. A lot of sales people, especially newer ones, think that the prospect they’re calling is in the Alpha position. I mean let’s face it, we’ve all had those crappy cold calls where someone was super rude, or downright mean. (Back to those childhood tactics.) But a great salesperson knows instinctively that they’re in the Alpha position before they ever pick up the phone.  

Here’s why… belief.  

If you don’t believe that what you’re selling is the best damn sprocket that's ever been produced in the history of sprocket production,  then you need to find the best sprocket maker and go work for them.  If the product or service you sell isn’t the best there is, at least in your mind, and doesn’t provide the most value for the customer, then there isn’t much point in selling it.
But let’s say you truly believe that it is, wouldn’t you want people to know about it?  

In fact, wouldn’t you be doing the world a disservice by not letting your potential customers know about it? Wouldn’t they love to save money, save time, and look great doing it?  

That belief alone puts the sales professional in the Alpha position long before the prospect is ever contacted. It’s a solution to a problem they have, and you’re simply letting them know that you can solve it for them.  

It’s funny how when problems are made apparent, the solution becomes more valuable than money.  

Here's an example… you know you should do regular maintenance on your vehicle, but you’ve been putting off an oil change for a while. Then, the car breaks down. You were too busy or didn’t have the money to get the oil change done, but now that the problem has come front and centre, you figure out how to come up with the extra money to get the car fixed, and the oil changed while it’s there.  

A great salesperson knows they’re in the Alpha position right from the beginning of the call, and helps the prospect realize they’re in the Beta position by being great at understanding their prospects' problem, and showing them how they can fix it.  

www.guidetothegrind.com

Do you listen to the news?

Years ago one of my mentors taught me to go on a “low information diet”. I was a junkie too. I’d get up in the morning, turn on the computer, and pull up the local 24 hour news channel. I felt so plugged in…

… and stressed out. 

Do you know that when 9/11 happened, people halfway across the continent were getting treated for PTSD, even though they were nowhere near the towers when they collapsed? They saw the event broadcast so many times, over and over again, that it affected their mental health. 

News today has become a competitive bloodsport for your attention. The more doom, gloom, grime, and gore they can show in ultra high definition, direct to your living room, the better. 

One of the most poignant examples of this as of late, is the rise in interest rates. If you’re listening to the news, it’s armageddon. 

But what are the people actually in the trenches doing the work saying about it?

That’s exactly why we brought on one of our good friends, expert Realtor, Andrew McAllister, to tell us what’s really going on in the world of real estate. Not from some talking head on TV, but from a super successful professional who’s out in the market every day. 

Get your information from a true authority in the space, Andrew McAllister, on this episode of “Guide 2 the Grind”. 

www.guidetothegrind.com

Nowadays the term “comfort zone” seems like a cliche. Every wannabe youtube motivational speaker over uses the term, and most people have no real concept of how their comfort zone actually works. It’s not enough to tell someone they “have to get out of their comfort zone”, they need to actually understand what it is, why it exists, and how it functions.  

What it is is fairly simple… on the surface.  

It’s a psychological barrier of perception that’s been set up by your mind.  

I remember the first time I realized that my mind had created an artificial barrier for me. I was at a leadership summit with a bunch of business colleagues, and some of us went to a high ropes course.  

I wasn’t afraid of heights at all, so that never factored into my decision to go. In fact, just a few years earlier I’d gone skydiving, and absolutely loved it.  

But something funny happened once I got up on the ropes.  

Fear  

The kind of fear that paralyzes you, and keeps you from taking the next step. You know the kind where your palms start getting clammy, and you start to sweat just standing there?  

Long story short, I overcame the fear with logic. I was wearing a harness, and I mean it was in a tourist attraction in Orlando, the worst that could happen was I’d fall ten feet onto some kids playing arcade games. It’d suck more for them than me.  

But the experience put me on a path to understanding where this irrational fear had come from, and how it crept in so slowly that I hadn’t noticed it until I came up against that barrier… hard.  

So why does it exist?  

The comfort zone is one of the oldest survival instincts we’re born with. It’s written in our genetic code. Originally the comfort zone kept us from leaving the comfort of the cave at night, and venturing out into the darkness where big scary beasts could eat us.  

That doesn’t happen a whole lot these days.  

So how does this fear creep in and take up mental real estate?  

From the age of about 18 - 28 our lives get set up as we enter into “the Real World”. Once we’re out of school, most people stop expanding their minds. Days seem to be pretty routine, and we don’t venture much outside of our normal schedules. This becomes our cave, and new experiences become the thing that might eat us if we step outside the cave.  

It’s pretty messed up if you think about it, but it’s an evolutionary leftover.  

The good news is, we don’t have to live by this fear.  

Running up against the edge of your fear/comfort zone on a regular basis is the only way to push that fear barrier back. It’s like working out a muscle. The more you do it, the easier it is.  

One person who exemplifies this way of living is Sunil Chillar. Sunil worked his way up from being a factory worker, to starting his own investment fund. By pushing the edge of his comfort zone on a regular basis, he’s able to achieve massive success, not only for himself, but also the team members who work with him.  

Learn all about his journey and how he overcame his barriers on this episode of the “Guide 2 the Grind” podcast.  

Check it out here.

www.guidetothegrind.com

Times are getting a wee bit crazy.  

Inflation is stupid, gas prices are outta hand, and interest rates are on the rise. If you listen to the news… the sky is falling.  

Are we in a time of flux?  

Yes.  

Is it the end of the world?  

Of course not.  

No matter what the financial climate, there’s always going to be opportunity when there’s change. Yes there’s a whole lot of people that are going to be behind the financial 8-ball in the next little bit, but not everyone. 

See the problem lies in doing what everyone else is doing.  

Most people have no strategy to adjust to times of flux. The worst thing you can do is nothing. Hoping it gets better ain’t gonna work, and doing what you’ve always done is not going to get you the same results it used to, when the world is changing around you.  

So what’s the answer?  

A better strategy.  

You see, Jonathan and I knew this change was coming. It was predictable if you knew what to look for. We didn't know when, but we knew it would come. When times of rising interest rates happen, people get cash strapped, and in dire circumstances can even lose their houses. But this doesn’t have to be the way things go down.  

We’ve been quietly working on a system to show folks just like you, how to pay off their mortgage in half the time, and save HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS in the process. (That doesn’t even include the equity they build while they're doing it.)  

You absolutely need to listen to this week’s episode of the "Guide 2 the Grind” podcast. Jonathan talks about this Mortgage Mastery strategy, and how you can make the bank’s rules work for you.  

Check it out here.

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www.guidetothegrind.com

Every now and then someone close to me does something so extraordinary that I’m both humbled, and honoured to call them my friend. Today’s guest is one of those people. 

Melanie Rousseau works in the mortgage and life insurance fields, she’s a master networker, has one of the best smiles you’ve ever seen, and is a single mom to two beautiful kids. 

You’d think that would be enough to keep her busy, but Melanie also has a massive heart and when she was called to called to serve, she set everything aside, and made the decision to help her friends who've been working with Ukrainian refugees fleeing into Bulgaria. 

Warning… this episode is a bit of a tear-jerker, but you absolutely need to hear this harrowing tale of human compassion and connection, on this episode of “Guide 2 the Grind”. 

www.guidetothegrind.com

One of my all time favourite sayings is a quote by John Maxwell that reads “None of us is as smart as all of us”.  

We’re all susceptible every now and then, some of us more now than then, to believing that our opinions are facts. And there’s nothing that causes more conflict than two sides that absolutely know they’re right and that the other side is wrong.  

Back when I used to work in the film business I had an opportunity to learn from a very well established Producer. I’ll always remember something he told me about making movies. He said that he never wanted the Writer, the Director, and the Producer to be the same person. You always get a better product when there’s more people that have creative control.  

I do my best to think like this all the time. I’m always open to learning about new ideas and paths to making the world a better place, but like everyone I’m sometimes a slave to my own opinions…  

… and I love when I’m wrong. 

Everybody knows somebody that won’t shut up about Crypto.  

This is probably one of the reasons that it’s taken me so long to spend any sort of real time learning about it. Kind of a “I don’t hate the band, I just can’t stand their fans” type scenario. But when the right person, with the right track record, takes the time to explain it, we all tend to listen with different ears.  

We loved our first conversation with Zach Morrow, the VP of Customer Relations at Boron Capital, so much that we had to have him back and take a much deeper dive into the realm of CryptoCurrency.  

This hedge fund is taking steps to create some of the “gold standards” in the future of the Crypto investing world, and they’re doing it in a huge way. Have a listen on this episode of “Guide 2 the Grind”  

Every time we speak with Zach, it just leads to more questions, and I have to say… I’m very happy to learn just how wrong I was about the Crypto investing world.  

www.guidetothegrind.com

I believe gratitude is one of the most powerful mental states that humans can achieve. It’s only when we take time to truly appreciate where we are in this moment, and the journey we’ve taken to get here, that we understand how much we’re capable of. 

So from both Jonathan and myself, I want to say THANK YOU. 

When we started producing content (Real Investment Property Income podcast), we really did it with the intention of having fun, and providing as much value as possible to anyone who took the time to listen. 

Here we are a year and half later doing our 100th episode. 

The first hundred have been an amazing journey. We’ve had some incredible guests on the show. We’ve laughed, we’ve cried, and we’ve learned so much from everyone we’ve had on the show, and from everyone that’s reached out to us along the way. 

We’ve created some fantastic relationships both personally and professionally, and sadly lost one of my best friends along the way. (Trif Chaitas Eps. 51 & 52, rest in peace my brother) But through it all, what meant the most to us was you. 

I’m so thankful for all the emails of encouragement and gratitude that we’ve gotten. Every time someone reached out to let us know they’re listening, and learning, and getting real value for the time they invest with us, that’s what’s really touched me along this journey. 

So… with that… we’re expanding to bring even more value to you. Content has to evolve or it grows stale, so we’re bringing experts in other areas of success and investing knowledge. Along with this expansion, we’re changing the name of “Real Investment Property Income” to…

“Guide 2 the Grind - Money, Mindset, Momentum”

We had to take a minute to say thank you and express our gratitude, and we’ve got some great stuff lined up for the next 100 episodes. 

and from the bottom of our hearts… Thank you!

www.guidetothegrind.com

Have you ever thought about raising investor capital?  

This typically follows one of those “good problem” moments. You know the kind where a unique opportunity pops up, you don’t have enough capital to do it on your own, and it’s time to level up your investing career?  

We've had some really great guests on the show over the past year and a half. We’ve spoken with hedge fund managers, developers, Realtors, all different kinds of investors, and many of them have had watershed moments in their careers where they were forced to level up and start using investor capital.  

Out of all of those guests however, we’ve never had one teach us their formula for raising that capital… 

...until now.  

Marcin Drozdz is an active real estate investor, with an extensive background in private capital markets. He began his career quite young, and rose to the top quickly. Taking what he learned from those early years raising capital for other people, Marcin has created a step by step guide to raising Investor capital aptly named “How to Raise Capital for Real Estate - 5 Day Challenge”.  

Geoff has actually taken the 5 Day Challenge and got huge results immediately.  

There’s a high demand for Marcin to attend speaking events, he has one coming up in Toronto with Kevin O’Leary. He and his investor group own multi-family properties in the US, he runs the M1 mastermind group, and on top of all of that he’s a new father. I know you’re going to get a huge return for your time invested in today’s episode of the “Real Investment Property Income” podcast.  

Check it out here.

One more thing, if you want to connect with Marcin, his email address is [email protected]

www.guidetothegrind.com

One of my favourite things about doing the podcast is all of the incredible guests we get to meet. We’ve met all kinds of fascinating people at different points in their journey as investors and entrepreneurs. 

The most interesting part, to me, is the progression people have made on their path to where they are now. 

Joe Evangelisti is no exception. He started out doing fix and flips… a lot of them. 

He and his partner finally got to the point where they felt maxed out with where they were going, and needed to make a shift. That’s what led Joe to the storage space and the company he’s built around the lifestyle he was missing. 

After all, what’s the point in building a successful company if it doesn’t give you time with the people you love?

Learn about Joe’s journey and his unique strategy on this episode of the “Real Investment Property Income” podcast. 

www.guidetothegrind.com

What do you think of when you think about being by the lake?

For me it’s sepia toned memories of rope swings, family dinners, and endless summer afternoons. 

... I can practically smell the BBQ as I write this. 

One thing is for certain, if you’ve ever spent time living by the water, you understand the emotional pull that lifestyle has on you. 

Scott Freerksen and Christine Mosier know this pull better than most. They’ve not only made it their lifestyle, but a massively successful business as well. This dynamic team has become the foremost authority on lakeside living in the US, so much that even Hollywood Location Scouts use their website and listings as a resource for shooting locations. 

Chris and Scott are the total embodiment of the Lakeside Living ethos, using the “campfire test” for new partners to ensure that they attract the right people. 

Learn how Scott and Chris intentionally create their reality, and shape the world around them with their philosophy,  on this episode of the “Real Investment Property Income” podcast.

www.guidetothegrind.com