Stress is non-negotiable. It's everywhere and shows up in our lives in many different capacities, like physical stress, emotional stress, and environmental stress. The sources are also different: some stress is self-induced, such as a hard workout. Some stress is not. However, the one thing that is inevitable is that to grow in all areas of our lives, stress is non-negotiable.

Many see stress as an enemy; however, stress can also be used as a weapon. The difference between two people experiencing the same level of stress is how they deal with it. Many choose to sedate or avoid and replace one feeling for another. When sedation is used as the form of handling stress, growth and expansion won't occur.

The other side of dealing with stress is turning it into a weapon of growth and expansion with meditation or mindfulness. Using these techniques, you can increase your power and enhance your ability to deal with stress. With this, you begin to master yourself, increase in power and self-mastery, and everything in your world grows and expands.

Proverbs 27:19 says, "As a face is reflected in water, so the heart reflects the real person." Each day I spend time reading my Bible, and it never fails that what I need to see in the moment stands out to me in the passage that I'm reading. On September 27th, I was reading in the book of Proverbs, and this verse stood out to me. Today, I get into what this verse means to me and how that relates to what I'm going through in my life.

Who will stand with you in the darkest of times? I'm lucky enough to have a couple of those people in my life who are willing to be there for me at any time, regardless of what the circumstances are. I found myself in deep appreciation and gratitude for those people as I was reflecting on the last year of my life. I've needed these people to help get me through, and they were willing to walk with me into the pit, out of the pit, and then back in, all year long, and many times before that. Know who these people are in your life, and use their help. Ask for help if you need it. If you don't have that person, I'm your guy. Reach out.

Things are not assets, people are assets. In this episode, I discuss why your number one asset is YOU! This podcast episode provides deep insight into the reasoning behind why you are your number one asset. I dive deep into how you can change your mindset and start developing yourself as your true number one asset. As your guide on this journey, it is important that you take these lessons that I've learned from what I've been through and apply them to your life. It's time, look in the mirror, face the facts head on and take this next step on your journey with me, Tony LaPrino.

Most of my life I've lived in the Gap. You know you are in the Gap every time you measure yourself or your situation against an ideal. The ideal is where you wish you were. This leads to feelings of failure, frustration, disappointment, low self-esteem, guilt, and depression.

Being in the Gain means you measure yourself against where you were before. This approach leads to feelings of success, satisfaction, confidence, high self-esteem, enjoyment, and optimism.

When I change my thinking to the Gain, I feel more peace, happiness, joy, fulfillment, and achievement.

I am now trying to only measure myself or my situation against where I was before.

This is one of the most difficult challenges that I've faced, but it is so important.

Today I welcome to the show special guest Zachary Beach. Zachary is the CEO and a Partner of SmartRealEstateCoach.com, which is a 3-time Inc. 5000 Fastest Growing Company that focuses on transforming W2 employees into creative financing real estate investors. With a passion for business building, he is also a partner in Original Real Estate, Wicked Smart Finance, and NatProcessing.com. Zachary is also a 3-time Amazon Best-Selling Author of Real Estate on Your Terms, New Rules of Real Estate Investing, and Sell with Authority for Real Estate Investors.

At the age of 24, Zachary decided to leave the world of bartending and personal training and jump into the family business. It was one of the first big risks that he took in his life, as nothing was guaranteed. Plus, he knew absolutely nothing about real estate. Through hard work, in-house training, and implementation, Zachary, his team, and his students have completed hundreds of deals across the country and control $60-$100 million+ of real estate at any given time with little to no money in the deal and no banks involved.

He has an amazing wife Kayla and two small children, his son, Remi, and his daughter, Bellamy. He is a prime example of how to be successful both in business and at home.

Grab a copy of "Real Estate On Your Terms" here: www.wickedsmartbooks.com/tony2 

I have come to realize that I struggle with perfectionism. I have always wanted to do the best and be the best. Sucking has never been an option for me. But obviously, we all have to learn new things, and we can't be great at something brand new to us. Furthermore, we can't lie to ourselves about how good we are at things we have been doing for a long time. I've had to realize that I am not the best at everything I do. I've realized that while striving to be the best is good, it's more important to be humble, realize there is always room for improvement, and always work on improving, regardless of comparisons to others or anyone else's standards. I also have to give myself grace to suck at new things and manage my expectations for how quickly it will actually take to get good. What's most important is to endure the suck and never quit.

Far too many people these days live in the Land of Maybe. The inability to make a decision is weakness. It leads to confusion, lack of confidence, lack of direction, lack of certainty, and lack of power. On the other side of all this is the ability to live a life that is clean and simple. Yes or No. This takes the confusion out of life. Just decide and act. There are consequences to all the decisions we make, but being indecisive is actually a decision in itself, and that decision has its own consequences. It's time get un-stuck. It's time to decide.

The way you see the world drives the way you see the world. This may sound obvious or redundant, but I actually think it's not. We are driving our reality by the stories that we are telling ourselves. Your view of yourself can create the "you" of tomorrow. Your worldview can create a vicious downward spiral or it can instead contribute to constant growth, improvement, and success. Which will you choose for yourself?

Each day, you're faced with the facts of where you are vs. the goals you are seeking to achieve, a.k.a. the finish line. The distance in between is the gap. Living in the gap is a constant challenge. Do you want to push forward toward your goals and narrow the gap every day, no matter what it takes, or will you instead give into adversity and allow the gap to widen? We all have to live in the gap for most of our lives... but are you advancing toward the finish line, or are you letting the gap widen?