This topic isn't very original, but it's something that I started thinking about recently. It's essential to think about the people surrounding you.
The reason why I've started thinking about this is a trifecta of scenarios.
The first is one of the reasons why I ended up taking a 3-month hiatus from the blog. Some real estate opportunities presented themselves, and it was a chance to put some foundational components into my Financial Independence life goal. The opportunity involved engaging in a part of real estate investing I hadn't done before, so the process was very new and intensive. I can't recall how many times I was talking to someone more experienced would say: "When you did due diligence on XYZ, what did you find out?". And I would scramble to not sound like a complete newbie with a stalling response like "That's a good question, let me check with my wife to see what she's found out." Even though we were scouring the internet for advice, there was still much more to know, and we were consistently a few steps behind.
In our defense, most of our contacts knew we hadn't done a project like this before. We were typically upfront with it on the first introductions. But it was still not the most flattering place to find ourselves time and time again. Sometimes my wife or I would start to get self-conscious, but I would remind us that everyone starts at the beginning. Everyone knows that, and so it was vital for us to always present the most professional and capable versions of ourselves in these situations. Every person we talked to was a future long-term contact. I wanted them to view us as new but reliable up-comers, someone they would want to know for our potential. On the flip side, we wanted to recognize them for their experience and guidance. Within this particular investment and throughout the entire process, we wanted to surround ourselves with competent people, while proving that we were worthy of joining that network. Having that network will be invaluable for future endeavors.
The second scenario is the FI meetups I had mentioned a few posts back. At the time of writing this post, we have only gone to two of their monthly meetups, but I already feel good about the company we can keep there. Everyone is at a different stage in their FI journey. Some just heard about financial independence and are working on converting the management of their finances. Some have already retired early. And then the majority seem like they are like us, somewhere in the middle.
While going to these meetups, I've found a good portion of the conversation does not revolve around finances, investing, or anything directly related to FI. But that does not matter as I don't feel that's the purpose of the meetups. Instead, we can surround ourselves once a month with people who understand this niche mentality. They understand the financial motivation of skipping the fries and drink to save a few bucks. They appreciate finding free or cheap entertainment instead of looking for pay-to-entertain activities. Even when talking about our side hustles, they understand the motivation. I've hinted at some of my other friends about our side hustles, and I get the impression they feel we are crazy. The people at the FI meetups understand the potential in a side hustle. Those are the people I want to surround myself with, people who encourage me to achieve my highest potential instead of feeling crazy for trying to maximize my accomplishments.
And the last scenario is my Personal Control Book "coaching" (if it can be called that just yet). Essentially, helping people to perform their own PCB Setup.
Besides the motivation to continue developing this PCB concept, I'm finding a new group of people worthy of knowing. People who, although they may be at different phases, just like the FI-folks, have a desire to be more focused and productive in their lives. People who want to set goals and accomplish them. People that feel there is a lot to do in life and want to make something worthwhile. This coaching concept is very new, but it's exhilarating to start embarking on this journey. The real estate network is solely an investment group. The FI meetups involve joining an existing community. PCB coaching is a chance for me to help build a community of like-minded individuals. The honor of helping to bring together what I hope will be a fantastic group of people is very humbling.
Although I love meeting new people and I'm friends with individuals from at all different points in their lives and different cultures, ideologies, and mentalities, making sure we keep close the right company is an invaluable action.
(Written 2019.10.19)
The reason why I've started thinking about this is a trifecta of scenarios.
The first is one of the reasons why I ended up taking a 3-month hiatus from the blog. Some real estate opportunities presented themselves, and it was a chance to put some foundational components into my Financial Independence life goal. The opportunity involved engaging in a part of real estate investing I hadn't done before, so the process was very new and intensive. I can't recall how many times I was talking to someone more experienced would say: "When you did due diligence on XYZ, what did you find out?". And I would scramble to not sound like a complete newbie with a stalling response like "That's a good question, let me check with my wife to see what she's found out." Even though we were scouring the internet for advice, there was still much more to know, and we were consistently a few steps behind.
In our defense, most of our contacts knew we hadn't done a project like this before. We were typically upfront with it on the first introductions. But it was still not the most flattering place to find ourselves time and time again. Sometimes my wife or I would start to get self-conscious, but I would remind us that everyone starts at the beginning. Everyone knows that, and so it was vital for us to always present the most professional and capable versions of ourselves in these situations. Every person we talked to was a future long-term contact. I wanted them to view us as new but reliable up-comers, someone they would want to know for our potential. On the flip side, we wanted to recognize them for their experience and guidance. Within this particular investment and throughout the entire process, we wanted to surround ourselves with competent people, while proving that we were worthy of joining that network. Having that network will be invaluable for future endeavors.
The second scenario is the FI meetups I had mentioned a few posts back. At the time of writing this post, we have only gone to two of their monthly meetups, but I already feel good about the company we can keep there. Everyone is at a different stage in their FI journey. Some just heard about financial independence and are working on converting the management of their finances. Some have already retired early. And then the majority seem like they are like us, somewhere in the middle.
While going to these meetups, I've found a good portion of the conversation does not revolve around finances, investing, or anything directly related to FI. But that does not matter as I don't feel that's the purpose of the meetups. Instead, we can surround ourselves once a month with people who understand this niche mentality. They understand the financial motivation of skipping the fries and drink to save a few bucks. They appreciate finding free or cheap entertainment instead of looking for pay-to-entertain activities. Even when talking about our side hustles, they understand the motivation. I've hinted at some of my other friends about our side hustles, and I get the impression they feel we are crazy. The people at the FI meetups understand the potential in a side hustle. Those are the people I want to surround myself with, people who encourage me to achieve my highest potential instead of feeling crazy for trying to maximize my accomplishments.
And the last scenario is my Personal Control Book "coaching" (if it can be called that just yet). Essentially, helping people to perform their own PCB Setup.
Besides the motivation to continue developing this PCB concept, I'm finding a new group of people worthy of knowing. People who, although they may be at different phases, just like the FI-folks, have a desire to be more focused and productive in their lives. People who want to set goals and accomplish them. People that feel there is a lot to do in life and want to make something worthwhile. This coaching concept is very new, but it's exhilarating to start embarking on this journey. The real estate network is solely an investment group. The FI meetups involve joining an existing community. PCB coaching is a chance for me to help build a community of like-minded individuals. The honor of helping to bring together what I hope will be a fantastic group of people is very humbling.
Although I love meeting new people and I'm friends with individuals from at all different points in their lives and different cultures, ideologies, and mentalities, making sure we keep close the right company is an invaluable action.
(Written 2019.10.19)
