The Tattooed Investor – lehigh valley flipping houses – lehigh valley real estate investing

Don’t tell me what I can’t do….EVER….

Have you ever been sick and called your plumber to have him diagnose you? Or rewire your house and ask your postal carrier if you should use 14/2 wire for the job?

OF COURSE NOT!! And why?

Because, in these types of instances we seek the advice of experts, people who have real world experience doing exactly what it is we’re trying to figure out. Seems pretty obvious, eh?….

Then why is it, when we attempt to change our lives for the better (via things like real estate or starting a business..or just live life on our own terms) we listen to people who have never, EVER done it or even attempted to do it?? If we’re honest, we take the advice of people with absolutely ZERO experience, but somehow they’ve become total experts on what can’t be done.

See, the problem is, these people are usually the ones closest to us. And most of the time, they don’t intend to be dream crushers. They’ve just never really allowed themselves to believe life can be something other than the status quo. They’re just projecting that same disbelief onto you. For the most part, they’ve focused on “not being able to do anything except average” and really believe that’s all life is. Their negativity is generally coming from two sources; 1) They’re afraid that if you succeed, their relationship with you will change or end and 2) subconsciously, they know misery loves company and if you’re willing to work your arse off and succeed, it’ll be an indication that they could probably do more in their own life to make it better…and that means they’re currently “under-performing”…not a comfortable thing to have to admit.

So, what to do? Obviously, if these people are family, you can’t kick them all out of your life. But I will say, that I have really cut off friends from my past who had no experience accomplishing goals but knew all too well how things didn’t work, how the rich got richer, how so and so got lucky, how no one is making money now, how everyone they knew who tried real estate investing “got screwed”…This last makes sense because they seemed to only want to hang out with losers…anyway…I cut ALL those people out of my life…and replaced them with people who were not only succeeding in what I wanted to achieve, but were CRUSHING IT!!!

This did two things. First, it eliminated all the negative crap I used to hear on a daily basis and replaced it with positive, goal achieving, work with relentless aggression towards freedom, b*lls to the wall, passion that only the truly successful have. Folks, I’M A MANIAC WITH REGARDS TO THE PASSION I HAVE FOR WHAT I’M WORKING TOWARDS…A MANIAC!!!

My dreams are awesome so my effort to achieve them has to be equally awesome.

In closing, make it your objective to surround yourself with people who are succeeding at what you want to do, fill your mind/ears/eyes with the things YOU determine to be success and happiness and most importantly, be true to your vision of what you want life to be.
I know some of this sounds harsh, but this is serious business…this is YOUR life…In the words of my buddy David Alexander, “It’s your life. You get to design it the way YOU want”…And don’t worry, those who truly love you will “get it”…eventually…

- The Tattooed Investor

Just a short clip on “consistency”…Doing what others won’t, so you can live how others can’t…btw, sorry for the lighting, I shot this awhile ago in the “man cave”…

Sometimes you need to take some time and reassess the lay of the land both in your business and, most importantly, in your head. Blowing through self imposed walls of what you’re capable of is a MAJOR part of success….and sometimes, we don’t even realize we’ve built them. It’s been an amazing 6 months or so…a time where I had to dig deep and realize what I’m capable of…we all go through this at some point…those of us who succeed can only do so when they’re surrounded by good friends and family…the people who see the true warrior we really are in times when we’d otherwise forget…keep pressing on…the train to Awesomeville is leaving the station…get on board!!! -

The Tattooed Investor

As a kid, I remember hearing this all the time. Our moms and dads wanted us to make decisions on our own and to not “do things” just because everyone else was…they were trying to teach us to “stand out from the crowd”….it taught us, or should have, to go against the flow and this is powerful advice since as adults, the flow usually leads to Suckville.

So, why was this advice good then, but not good now?….  The majority of people are taught to “go to school, get good grades, go to college, get a good job, work 35 years, retire and THEN relax” because everyone else is doing it. When anything out of the ordinary is mentioned, like “hey, i’d like to start my own business” or  ”college might not be for me” we’re told, “You don’t want to do that, you should do what everyone else is doing”..i.e., go to school, get good grades, get a job, etc…..ARE YOU KIDDING ME????  LISTEN, IF YOU ARE SERIOUS ABOUT CREATING YOUR DREAM LIFE, YOU’RE GOING TO HAVE TO FIND THE KID WHO HAD THE COURAGE STAND OUT FROM THE CROWD. I struggled with this for years…I thought having a job was “safe” and the right thing to do because everyone else was doing it….I went to school because everyone else did…I lived a life a certain way because everyone else did….and I was miserable. I’m not saying getting good grades and going to college is a bad thing (although I am on a crusade to prove my tuition was the biggest waste of money ever spent) and for some, even most, living in the “traditional” template is fine….but it wasn’t for me. It’s ironic how we were not supposed to follow the crowd off the bridge when we were kids, but that’s exactly what many people are expected to do as adults by living a life by default. Like I said, the traditional route is good for many people and there’s nothing wrong with that unless it prevents you from living your dream life. For example, my wife LOVES her job as a nurse…but for me, being an accountant was like a slow death.

The point I want to make here is this; this post is not about not going to college or quitting your job…it’s about listening to the still small voice, it’s about making sure you’re where you’re supposed to be and living the life YOU want….not the one created by someone else’s interpretation of what happiness is. If you’re in a job you love and you feel complete, you’re already living the dream. If you’re in a job and you hate the very thought of even being there, then stop ignoring it, find out what is is you want and start taking massive action to change it. The route I took isn’t for everyone, but it was the route God created for me based on the passions He placed in my heart. Believe me, when you’re “on point”, you’ll know it. It’s kind of like when you’re tuning to a radio station….when you’re tuned in, the white noise vanishes and things are crystal clear. So, make the decision to “get tuned in”.

To answer the question of whether I’d jump off a bridge because everyone else was doing it…as a kid, maybe, as an adult, no way….I’m more happy than I’ve ever been and it’s because I took stock of what I truly wanted my life to be in every aspect and created a plan to make it real….whatever “risks” were involved, I was prepared to take them…and I’m stronger than ever as a result….

BTW, the inspiration for this post came from a video I watched of my son……he was jumping off a bridge into the Lehigh…..

Mike – The Tattooed Investor

As we approach the end of one year and the beginning of another, I wonder how many people are gearing up for yet one more dose of resolutions.  Are you in this group? You’re not alone. Resolutions are generally nothing more than a “wish list” of things people want in their lives. They seldom remember them by mid-year, much less bring them to fruition by year end. This truth is why the whole resolution process has been diluted to not much more than the punch line of a joke….But isn’t the quality of your life more than a joke? Isn’t the quality of your relationships more than an item on some vague “wish list”?

Why not decide today, right now, to make 2010 the year you took your life back from mediocrity? Instead of treating your hopes and dreams like a “wish list”, create a plan to make them a reality. Create your life, don’t just “get through” it. You do not have to settle for an average life. Instead of resolutions, write down clear, vivid goals…then start to plan specific actions steps to achieve them. I can tell you from experience, if you begin to unlock your mind to your true potential, you will transform your life. I’ve done it.

There is only one person who can change your life…YOU. And you can do it, you simply have to break free from the chains of self-limiting beliefs. I’ve studied personal development for some time and only recently put it together to see my true potential. And I can promise you, once you take off the self imposed blinders of doubt and fear, life truly begins. Don’t live to someone else’s idea of what happiness is….design your life or someone else will….

So….resolve to not make resolutions…instead, take responsibility for your life…absolute responsibility…then you will start to live your dream life…If you would like suggestions on some awesome readings, hit me via email and I can send you a great book list….

Mike – The Tattooed Investor….

Hello friends…another installment to the “Lifeonaire” section of the blog…Today’s episode: Are you the design or the designer? What the heck does this mean? It means are you running your life or is it running you? Do you proactively participate in creating your own life or do you live reactively to events? See, there is something which took me most of my life to learn. We can’t control many of the events in life but we can control what those events mean to us. In Jack Canfield’s book “The Success Principles” he explains it this way. He writes about a traffic jam on a California highway. Cars were lined up for miles and the waiting time was estimated to be in the hours. A news reporter walks up to one car and interviews the driver and the driver starts complaining about the predicament, how he was going to be late, how it was just his luck, blah blah blah. The reporter then goes up to another driver but this time the driver calmly explains how he was glad he left early, brought extra coffee and had some audio tapes he was listening to and really wasn’t too concerned about the delay. Two different people experiencing the same thing, yet one is pissed off and the other isn’t. If the true determinant of each person’s day was the event, both would have the same reaction to it. The true determinant was what each of them allowed the traffic to mean to them. This is no different as it pertains to how we create our “dream” life. If you are going to take charge of your life and do everything possible to make it exactly how you want, you’re going to face some traffic. I try to approach challenges the same way I tackle mountains when I’m climbing.  Are you going to retreat or are you going to “ruck up” and make the summit? Creating our life is not a walk in the park, but as my friend David A. says, if you don’t design your life, someone else will….maybe not directly, but if you allow other people, other forces, events and the weather to kill your confidence and momentum, you have already given up. Make the decision today that you will CHOOSE what events mean to you and to NEVER allow people or events to destroy your dreams or deter you from living life on your terms. So, I ask you again, are you the design or the designer? How you answer this says much in the way of how successful you will be in creating your dream life…..

Mike – The Tattooed Investor

Have you ever taken a break from the everyday grind to evaluate your

life? To take a candid look @ what you’re doing each day as you

experience “life”? The last few months I’ve really done this….keep in

mind, I kinda had to force myself to do it….I’ve read the self-help

books, watched the YouTube motivation videos, but like most things in

life, it’s all white noise until you put it into action…..See here’s the

“rub”….most of us are living life by default. We live a reactive existence

instead of being proactive in creating the life we want. I was taught

most of my life to go to school, then go to college, get a good job…blah,

blah, blah….for me, this was a recipe for a slow death….BUT I NEVER

REALIZED IT TILL NOW!!! Who made the rules to say a 9-5 is for

everyone?…who made the rules to say your family can have the crumbs

of time left over after your boss takes what he or she wants from you?…

who made the rules which say it’s “normal” to ask for time to take your

family on vacation?…I had to evaluate whether or not these “rules”

made sense to me…and they didn’t…and here’s why; some people are

employee-minded and some are entrepreneurial-minded…neither is

better than the other, but (and here’s the CRUCIAL point)…NEITHER

CAN BE THE OTHER! Whatever your situation currently is, you have

to realize, you’re responsible for it….if you don’t like it, only you can

change it….this is what I now understand….we spend more time

preparing for the weekend than we do preparing our life….this is not

normal…..my business mentor, Steve Cook, has created what he calls

“Lifeonaire”….an amazing process of breaking through the crap to see

what it is you truly want your life to be, why you want it to be a certain

way and then creating a realistic plan to make it a reality…the key is the

“why’s” which drive you….when your reasons are important enough,

you’ll do whatever it takes to make it happen….anyway, just some

things for you to think about…we’ll hit this in detail as the blog

continues……thanks for checking out the blog and remember,

“…Life is meant to be lived, not simply endured….”