A Big Bet That Paid Off
It’s been a great week, jam packed with many memorable events, including my first grandchild – a boy – named Asher James.
I’ve already showed off Asher a few other times this week (here, here, and here), and I’ll do it one more time:
He’s now six days old and this little boy has so many things to look forward to, including learning about real estate from his grandfather.
It’s different from being a dad (versus being a grandad) because as a parent (and investor) I’ve made so many mistakes. I want to teach Asher how to succeed by telling him about my ('many') failures, much like I do with my friends here on Seeking Alpha.
As I see it, life is just about picking yourself up when you fall down, and while I know Asher will fall down quite a few times before he runs, I’m confident that he be running soon.
That’s my story too…
As a young real estate developer, I fell down a lot…
I took risks…
Actually, I took big risks.
When I look back at my career in real estate (which spans 30+ years) it’s surreal to think about the many things that I’ve accomplished…
Multi-unit franchisee for Papa Johns
Multi-unit franchisee for The Athlete’s Foot
$100 million commercial real estate portfolio
$1 billion of transactions closed (brokerage)
Sounds impressive, right?
The reality is that I took big risks to accomplish these things, which means…
I took on debt…
ignored my health…
stressed out my family…
and most importantly, I moved outside of my circle of competence.
I learned the hard way that you just can’t do it all, and in order to succeed you must be focused, actually laser focused.
So in 2010 I had a big pivot, in which I began to write on Seeking Alpha.
Rain, sleet, or snow, I decided that I would write one article every single day in order to build an audience and teach investors how to build a REIT portfolio.
Guess what?
Today I published my 3,300rd article and I began writing on Seeking Alpha in 2010, so this means I have written almost one article a day for over 11 years.
That’s what I call staying focused!
Of course the fruit of this labor is that I am the most followed analyst on Seeking Alpha.
As Asher will soon learn, his grandfather works hard, because he has always had to work hard.
Growing up with a single mother, I knew that I didn’t have the material assets (i.e. my mother did not spoil me) but I knew that I could succeed in life by outworking others.
For example, I woke up at 2:00 am yesterday so that I could finish writing content for our new Seeking Alpha newsletter (iREIT Lite). When the alarm went off, I did not even think about hitting the snooze button, I simply got in the car, drank my coffee, and did would I had to do.
It really boils down discipline, something that Asher will soon learn, and while I will always make mistakes, my mother trained me to always “stay in your lane” and to make good decisions.
These days, I am more motivated than ever, and while I’m happy to have accomplished so much my lifetime, I am just getting started.
You see, Asher is a new motivator for me.
He will soon see how hard his grandfather works and why he does it…
My mother, who has always inspired me, knows a thing or to about hard work too (thank you mom, I love you).
Staying healthy is critical to success, and that’s why I’ve committed myself to a strict exercise and eating routine.
I just left they gym and as I said, one key differentiator for me is that I work hard...very hard!
So, whenever someone asks.
“Why are you such a prolific writer?”
I answer, “its because I love what I do and I enjoy teaching others how to maintain discipline with their investments”.
Keep in mind, had it not been for risk taking, I would have never decided to write on Seeking Alpha.
Had it not been for borrowing millions of dollars, I would have never learned how to build a shopping center.
Had it not been for marrying my wife (we only dated a week and got married), I wouldn’t have five kids, and my first grandkid.
The game is all about taking risks!
I’m glad I rolled the dice…
To get married...
To have five kids…
To build franchises…
To develop shopping centers…
And to write on Seeking Alpha.
I simply cannot wait to tell you about what I have in store for you in the coming months. As you (and Asher) will soon learn, the bet on Seeking Alpha has paid off and I'm just getting started!
You (and Asher) are going to be amazed…
Stay tuned!
Thank you for reading my weekend blog and if you comment below I will send you a discount to iREIT on Alpha.
Keep in mind that all members (at iREIT on Alpha) get a free copy of our new iREIT Masterclass Handbook.
All the best,
Brad Thomas
Senior Analyst, iREIT on Alpha