April 2020, San Francisco Bay Area, a couple of weeks after the stay at home order.
I pulled into my Emergency room that day, not knowing that I was going to receive the message that would change my life forever.
Morning huddle in my emergency room was a common thing pre-pandemic. It was a time used to discuss important topics for the department. Usually there would be a loud commotion as nurses filled the station giving and receiving report, then onto the craziness of the day. Except this day was different, there were no patients in the emergency room. Every bed was empty, no call lights going off, no IV pumps blaring, it was eerily quiet. Just like the world outside, the emergency room felt like the calm before the storm, near silence.
“I think it would be a great idea to talk to your family members about your wishes, in case something, you know, happens. Make sure to have a will, it would be best, we just don’t know what we’re dealing with”.
The Aha Moment
I don’t even remember who said it, but the message was crystal clear. That was not something I thought I’d be hearing at any point in my career as an emergency room nurse. I never thought I’d ever have to be faced with my own mortality in a place I called my home away from home. Despite the daily chaos, despite the heightened levels of stress I was used to, nothing can prepare for you for the gut-wrenching and raw feeling of planning your demise. I was a new father, my wife and I had just celebrated our son’s first birthday month’s prior. We had the rest of our lives to look forward to. Now a few months after a highlight of our lives, we had to plan a will for our next of kin? That feeling is one I’ll never forget.
I knew at that very moment, I wouldn’t let even the deadliest pandemic stop me from creating an amazing life for myself and my family. From that singular moment, started my real estate investing career.
Why Real Estate?
Prior to the beginning of the pandemic, I had been listening to real estate podcasts to and from work, to feed the deep curiosity of financial independence and real estate. The guests that spoke to me and who’s stories resonated were the people in healthcare who had been able to create enough passive income through their investments. I always thought, “why not me?” After hearing what I now consider “the dreaded message”, I got serious. I decided that day I would get coaching and mentoring, to expedite my journey towards being a great investor.
A few months later, I landed on an amazing coaching company with an even better track record. They had multiple millions of dollars to prove their student’s success through the purchasing of apartment complexes, proven operators they employed as coaches, and core values that were in line with how I envisioned my life to be. It felt right. I jumped right in!
Your Network is Your Net Worth
Seeing how important coaching and community was for me in the beginning, I highly encourage reaching out to people who are doing what you want to do. Start up a conversation with them and follow your curiosities. But the most important thing to do, take action! Act on your curiosities and go down that rabbit hole. I can assure you, time will always pass, so you might as well take the action towards changing your life.
I’m grateful I overheard that message of planning for my demise. The discomfort of hearing that message made me look at my life in a different light, it made me want to take control of it. It forced me to act on my curiosities and now I’m here. I’m here to serve all my colleagues, to help them create valuable and fulfilling lives through real estate investing.
So the question is, what will be your driving force to follow your dreams?
