Have you ever heard the phrase “burn the ships!”? Do you know where it comes from?
Before we get into this story, I am not advising those of you who have a nice W-2 job to quit, but this is something for you to consider if you want to become an active investor.
In 1519 Captain Hernan Cortes landed in Veracruz with his men to conquer the land and its people. The battle was bloody and vicious, but Cortes made a move so unbelievable that everyone (including his men) thought he was crazy.
He told his men to burn their ships. Burn them to ashes and never look back. Cortes sent the message to his men and their opponents that they would rather die than give up or go back.
If Cortes and his men knew they had options, retreat would be easy. If they knew they could go back, they wouldn’t give their 100% effort.
There’s a similar story more than 2,000 years ago when Julius Caesar set out to conquer England against their Celtic enemy. As they approached the Cliffs of Dover, the violent waters were unrelenting, and the men knew if they tried to go back through the channel, they would never survive. After much struggle and strife, Caesar and his men were able to beach their boats before Caesar made a startling request: burn the ships!
Again, here was a leader sending a strong message to his men and to their opponents: we won’t give up and we won’t go back. Caesar forced his men to commit 100% (if not more!), and as we know, went on to become one of the most powerful leaders in the history of the world.
Being An Active Investor Could Mean Burning Your Ship
What does this all have to do with SAO? With real estate and investing?
Well, I’m not recommending that everyone burn their boats and jump into investing. That’s not the path for everyone. But if you want to become an active, involved investor, it would be in your best interest to fully commit. Even if it means quitting your day job.
I’ve seen people try to balance a full or even part-time job with real estate investing, and it never quite panned out. One side always suffers.
I’ll give you a personal example. Before I truly got into real estate investing, I had the opportunity to work a nice, cushy corporate job. Even then, I knew and I didn’t want to work in the corporate world –I wanted to be an active investor. Still, it was hard to turn down a regular, decent paycheck. Eventually, I made the decision to burn my boat — I left the job so I would have more time for masterminds, networking and finding opportunities.
It’s too easy to retreat or back pedal when things get hard. When you don’t have a W-2 job backing you up, you have to really get out there and commit. Not to mention, you’ll be competing against people who are investing full-time, with a team and who are always hungry for more opportunities.
When You’re Ready, We’re Here
So, if you’re ready to be an active investor and to really run with it — burn the boats! Contact us when you are ready.