Time To Make Your Life-Changing Decision

life changing Here’s a bit of trivia for you...

Did you know that the McDonald’s corporation does not make most of their profits selling hamburgers?

They don’t even make most of their money by selling supplies to franchisees or demanding huge royalties.

Nope. None of that.

The McDonald’s Corporation’s biggest cash cow is in real estate. You read that right.

Real estate.

Almost since the beginning, they began to buy up properties and lease them out, and then became the landlord to their franchisees.

Many people still today are not aware of this amazing fact.

Hey Moguls, Cody Sperber here, talking about life-changing decisions and they helped get me where I am today.

See, I was definitely not unaware of this bit of McDonald’s trivia. In fact, I learned it when I was about 10 years old. I happened to watch a TV special that featured an interview with the McDonald’s wizard himself, Ray Kroc.

When Mr. Kroc made that statement about being in the real estate business—as opposed to being in the hamburger business—it had a profound effect on me, even as a kid.

I distinctly remember thinking, “That’s what I want to do when I grow up. I want to own real estate and get paid.”

That was one of those moments that seems small at the time, but causes a life-changing decision.

Then There was Jeremy

Years later, I knew about a young man named Jeremy...

I heard that he bought a new-construction house, then turned around and flipped it and netted over $80k.

Wow!

gone That was almost unbelievable, but it settled things for me. I knew that was the direction I wanted to take with my life. I had my plan all laid out. I’d attend college and graduate, then launch into real estate full time.

To say that I had little to no encouragement would be a massive understatement. No one around me thought this was a good decision of what I should be doing with my life. I heard every reason in the world why it would lead me down the road to failure.

But I was determined.

I didn’t allow the voices of naysayers to deter me. I enrolled in real estate classes and attended the local REIA (Real Estate Investor Association) meetings so I could network and get to know other investors.

I was dead set on proving everyone wrong. (It’s called the “I’ll show ‘em,” attitude. It burns bright at first, but burns out fast.)

Overload

It didn’t take long for me to begin sinking under an overload of information. I had no idea there was so much to learn about real estate investing. I had no idea it would be so hard.

I was young, I had a meager amount of capital, no credit… but worst of all, I had no one to show me the way. Running a business was totally foreign to me; I had no idea what I should be doing each and every day. I was stumbling.

Then it came. The voices of discouragement and disillusionment.

“All my friends and my family were right. Why didn’t I listen? I really can’t do this. What made me think I could?”

At that point, all I knew to do was go get a job. So, sad to say, I gave up. I threw in the towel. I dug out my résumé, polished it up and sent it out.

I wound up as a bookkeeper for a developer. (Well, I was sorta close to the real estate world.)

It was a confusing time in my life. Obviously, I was relieved that the pressure was off, but I had such awful feelings of regret and self-deprecation for quitting on my dreams.

“Want to Go?”

I was about 5 months into the most boring job you could ever imagine, plus working for a boss who was less than the most admirable person I’d ever met. (If you get the picture.)

I got a call from a friend of mine who asked, “Do you want to go with me to a real estate seminar in San Francisco?”

I almost had to laugh. I was so broke… there was no way I could afford the trip or the price of the conference. So of course, I said no. “Can’t do it. No way. Not possible.”

Did you ever have one of those friends who, no matter what you say, they won’t take no for an answer? That describes this guy. He just wouldn’t let up.

What he didn’t know was that all the time, deep down on the inside of me, I was dying to attend a live conference like this. He kept pushing, and I finally agreed.

Again, it was one of those seemingly small decisions to pull out the credit card and pay for the conference. But it was yet another life-changing event in my life.

No one could have prepared me for how powerful that conference was.

I was meeting real, genuine investors. These were people who were doing it; not just some money-grabbing gurus blowing smoke. Here were common, ordinary people who I could relate to, but they were making boatloads of money with their investing.

Of course, I wasn’t so naïve that I couldn’t realize they make these seminars exciting so you’ll buy the products. But hey, I’d already invested tens of thousands in my college education, so investing in these educational materials only made sense.

I headed to the tables in the back and bought the items I felt would move me forward on the right track.

Then the Clincher

Everything—everything—that happened at that weekend seminar was life-changing, but then came the clincher...

This was the biggie that I could have never dreamed of. I connected with my very first mentor. Another life-changer.

change This investor’s name was Lyle, and he proceeded to pour into my life. From him I learned many of the principles that I now share with all you Moguls. He taught me how to actually operate a business so that in years to come, I was able to achieve financial freedom.

Add together all that I learned that weekend, and Lyle’s caring, consistent mentoring… and you come up with this young investor well on his way to success.

Seemingly Small Decisions

I find it fascinating how these seemingly small decisions can become life-changers. Had I not said yes to my friend’s invitation to attend the seminar, I would never have met Lyle.

I’ve never ceased to be grateful for all that Lyle invested into my life, and for that reason, I go to great lengths to give back in every way I can. Sort of a “pay it forward” concept.