I was fortunate enough to work with a mentor some years ago, Jim Haliburton, who has a very clear vision on many things and who recently posted an article that really resonated with me.
At the core of his message is this great insight: ‘Having plenty of resources and being resourceful are two separate concepts.’
Jim had gleaned many of his insights from numerous Tony Robbins seminars he’d attended – such nuggets as “Success is not about your resources. It's about how resourceful you are with what you have.”
And he followed up the opening premise with some really excellent examples – and that’s really at the core of my re-visit of his article below: What does it mean to step back from a situation or understanding of something so that you can see how best you can add value to raise the benefit for everyone involved?
To set the scene for the examples, Jim asks us to consider the following statement: a person with 1p can help a person with 99p make a £1.
If we then take that statement but apply it to a property investment context, we can use the following example:
- Investor 1 has £950,000 and investor 2 has £50,000.
- Investor 1 purchased a buy-to-flip property for £900,000 with £50,000 left for refurb.
- Problems occur as investor 1 spends all his remaining £50,000 on only half of the refurb.
- Needing a hand with finance, investor 2 lends his £50,000 to investor 1.
- The property is completed and then flipped on for £1,300,000.
- Following on from completion, Investor 1 pays investor 2 a total £51,000 in return.
- Investor 1 makes a total profit of £299,000 while Investor 2 makes only £1,000.
Now I know what you’re thinking: “Well, that was a waste of time to tell me about how some investor got 2% interest on a personal loan”. But trust me, there’s sense to the analogy!
That was only a simple explanation of a hypothetical scenario – reality is very different and rarely simple.
Often as we start out in property things are difficult. Unless you are one of the gifted few that has the Midas touch or beginners luck, the mind is fraught with problems and so is the conversion process!
Let’s say investor 1 had a really tough time getting finance to finish the project. Desperate for funding with nowhere to turn he reaches out to friends and family – Investor 2!
Investor 2 only has £50,000 investment funds at this point.
He has two options:
- Not help investor 1 as funds are tight and he is saving for his first project.
- Lend £50,000 at 2% interest.
He was, however, resource-intelligent and understood the second concept – reciprocity.
Investor 2 had the foresight to recognize that by helping his friend he would be gaining far more than the promised 2% interest.
As humans we are emotional beings! We do not forget the people and things that helped us during our truly dark times and because of this I want you to understand the most authentic and effective approach to truly becoming successful.
The secret is simple: be aware of how you can be resourceful to the people in your profession.
This might sound simple, but I promise that if you can switch your mind-set to focus on what you have to give rather than what you want to take, each and every transaction you approach will increase in value for both parties, tenfold!
Go to network evenings, courses, meetings and focus on what you bring to the table and with this… things will start to happen.
It is a natural human response for humans to want to help those helping them and because of this people will start giving you more:
· More opportunities
· More advice
· More help
Remember, we are only as valuable as our network, as it determines our net worth! Now I’m not saying you should just keep taking risks and give everything away hoping that you might get something in return.
I’m saying be intelligent with what you have that could be of use to other people while coming from a place of authenticity.
When you start to genuinely look out for those around you, as a group you are stronger.
Simply put: Proximity is Power!
