How To Quit Your Full Time Job

I remember a few years ago when Darlene and I first got into Real Estate investing. We had this crazy idea that one of us would quit our full time job in 3 years. Then we look at each other, paused for a few seconds and started laughing…. YA RIGHT! Later that year I visited Don for a quit chat.

Don has been a long time friend of mine and I have known him since 12 years of age. The purpose of the trip was to tell him about how I wanted to get into Real Estate investing using this technique called Rent to Own.

At the time, Don wasn’t fond of his job either, but when I told him about how we could buy beautiful homes in beautiful neighbourhoods then ask people to give us $10,000 before we gave them the keys to the house, he almost kicked me out of his house! I had no idea if this thing was even going to work but I believed in so much that I was able to convince him to try my crazy idea out.

Three years later, Don is a full time Real Estate agent and Darlene left her full time job. So what changed? We didn’t get massive raises to allow us to buy multiple homes? What changed was our thinking and our actions. We also;

1. Starting hanging out with successful people
2. Wrote all of our goals down on a whiteboard in our office in plain sight

We also didn’t care about timing the market. So many people are waiting for the perfect deal, the perfect time, the perfect condition. What we cared about was getting into the market and spending TIME in the market. So many people think that you have to time the market and that’s not the case. Once you start to speculate it’s just another form of gambling.

The other mistake I see many beginning investors make is getting caught up in all the different Real Estate investing strategies out in the market. They spend thousands of dollars on weekend boot camps to learn about wholesaling, rent to own, flipping, student rentals and sandwich leases.

One thing I was fortunate to learn from our mentors was to pick one strategy, master it and don’t get caught up chasing all the shiny stones because you can easily lose sight of your target.

Where Do You Start
These are a few of the key places to start in order to leave your full time job and to get into the right mind frame.

1. Pick a Real Estate strategy that you like, master it and become the Guru of that industry. There are shiny stones all over the place, pick one and love it for a few years before moving on to another strategy.
2. Make sure you right your goals down and don’t trust your memory. But more importantly, set high goals but not unrealistic goals. What I mean is, write down that you want 2 investment properties by the end of the year, not 1 million dollars in passive income in 6 months.
3. Education is such an important part of Real Estate Investing but guess what, it can only get you so far. I know so many people that spend between $5,000 – $50,000 on Real Estate investing. Education can only get you so far, perseverance is what counts. Darlene, Don and I have had made countless mistakes and guess what…. we are going to make lots more. I believe this with all my heart, there is no such thing as failure…. only experience.
4. Influence is the key to success. If you think back to when you were a baby, what did you do when you were hungry, or wanted a toy or go outside and play? You were persistent and you never stopped until you got your way. Never give up and never stop trying. When I want to do a joint venture deal, or purchase another property I use this same tactic.
5. The last thing that we do is talk and think about what we want almost all the time. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t talk about investing, another deal, another home, another joint venture possibility.

Whatever you decide to do with your life, make sure you have passion. Once you have passion there isn’t a thing in this world that can stop you. Don’t get caught up living in the past or thinking too much about the future. The only place where you can make a change is NOW!

So many people get caught up in the destination… stay focused and enjoy the journey, you’ll have so much more fun if you do.

In closing, is it possible to leave your full time job in three years? YES IT IS. It just depends on what you plan on doing RIGHT NOW to take you one step closer to your dreams.

Until next time make the Smart Choice.

Gary Hibbert