Happy July 4th

Hi Cashflow Hackers

As the whole nation are celebrating July 4th, I would like to send this email as a reminder to myself that America is my nation now.

When I first moved to America and on a working visa, I felt like an outsider, this country was not mine, there’re many interesting things because of that, there’s a lot to learn and adapt, and it’s fun.

The first thing I did was researching online and read so many How-To tips.

I remember the first huddle is to get a driver’s license even I already know how to drive in Korea, I have to learn and get the license again. A school in town after evaluating how I drive, told me I need 20 hours practice with them for $50 an hour. I ended up hiring someone on Craiglist for way cheaper, they taught me how to drive in America for 10 hours and went to get the license. I passed, of course.

Another thing is to navigate the banking system and credit score system in America, I was bringing some money into the US so I opened a checking account and got a credit card where I deposit $2000 to get the credit limit of $2000 and start using to build my credit score.

The key for building credit score is not to use and spend a lot on credit cards, the key is to use 10% or even 3% less than the credit limit, and of course to pay on time, all the time.

I passed on these tips to many other friends I know in New York also came to this country to study or work like me. I became someone who they look at and know that if they do what I do, they can live the same good life.

Then I upgraded to another level when I used a credit card to buy a 6 plex in Oklahoma city with 0% interest for 18 months. I learned that not from an online How To tips but from a real estate Meetup event, where my mentor hosted many speakers who were speaking and showing us their real experience and knowledge.

A lot of these knowledge, if you see them online, you’ll think it’s too good to be true and never take it seriously. And there’s another saying that I heard people said “When it’s too good to be true, it’s usually is.”

Now I take that sentence really lightly, because the truth is usually relative to the person. If I call everyone and say it’s 10:19am right now, someone will say it’s true someone will say it’s not true. Even when I say it’s summer now, some people might not agree with me because they live somewhere else where it’s winter.

Real estate used to be too good to be true for me. Now it’s normal, I mean you have to be making 10k a flip at least.. or don’t even think about it, it’s pretty normal since I saw so many people did it and I myself did it. It’s too good to be true for someone who was making 43k a year working 6 days a week.

But I’m the 3% that made it.

You probably heard about the 80/20 rule. But in many business I see the recurring rule of 3%.

Out of 100 distressed sellers that I call, I probably can have a transaction conversation with 3 of them.

Out of 100 people starting out in real estate, just 3% of them will have some success.

Out of 100 people I’m showing many money making opportunities to, just 3 people will understand and run with it.

So in that conference where I learned about how to use business credit card, there were 100 of us then I was 1 of the 3 people who went on, learned more, and actually applied that to my transaction.

But most of us are average at IQ or EQ, how do we know if we enter real estate, we will be in the 3%?

I would say it’s in the Decision you make, your commitment to the mission.

If you decided to be the top 3% in what you do, you’ll persist, you’ll upgrade your mindset, and no matter what happen, you’ll reach out to people who can guide you to the ultimate success in that field.

That’s why I created my new Zoom background with the sentence:

Decision Equals Success

Back to America, I’m so blessed to get to live in the land of opportunities, even for an outsider like me. From barely speaking the languages, I eventually become an insider in many things like businesses, real estate, and then commercial real estate.

The biggest blessing is the mindset exposure and upgrade that I’ve been able to do for my mind for many years and there’s always the next level. The day that I took responsibility for everything happens to me and never ever complain or blame that on anyone or anything again, I was actually re-born.

If you live in America, you’re blessed with tremendous invaluable resources, especially when you want to build wealth, give back, live a meaningful life while having a happy healthy family. If you need those resources, reach out, I can always point you to the right direction!

Cheers to July 4th, American Independence Day, when America was born!

And cheers to you, on your own Personal Independence Day, when you take full responsibility of your life and everything in it, it's the day you’re born, again!

Sophie

Disclaimer: I am not a CPA, attorney, or insurance advisor. Be an intelligent human and obtain relevant and specific professional advice before making any investment or other decision.