How hard would you be willing to work for a million dollars?
Shiloh LundahlPro Member
Rental Property Investor · Gilbert, AZ · Member since 2016 · 3k+ posts · 4k+ votesHow hard would you be willing to work for a million dollars?
Most Popular Reply
Investor · Round Rock, TX · Member since 2010 · 8k+ posts · 4k+ votes
6yWorking hard is important, noble, and virtuous. Just be mindful of what you trade off by working singularly to amass what amounts to an investment in your future self at the expense of your current self. What is your family trading off in the process? What are your friends trading off in the process? Are they on board? Have they spoken to you about needing you and you're not around?
Who is in control? Is it the voices in your head wanting to show everyone how awesome or different you are or are you working for a better life later mindful of the tradeoffs such that the processes you set up are sustainable long-term? Too many people in the industry fail to account for their time properly and what should be imputed in their returns and thus tell everyone about some make-believe eye-popping returns that have little bearing in reality.
Building wealth is a long-term greedy endeavor and those who have been around the block will tell you that death, divorce, harsh recessions, random life events and all manner of things can derail your success and you have little or no control over many of these things. It's fine to want to do well and achieve, but make sure you set yourself up to be happy in the present as well while you fall in love with the process instead of ascribing too much value to your attachment to the results.
42 Replies
- Rental Property Investor · RVA · Member since 2016 · 5k+ posts · 4k+ votes6y
Me? Very hard, but also smart. You have to be willing to work hard for a long time to succeed in real estate. The best way to work smart is to hire others to do things for you.
The importance of the skill of hiring employees and outsourcing tasks cannot be overstated. We all have the same 24 hours in the day, but you can turn your 24 into more by hiring others. Virtual Assistants are an affordable way to have low dollar-per-hour tasks handled so you don't have to.
- Investor · Round Rock, TX · Member since 2010 · 8k+ posts · 4k+ votes6y
Working hard is important, noble, and virtuous. Just be mindful of what you trade off by working singularly to amass what amounts to an investment in your future self at the expense of your current self. What is your family trading off in the process? What are your friends trading off in the process? Are they on board? Have they spoken to you about needing you and you're not around?
Who is in control? Is it the voices in your head wanting to show everyone how awesome or different you are or are you working for a better life later mindful of the tradeoffs such that the processes you set up are sustainable long-term? Too many people in the industry fail to account for their time properly and what should be imputed in their returns and thus tell everyone about some make-believe eye-popping returns that have little bearing in reality.
Building wealth is a long-term greedy endeavor and those who have been around the block will tell you that death, divorce, harsh recessions, random life events and all manner of things can derail your success and you have little or no control over many of these things. It's fine to want to do well and achieve, but make sure you set yourself up to be happy in the present as well while you fall in love with the process instead of ascribing too much value to your attachment to the results.
- Real Estate Broker · Bay Area · Member since 2018 · 1k+ posts · 3k+ votes6y
I think the person really needs to define what "Hard" is. I see so many times people say I worked so hard today blah blah. I look at it and I am like really? You didn't do crap. It's not just about hard work to get to a million+. I see so many people break their backs working 12-14hr days but they are not at a million and never will be.
You need hard work, some street smarts, perseverance, some luck, block out distractions, right industry job business, and most important willing to get out of your own way and take a risk and go for it!
- Rental Property Investor · East Wenatchee, WA · Member since 2014 · 10k+ posts · 16k+ votes6y
To be a millionaire? Yes, I would think 5 years of sacrifice and being intentional would not be too much to ask or give for most. Having a 5 year goal is a good thing. It means to have hope and willingness to improve yourself and your circumstances.
I suppose I had an abstract idea of wanting a NW of $1M by age x along the way, but it wasn't my primary goal. It was secondary and a part of why. A cool car, while nice to have, wasn't on the primary radar either. These wants by themselves would have been too shallow / not deep enough to carry me through.
A strong why will sustain us with resiliency and perseverance while at the same time not keep our noses so against the grindstone that we sacrifice relationships. A strong why includes and is often because of the ones you love. .
True freedom, leaving a specific legacy and beomg able to give to causes we care about was why. Unfulfilling jobs and long commutes sparked desire to change. Wondering why every generation in my family so far had to start with nothing. Knowing a little help to the worthy on the brink could help prevent disaster.
Along the way, paying off debt and growing net worth was part of the journey, but not the reason itself. A million bucks today, while a great goal, isn't the life of luxury we dreamed of while watching Miami Vice as teens. It's a nest egg shedding $40k per year for most to subsidize social insecurity. It's a start and part of what will hopefully be something deeper.
Would I sacrifice and forsake all for a period of years just to have a million bucks? Nah. Highly doubtful. Would I do it as a step to something bigger than myself? Yes, all over again.
- 6yJay HinrichsBusiness MemberReal Estate Consultant · Summerlin, NV · Member since 2014 · 45k+ posts · 66k+ votes
Originally posted by @Bryan Hancock:
Working hard is important, noble, and virtuous. Just be mindful of what you trade off by working singularly to amass what amounts to an investment in your future self at the expense of your current self. What is your family trading off in the process? What are your friends trading off in the process? Are they on board? Have they spoken to you about needing you and you're not around?
Who is in control? Is it the voices in your head wanting to show everyone how awesome or different you are or are you working for a better life later mindful of the tradeoffs such that the processes you set up are sustainable long-term? Too many people in the industry fail to account for their time properly and what should be imputed in their returns and thus tell everyone about some make-believe eye-popping returns that have little bearing in reality.
Building wealth is a long-term greedy endeavor and those who have been around the block will tell you that death, divorce, harsh recessions, random life events and all manner of things can derail your success and you have little or no control over many of these things. It's fine to want to do well and achieve, but make sure you set yourself up to be happy in the present as well while you fall in love with the process instead of ascribing too much value to your attachment to the results.
Bryan welcome back have not seen you for a few years. !!
- Investor · Round Rock, TX · Member since 2010 · 8k+ posts · 4k+ votes6y
Thanks @Jay Hinrichs
I just waded through a close to 3-year reorganization after a brutal and nasty divorce/betrayal. Not for the faint of heart for sure.
This post resonated with me because there is a lot of rah-rah out there about one-upping others based on ego and various forums of virtue signaling. Just live your life and push yourself to get better, but everything in some form of moderation allows room for other things in your life that are more important than padding your scorecard to seek validation or impress others.
- 6yJay HinrichsBusiness MemberReal Estate Consultant · Summerlin, NV · Member since 2014 · 45k+ posts · 66k+ votes
if I look at others I know that have done really well.. they were pretty much all small business owners who started at 5 am and took the risks.. and enjoyed the ups and downs that the last 40 years have shown us.. And while maybe not formally educated ( my partner in the Timber business) they were street smart and deal smart.. To use my partner in the Timber business as an example. when I met him.. he was getting up and 5am each day out the door and would drive 200 plus miles a day up and down these dirt roads visually looking for timber jobs.. IE door knocking but in the rural areas you can imagine how spread out the doors are LOL.. cell phones had just come out his bill would be 1k to 1500 a month.
When I came on the scene I said Steve we have to get you out of scout mode and put you in closer mode.. ( the absolute best closer I have ever seen period ) so lap tops had just come out.. So I hire a young kid and for one year I had him go from the Oregon CA border to just south of Olympia right up 1 5 and pull Arial photogs at the county .. compare them to tax records and create a data base.. this took a year and cost me probably 30k or so.. Once done we had a data base of every private owner of timber ground of 10 acres of more that had visible timber at the time the Aerial photogs were taken.. I then got the reverse directory and had an in house staff person match these all up to phone numbers.. We only sent letters if we could not find phone numbers.. Rural Americans are not telemarketed like Urban dwellers.. so our telemarketers did quite well working that data base.. They would qualify and set up appointments for Steve our office secretary would put a map package together so he could find the property he was a little directionally challenged.. so his day got condensed to 2 to 3 site visits and timber cruises.. working 1/3 the hours and first year we closed over 80 deals that had net revenue in the low 7 figures for the company.. this was early to mid 90s.. I lived in Napa and flew to Portland 3 days a week for 9 years doing this. This led to us buying development ground so along the way we developed 1/2 a dozen SFR communities and sold the lots to builders. and those made mid 6 figure net returns.. WE bought Zero rentals.. other than our office.. Hind sight we might should have bought an apartment or two.. But we had no desire to deal with tenants or PM's.. my partner especially was all about cashing the big checks.. we used ZERO of our own capital MILLS would front us the money interest free to buy the timber deeds.. and these deals made anywhere from a low of 25k net each to 500k net.. So no way was Steve going to go with hey we can invest million and make 100k a year on cash flow.. he bought condo in Maui and so on and so forth and in the winter we took about 4 months off.. me in Napa him in Maui.. Loved those years. But that's One person Steve who came from basically 7th grade education worked in the woods all his life never made more than maybe 50k in a year to now cashing big checks often..
- 6yJay HinrichsBusiness MemberReal Estate Consultant · Summerlin, NV · Member since 2014 · 45k+ posts · 66k+ votes
Originally posted by @Bryan Hancock:
Thanks @Jay Hinrichs
I just waded through a close to 3-year reorganization after a brutal and nasty divorce/betrayal. Not for the faint of heart for sure.
This post resonated with me because there is a lot of rah-rah out there about one-upping others based on ego and various forums of virtue signaling. Just live your life and push yourself to get better, but everything in some form of moderation allows room for other things in your life that are more important than padding your scorecard to seek validation or impress others.
WE all have goals. for me though be that I got in it so young.. licensed agent at 18 in 1974.. its a lifestyle.. really that's what it is its never been work..
- Member since 2019 · 295 posts · 159 votes6y
@Shiloh Lundahl. Honestly I wouldn’t work that hard for a million I don’t have the taste or hunger for a Rolls Royce or a 7 bedroom mansion I like my house the way it is when you try to reach to far you fall even lower and then your in Trouble I just want to be comfortable and content bills paid. Vacation twice a year
- Investor · Greenville, SC · Member since 2016 · 5k+ posts · 13k+ votes6y
Life is short. Go hard at whatever we value and tie our identity to.
- Investor · Miami, FL · Member since 2015 · 379 posts · 330 votes6y
@Jermell Shavers Honestly I wouldn’t work that hard for a million I don’t have the taste
or hunger for a Rolls Royce or a 7 bedroom mansion I like my house the
way it is when you try to reach to far you fall even lower and then your
in Trouble I just want to be comfortable and content bills paid.
Vacation twice a yearI respect your choice for a simpler life but this is far from the truth and wanted to make it clear for others reading. Knowledge/experience is not tangible but nonetheless gained through failure.
In regards to your post @Shiloh Lundahl
As hard as I can.
My hypothesis is as you got older the cars did not seem like much of an achievement when many of the ones around you are financed on high interest debt. Funny since my taste in car ownership has changed as well, I am hungry to purchase all my vehicles cash now (:In all seriousness I think @Bryan Hancock nailed it when referring to the process. I don’t think I would be able to wake up with energy at 4am daily if I had to chase down bad guys or operate on live bodies. I’ve shaped my life to operate on my priorities & our primal needs (most “busy” people react to other people’s agenda) so that the million dollars is just a by product of my sustainable lifestyle.
- 6yAnthony GaydenPro MemberRental Property Investor · Omaha, NE · Member since 2014 · 2k+ posts · 3k+ votes
@Shiloh Lundahl
It occurred to me that I wasn’t working hard because I wanted to be wealthy. I was working hard because I enjoy working hard.
- Rental Property Investor · Corvallis, OR · Member since 2018 · 840 posts · 1k+ votes6y
@Shiloh Lundahl been running 50 yard dashes many years while also maintaining the marathon mind set! Net worth of $4 million, buy and holds, 40 flips later.
- Specialist · San Antonio, TX · Member since 2012 · 865 posts · 351 votes6y
Hopefully all those big rollers will take their best assets to Church this Sunday. So many people are to busy to go to Church, but not to busy to chase a dollar.
Real estate has been a blessing in my life, but I don’t want to forget what’s most important. I take May family to Church EVERY Sunday morning. 💒
- Real Estate Agent · Washington, D.C. · Member since 2012 · 17k+ posts · 30k+ votes6y
If your drive is to be rich, you will likely end up unhappy even when rich.
If instead you do what you love, it doesnt matter if you ever become rich.....but also you have a much higher chance of succeeding and becoming if you are passionate about what you do to make money.
My income doing what I love, real estate, is 3-4x higher than pre real estate, and I made a good living pre-real estate. When I quit my job, I told my friends I was going to be happy if I could make 50% of my previous salary.
District Invest Group546 Reviews - Rental Property Investor · Gilbert, AZ · Member since 2016 · 3k+ posts · 4k+ votes6y
@Bryan Hancock, @Account Closed
The postings on this thread kind of went down a different path then I was expecting. It has become more of a money isn’t everything thread and a money won’t buy you happiness thread. I believe many have missed the intent. The intent is not to place money above more important things such as God or family.
The original post was basically asking the question, would you be willing to dedicate 5 years of your life to becoming a millionaire? I guess I kind of look at it the same way as someone who is dedicating 5 years of their life going through a rigorous bachelors and masters program to graduate with a degree. When people do that, others often say that they are dedicated and disciplined or have a good work ethic, etc. They probably wouldn’t say that person going through school to become an accountant, lawyer, or doctor is greedy and they should just be content with what they have rather than spending all of that time in pursuit of those degrees.
Most of us who invest in real estate do it as an investment to create wealth. So the question is, if you could create that wealth faster, and reach a goal in 5 years through hard work and hustling, would you be willing to do that even if it meant serious dedication and sacrifice?
- Handyman · Pittsburgh, PA · Member since 2018 · 5k+ posts · 13k+ votes6y
There's that word, "serious." Most people will do practically anything to be thought of as "serious" by the general public. The word "serious" can be used to manipulate almost everyone and sell almost anything. My father worshipped it and could be manipulated by it all day long. And he died so broke I had to pay to bury him.
"Serious dedication." Now that's a humdinger of a noun phrase. "Serious dedication and sacrifice" just adds a whole 'nother layer of oom-pa-pa there.
But getting away from a myopic focus on the words you're using, Shiloh, would I, as you mentioned in your original post, be willing to wake up at 5 in the morning and work until 10 at night all day every day for five years to get to a million bucks? No, no, of course not. If I did that for six months I'd basically be flushing my marriage down the toilet bowl. My friendships as well. Would I do it for a car, a house, some standard of living defined by how much money I spent? No.
That would be putting the accumulation of wealth well above God and family.
Does God really care how much money you have? Well, as George Carlin used to say, God always needs money. All-powerful, all-knowing...just no good with money. People are always asking us to to fork more and more over in His name and to further His works. Why doesn't God just get His stuff together, push some of his take-home into VTSAX every year, and follow the 4% rule? If He really loved us, would He allow all these priests and pastors and rabbis and imams and such to piddle away the money they collect in His name like they always do? The Salvation Army Santas with their red buckets this time of year always get me thinking.
Ding-ding-ding, money-money-money and see you next year, we've got no long-term plans for structuring our finances to move them toward a self-sustaining model while fostering economic growth. Just give us money and don't think about that.
- Rental Property Investor · East Wenatchee, WA · Member since 2014 · 10k+ posts · 16k+ votes6y
So there it is. Would we pay to become a millionaire like if it was a bachelor's degree or master (mind) degree.
Just spill it, then. Not everybody is interested in paying over $50k up front for an 'education' plus 5 digit annual mastermind membership fees, like you. Especially since a lot of us expressed (in error, apparently) that a million dollars just for the sake of having a million dollars itself is shallow, Shiloh.
But some may be interested in paying as you have and do, so you never know.
Probably better to just be up front about your purpose so we can save the philosophy / deeper discussions and save your having to come back to say no no, you're doing it wrong.
- Shawnee Mission, KS · Member since 2016 · 716 posts · 313 votes6y
I came from my father owning a construction company youngest of 5 he pushed me really hard, that put a work ethic in me that working my aa off was no Biggy.
I then started working part time at UPS for $87.00 a week mid-80s, I quickly worked a full-time job too then went to the UPS for my 12-hr day. I was waiting in line to go drive the big brown panel van that took 8 years.
My time came and went driving pkg cars my pay went up like a rocket. Working for my dad did prepare me for UPS but driving was the hardest job I ever did.
My body fell apart driving so I left.
I started to follow real estate around 2006-2007 after couple years I thought this may be my ship I need to jump on.
I cashed out everything I could touch 2009 -2010 I still had that hard drive.
I would get up around 345 am during rehab time, I hired folks I knew in different trades some were dudes some were home runs, I kept weeding them out.
I was highly focused on the task at hand, I paid for cash for HUD homes before it went crazy bought and rehab homes then rented in A and B areas.
Now my rent was all mine that was a big hammer so I leveraged one home paid off my own house I live in, last time I figured my net is 850k.
I really like working in the field, one more deal should put me in the million club.
I could have made the club sooner but did not want to take on huge debt still don’t.
- Investor · Round Rock, TX · Member since 2010 · 8k+ posts · 4k+ votes6y
Why the focus on cramming things into some arbitrary 5-year period? The power of compounding is what will make you really rich in time. A large part of being able to generate such wealth in a 5-year period comes from one's initial conditions and is heavily influenced by your existing family connections, starting wealth point, capacity to generate out-sized cash flows, selected spend rate, and thus one's choice of a "standard of living."
Most things in life that drive your baseline set point for happiness have very little to do with your financial wealth. They have to do with your relationships, health, and learning to detach from the impresssions that are driving their emotional decisions. The positive psychology movement also tracks "time affluence" as a key to happiness, which busyness is the enemy of.
I would say most people are unwilling to make the tradeoff of sacrificing everything in pursuit of so-called "success." That doesn't make them weak, bad, or lazy. It makes the rationale. Think long-term greedy.
- Investor · Phoenix, AZ · Member since 2015 · 346 posts · 170 votes6y
@Frank Wong
That’s what I had on my mind. Working hard is relative, you need to think, visualize, plan your goals and execute. Not many people think hard and that’s where they fall short of. You need a balance of things and sometimes more of other things in order to continue moving forwards for whatever the goal is, the money will come regardless.
- 6yPeter TverdovBusiness MemberDeveloper · New Brunswick, NJ · Member since 2015 · 1k+ posts · 2k+ votes
Earning 1M a year and being worth 1M are two diff things.
Making 1M in a year requires a lot of work. Being worth 1M doesn’t change anything. It’s an unrealized paper gain.
- Handyman · Pittsburgh, PA · Member since 2018 · 5k+ posts · 13k+ votes6y
Originally posted by @Peter Tverdov:
Earning 1M a year and being worth 1M are two diff things.
Making 1M in a year requires a lot of work. Being worth 1M doesn’t change anything. It’s an unrealized paper gain.
I would not agree with that. Having the assets changes a great deal about how you run your life, knowing that the "unrealized paper gain" could be deployed when and as you choose. For someone like me, the b8ggest gain is peace of mind, knowing that it would take more than the everyday despicable human act to really hurt my family.
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