What 90 Days Out Of The Rat Race Looks Like And How You Can Join Me!

It has been around three months since I “retired” from my restaurant business and decided to concentrate full-time on real estate. To me, leaving the restaurant signified a momentous point in my life. I was able to leave a job and begin to focus on a business that creates wealth, a lifestyle and elevates the passion in my life.

My goal in writing this blog is to highlight the benefits of leaving the rat race, what will propel you to take action and how you can start to plan for the exit. Most of us in life are too busy to contemplate what our goals are, and we get caught in the trap. I was also at fault, but a couple of events in my life caused a monumental shift.

We all define leaving the rat race in different terms. Some just want to go sit on a beach, others are more inclined to hand the reins over to another and sit back, while others decide to pursue another venture. I fall into the third category. I never see myself retiring and my joy in life comes from helping others achieve their goals.

I am always in constant pursuit of the fifth and sixth human needs: Growth and Contribution. My happiness and fulfillment are derived from these two human needs, and it was a breakthrough in my life when I realized that happiness is achieved through giving of oneself and serving others. Exiting the rat race has allowed me to increase my contribution and accelerated my personal growth.

So what does my typical day involve? My first step was to focus my days solely on my real estate investing and education company. When I was working sixty hours per week, I was only able to dedicate a couple of hours per day at the expense of family and fun time. I was able to finish a real estate education product as well as close on a 156 unit apartment complex. What you focus on tends to expand, and my thoughts are dedicated to real estate.

Secondly, I decided to rent a home in Jacksonville, Florida for ten weeks with the family and begin to look for real estate deals in the market. When I owned the restaurant, I was lucky if I could take off an entire week. The freedom has allowed me to seek out other markets and more importantly, live where my family chooses to call home. Once my home is sold, the next step is Florida!

Another overlooked element of exiting the rat race is being able to choose when you want to work. It was rare for me to have a weekend off, and I missed out on many family functions. This missing out ignited my desire to leaving my job forever. This past weekend, my partner Jake was down visiting and we were shooting videos for our media company. No way that was happening six months ago.

So what pushed me into leaving the race? I attribute my exit to two simple steps. First, my “should” became a “must”. What does that mean? It was no longer a maybe. I needed to do this. The business was earning less money, the hours were long and the excitement and passion expired. When a person feels threatened, he is more likely to take action.

I can give you a personal example of a “should” turning into a “must” from my life. My dad was a smoker for forty years. He tried everything to quit, with zero results. He kept on puffing away. One day, a visit at a doctor resulted in a scary diagnosis. He was told if he didn’t quit in six months, he would develop emphysema and pass away. That one conversation was all it took for dad to jettison the cigarettes forever. His problem became immediate and in his mind it became a must.

The next step was evaluating my life and asking myself vital questions. What was important, what did I want to focus on in my life, what new relationships did I want to enter, what lifestyle did I want to live, how could I help others? These are all questions that were starting to burn inside of me, and propelled me to developing an exit strategy.

How can you begin to plan to leave the rat race? Here is a framework I have put together for you to begin:

1. Have a powerful conviction to leave.

2. Your decision needs to become a “must”.

3. Take massive action.

4. Correct your course of action if you fail. In this journey, the only failure is not trying.

5. Don’t quit until you have reached your goal.

There are certain steps you can take financially to expedite the process:

• Calculate your net worth. I like to call it a Personal Financial Statement.
• Fill out a monthly cash flow statement for your personal life. List all income and expense items.
• Income-Expenses=Monthly Cash Flow.
• Once you calculate your monthly expenses, which I refer to as my “burn rate”, I now know how much passive income I need to generate.
• Study your expenses, and eliminate all unnecessary expenses.
• Begin to eliminate any personal debt, such as credit cards and car payments. I frown upon personal debt, but I am a huge proponent of business debt. Wealthy people lever their businesses where they generate income to pay for their lifestyles.
• Educate yourself on investment strategies that allow you to earn passive income. Strategies include: real estate, earning royalties, portfolio income.
• Start investing in these strategies. If you are unsure of where to look, hire a business coach who can guide you into whatever alternative fits your life.

The only way to be successful in leaving the rat race is to get control of your financial picture. Once you have performed an audit of your financials, it’s now time to set your plan in motion and take massive action.

It took me almost three years to leave my restaurant once I committed to my plan. It will not happen overnight, and it certainly won’t happen if there is no plan or desire. The biggest benefit of leaving the rat race is the freedom to choose what you want to do. I hope this article gives you the motivation and the framework to begin your journey.