By: Stefan Aarnio
Freedomway.ca
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https://twitter.com/stefanaarnio
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Get Stefan Aarnio's book "Money People Deal: The Fastest Way to Real Estate Wealth" at MoneyPeopleDeal.com!

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Too many people wake up in the morning at an average time, go to an average job, settle for an average relationship and live an average life.

There is nothing wrong with average, but the sad thing is, there is nothing right about being average either.

Years ago when my rock band split up and my dreams of becoming a rock star were smashed, I felt myself slipping from special to average. I was no longer the cool guy with the band, instead, I was just an average guy, with an average job, an average degree and I had no way to distinguish myself from other people. My identity was lost.

If there is one thing in life that I feared most, it was becoming average… But why did average scare me?

Average people with average lives scared me because I observed that they neither won nor lost. If life were a game, they were only playing to avoid a loss. Winning isn’t even an option for most average people because they are so terrified of losing that the thought of winning becomes an impossibility.

Unfortunately for everyone, average or not, life begins when we decide to “play to win”.

The Dalai Lama when asked what surprised him most about humanity, answered “Man, because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future, he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived.”

So many people, every day, live their lives avoiding failure, avoiding loss, avoiding their dreams, their passions and their callings. We want to avoid pain, but when we avoid pain, we also eliminate the possibility of pleasure and joy. When we eliminate the possibility of losing, we also eliminate the possibility of winning.

Imagine a hockey team where every single player on the ice is playing defense. Imagine a real estate investor who never buys a single property. Imagine an entrepreneur who takes no risk and no action.

All of the examples above are destined to fail, by being unwilling to be exposed to failure, risk, pain and the possibility of loss, winning is an impossibility.

As an artist, I learned that art, to be art, must contain an element of risk. Art without risk is meaningless junk. The artist who takes no risk, produces no art. Surely, there will be hundreds or thousands of failures, but the true artist needs only one success and to justify a thousand failures.

Thomas Edison failed nearly 10,000 times before he discovered the light bulb. As an enlightened man he said “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that don’t work.”

Venture capitalists know that only 1 out of 27 companies they invest in will succeed.

World class salesmen know that they have to knock on hundreds of doors to make a sale.

Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team, and later became the most celebrated basketball player in history.

The Beatles were rejected by numerous record companies before landing a record deal. Today the Beatles are regarded as “the best band of all time” and they will likely hold the title forever.

Oprah Winfrey was told that she would never make it on television. Today Oprah is one of world’s richest women win the world and has her own TV network.

However, all of the above people have become world class successes and timeless success stories for the history books because they made a decision in their lives to 1) Stop playing the game of life so defensively aka: “not to lose” and 2) Start playing to win.

We only get one chance at life, we only get “one shot”, so make it count.

“If you had one shot, or one opportunity
To seize everything you ever wanted. one moment
Would you capture it or just let it slip?”

-Eminem

Thanks for reading,
Stefan Aarnio
Freedomway.ca
facebook.com/stefanaarnio
https://twitter.com/stefanaarnio
http://ca.linkedin.com/in/stefanaarnio

Get Stefan Aarnio's book "Money People Deal: The Fastest Way to Real Estate Wealth" at MoneyPeopleDeal.com!

Remember: Please share this article if you found it enjoyable!

By: Stefan Aarnio
Freedomway.ca
facebook.com/stefanaarnio
https://twitter.com/stefanaarnio
http://ca.linkedin.com/in/stefanaarnio

Get Stefan Aarnio's book "Money People Deal: The Fastest Way to Real Estate Wealth" at MoneyPeopleDeal.com!

Remember: Please share this article if you found it enjoyable!

When I was younger, I used to think that I had to move away to be successful. All of the successful people I could think of (mostly musicians and actors) had moved to a major city like Toronto, Los Angeles, or New York to become the best in their fields. Now that I am a little older and wiser, I can see how flawed my old thinking was.

One of my mentors told me to read a book years ago called "acres of diamonds" by Russel H Conwell. The book is a classic and the story is unforgettable:

1) There is a wealthy man with a successful farm
2) The man is wealthy because he is content with his success and his farm
3) The man hears about diamonds in a far away land and the riches they can bring. He begins to feel discontented with his successful farm. Through his discontent, becomes a poor man.
4) The man sells his farm to chase diamonds in a faraway land
5) The man becomes impoverished, starves and commits suicide. His resources were wasted and he found no diamonds.
6) A second man buys the first man's farm and by chance finds a shining object in the ground
7) The buyer of the farm discovers the largest diamond mine in the world under the ground of the farm and becomes wealthy.
8) Had the first man tried digging on his own farm, he would have become very wealthy and would have had everything he desired.

I absolutely love this story because it perfectly illustrates my old thinking and my new thinking side by side.

I used to be the man who believed that wealth was out in a far away land. I used to believe that wealth was external and that money had to be chased. I used to have a deep feeling of want and discontent with my situation and this led to misery. Through experience I have learned to stop looking for treasure outside of myself and have begun to mine the diamonds inside my mind and my heart.

Instead of looking for wealth outside of myself I have created wealth out of my talents, skills and experiences. Through focus, persistence and careful planning, I have created my own diamond mine through my business and my brand. The most amazing part of my transformation is that all of my wealth and success has been created by "mining" deep inside of myself to find my passion, my love and my essence.

By extracting these powerful inner forces, I have been able to create massive results in the external world. I didn't have to chase riches in the oil fields of Alberta or chase the dream of being a rock star in Los Angeles. Instead, everything I needed was right here, in Winnipeg, the unglamorous, geographical centre of Canada, and one of the least desirable and lowest earning capital cities in western Canada.

What doesn't matter is where you are physically located, or what your personal circumstances are, everything external is irrelevant. What is most important is that we understand that there is treasure buried deep inside of ourselves in our passion, desire and genius. If we can dig deep enough to find the treasure, the potential for wealth is unlimited.

"Wealth is of the heart and mind and not of the pocket." - Pharrell

Thanks for reading!
Stefan Aarnio
Freedomway.ca
facebook.com/stefanaarnio
https://twitter.com/stefanaarnio
http://ca.linkedin.com/in/stefanaarnio

Get Stefan Aarnio's book "Money People Deal: The Fastest Way to Real Estate Wealth" at MoneyPeopleDeal.com!

Remember: Please share this article if you found it enjoyable!

By: Stefan Aarnio
Freedomway.ca
facebook.com/stefanaarnio
https://twitter.com/stefanaarnio
http://ca.linkedin.com/in/stefanaarnio

Get Stefan Aarnio's book "Money People Deal: The Fastest Way to Real Estate Wealth" at MoneyPeopleDeal.com!

Remember: Please share this article if you found it enjoyable!

“The richest people in the world build networks, everyone else looks for work” - Robert Kiyosaki

Love him or hate him, Mr. Kiyosaki is onto something.

I recently spent a weekend with my mentor and I asked him “how can I find more great deals?”

The answer was: “networking”.

Other investors might ask: “how do I find money to fund my deals?”

The answer is “networking”.

This past weekend I was looking for a someone to clean a house I owned.

The solution came from “networking”.

As humans we are pack animals. We roam in gangs, we help each other, we are who we associate with. With people, just like in nature, lone wolves get slaughtered by packs of other wolves. If you are in business, you don't want to be the lone wolf.

Early in my business/real estate investing career I used to act like the tough guy and “go it alone”. I was a one man band, a chief cook and bottle washer and the guy with all the answers. I was the smartest guy on my team, had no connections to mentors or coaches and didn't belong to any networks.

This was the recipe for disaster. Instead of joining a few small local clubs and accessing the information of other investors and entrepreneurs in the market, I tried to re-invent the wheel. The mistakes were painful and costly and I will never forget the lessons I learned.

In business, we are always limited by the resources, skills and knowledge of our team. To grow the business we must access the skills, knowledge and resources of others and there is only one way to find the pieces of the puzzle that we are missing; and that is through networking.

The truth is, everything we need is “out there”. The question is, “who do we need to know” to get what we need?

When I started in real estate investing as a full time investor, one of the first things I did was sit down, write out a list of names of people who would potentially have money to invest with me. What amazes me today, is that almost anyone who knows 100 people can put together $1,000,000 cash to do a deal. Almost everyone, no matter how broke, can access $10,000 cash or credit and if you know 100 people, 100 x $10,000 is $1,000,000. We all have access to at least $1,000,000 – sometimes, we just don't know it.

The top 3 reasons why people don't like to network and why they are wrong:

1. They think that there is no one new to meet
   
   

Just when I think I know “everyone in the business”, I am proven wrong over and over again. Networking events attract all types of people and often it's not the initial person you meet who is the most important – but the people that they know that are most important!

1. They don't want to pay fees to belong to clubs
   
   

Leads, connections and relationships are very expensive to find and maintain. Paying nominal fees to networking clubs and groups is often a very economical way to find all of the above. In many cases, the fee paid to get into the club pays for itself many times over if it's the right group for you.

1. They think that networking is a poor use of time
   
   

The best opportunities never see the light of day. Whenever a great opportunity comes along, it always goes out to someone's personal network before going out to the public. The only way to capitalize on “hidden” opportunity is to be well connected and have a great network. For myself, when I have a deal, it is often gone in less than 30 minutes because the investors in my network snatch it up before I have a chance to show it to any outsiders.

Networking is one of the easiest ways to get a great ROI on your marketing dollars. I spend a considerable amount of my time daily networking, meeting people and finding opportunities. I also dedicate a portion of my income to clubs and associations and make sure I am an active member to maximize my opportunity for my business. If you don't belong to any clubs, it's time to join.

Thanks for reading,

Stefan Aarnio

Freedomway.ca
facebook.com/stefanaarnio
https://twitter.com/stefanaarnio
http://ca.linkedin.com/in/stefanaarnio

Get Stefan Aarnio's book "Money People Deal: The Fastest Way to Real Estate Wealth" at MoneyPeopleDeal.com!


P.S: Please share this article if you found it enjoyable!

By: Stefan Aarnio
Freedomway.ca
facebook.com/stefanaarnio
https://twitter.com/stefanaarnio
http://ca.linkedin.com/in/stefanaarnio

Remember: Please share this article if you found it helpful

If you were offered $35,000 a year to sit at a toll booth and collect change from cars crossing a bridge, would you take the job?

Or would you decline and look for the next opportunity?

What if you were paid $100,000, $200,000 or $300,000 for the same task? Would you take the job?

What if you were paid $1 a year to sit at the same tollbooth?

For myself, I would not sit at the tollbooth for any amount of money because money earned at the tollbooth is “dead money”.

We are human “be-ings” not human “do-ings”.

Daily tasks that help us become the person we want to become create life, energy and success. These tasks have purpose, feed our spirits and nourish our souls; By performing tasks we enjoy, we become the person we want to “Be”.

If a task or job does not bring us closer to the person we want to become, we earn dead money and in some ways, waste our time, effort and energy.

Eventually if you earn enough dead money, you won’t be able to get out of bed in the morning.

Dead money is a term I learned from Raymond Aaron, a New York Times best selling author. Raymond explained that the money he earned from his published books that were unaligned with his core purpose were “dead money”. In some ways, these books hurt his brand, wasted years of his life and were very expensive in opportunity cost.

In my own business, I make sure every action I do advances my career by building brand-equity or by earning cash AND brand equity. If I am able to monetize my actions and build my brand equity at the same time, I make the biggest gains in spirit and in my bank account.

My mentality is: Even if I earn $0 at the end of the year, but have built a $1,000,000 brand, I succeed. Steve Jobs paid himself a salary of $1 while he was the CEO at apple because his mission was to build the company and put a dent in the universe by challenging the status quo. I have a similar philosophy to Steve Jobs who I have idolized since 6th grade when I first learned about who he was and kept a picture of him on my desk at school.

I am fortunate enough to aware of my brand and purpose, the average person does not consider his or her brand, his brand equity, who he is, who he wants to become or where he is going in life. For the average person, this is very unfortunate.

These people are stuck in “dead end” jobs that are either high paying or low paying and every dollar they earn is a “dead dollar”. The dollars they earn do not build their dream or advance their career.

If you earn enough “dead dollars” you will eventually build the bars of an emotional prison.

Money is a medium of exchange and a currency because it needs to move in order to be relevant and useful like electricity or water.

If money stops moving, money dies.

If people stop moving for long enough, people die.

If the spirit stops moving, the spirit dies.

If you are earning money in your career, but are NOT moving towards becoming the person you wish to become, your career and spirit will eventually die.

Years ago I used to work Frito-Lay, the company that makes Lay’s chips and Doritos. I used to put chips on shelves at Wal-Mart every morning at 4:00 am and I earned a disproportionately high salary for doing so. Walmart employees stocking chips at 4:00am were making $8 per hour, I was making closer to $20 per hour to do the exact same task.

However, every dollar I earned was dead money.

The money was dead because although I was earning money daily, I was not advancing towards my goal of becoming an entrepreneur. The money was good, but my soul was dying. I was becoming a professional shelf stocker and not a professional entrepreneur. I was NOT advancing towards the person I wanted to become. The life that I wanted was not being built with my actions and consequently I was earning dead money that did not help me in my pursuit of happiness.

Many people think that earning money in itself is a good return on time, but in fact, earning dead money is a complete waste of time, waste of spirit and a waste of life.

Would you rather live a life of poverty doing what you love or a life of riches in a life of indifference?

Most people will say that they would rather do what they love and live in poverty. However, 70% of people are not happy with their current jobs or current careers.

70% of people earn dead money every day.

A wise man once said “Talk is cheap and money buys the whiskey.” What this wise man is saying is that most people say whatever makes them sound good: “I would rather do what I love” but their actions do not align with their words.

Remember: Talk is cheap and Money buys the whiskey.

I’m not saying that we should choose a life of poverty out of passion to pursue what we love. I’m a firm believer that we can “have our cake and eat it too”.

I think it’s 100% possible to do what you love, monetize it and become rich. 

I believe you can have it all, happiness, love and money. When it comes to happiness, love and money; there is always enough for everyone.

Obtaining happiness and money is a topic of major study for myself at this time in my life. What I find is that the more I love my career, the more I love my daily routine, the more fun I enjoy, and the more money I make.

Fun = money.

Love = money.

Enthusiasm = money.

Money = life.

The more fun, love and enthusiasm I enjoy, the more life I have, and my wallet benefits as well.

I have abandoned the pursuit of “dead money” and if a task or job doesn’t line up with my mission, my vision and who I want to become, I will not perform it.

Do what you love and the money always comes.

Complete the mission and the money always comes.

Provide enough value and the money always comes.

Money is a result of a job well done; it is an effect, not a cause. Actions performed at a level of excellence equate to money earned. Money itself can never motivate someone to be better, achieve excellence or create more value because money intrinsically has no value.

Money is intrinsically dead, we are the ones who breathe life into money. People are the ones who attach external value to money and we use it to build our dreams.

Money is neutral and money doesn’t care. Money doesn’t cry for you when you are sad and money won’t drink champagne with you when you want to celebrate.

Money will, however, buy you a bottle of champagne.

Money can either be alive or dead depending on how we earn it. It is up to us as the wielders of money to respect the neutrality of money, breathe life into money and allow money to flow through us in our personal pursuit of happiness.

Money, life, spirit, happiness, enthusiasm and joy are all currencies and we must allow them to flow.

If we allow money, life, spirit, happiness, enthusiasm and joy to flow through us, we will become congruent. We will prove our integrity and the universe will reward us for respecting it’s laws and creating abundance.

If we shut off our spirit, enthusiasm and joy, then we also deactivate the spiritual power of money and the power of life.

If we deactivate the spiritual power of money, the money we earn will die the moment it touches our hands. Instead of using our earned money to build our dreams, our dead money will build an emotional prison around us where we are forced into slavery for the all-mighty dollar.

When we align with the person we want to become, we earn the Midas touch and everything we touch turns to gold. When we are out of alignment, we earn the touch of death.

Ask yourself; do my daily actions help me become the person I want to become? Am I earning dead money? What is my purpose? How am I achieving my purpose?


We all have the Midas touch if we can find our purpose deep down inside of ourselves. Respect money as a tool; respect the neutrality of money and the power of money. Allow money to live and money will let you live the life of your dreams.

Disobey money, kill money and you will find yourself in financial prison. Don’t let money die.

Protect money and it will protect you.

Thanks for reading,
Stefan Aarnio

Freedomway.ca
facebook.com/stefanaarnio
https://twitter.com/stefanaarnio
http://ca.linkedin.com/in/stefanaarnio

P.S: Please share this article if you found it helpful

By: Stefan Aarnio
Freedomway.ca
facebook.com/stefanaarnio
https://twitter.com/stefanaarnio
http://ca.linkedin.com/in/stefanaarnio

Remember: Please share this article if you found it helpful

“Suppose a farmer has some land, and it's good, fertile land. The land gives the farmer a choice; he may plant in that land whatever he chooses. The land doesn't care. It's up to the farmer to make the decision.

We're comparing the human mind with the land because the mind, like the land, doesn't care what you plant in it. It will return what you plant, but it doesn't care what you plant.

Now, let's say that the farmer has two seeds in his hand- one is a seed of corn, the other is nightshade, a deadly poison. He digs two little holes in the earth and he plants both seeds-one corn, the other nightshade (a deadly poison). He covers up the holes, waters and takes care of the land…and what will happen? Invariably, the land will return what was planted.

As it's written in the Bible, "As ye sow, so shall ye reap."

Remember the land doesn't care. It will return poison in just as wonderful abundance as it will corn. So up come the two plants – one corn, one poison.”

-Earl Nightingale

Earl Nightingale who was one of the best self-development minds of all time had an unbeatable analogy for the human mind.

Nightingale compared the human mind to a fertile piece of land where we can plant whichever seeds we choose to plant.

The mind is neutral and much like fertile land and will return whatever we choose to plant.

What I find amazing on a day-to-day basis is to see what people plant in the fertile earth of the mind.

Instead of studying success, listening to lectures, reading books on success, attending seminars, creating visions, creating plans, and visualizing what we want; most people fill their brains with garbage.

Most people “mind feed” on mainstream news, mainstream radio, CNN, Fox News, Dr. Phil, Maury, daytime television, infomercials, video games, soap operas, sitcoms, Hollywood movies, magazines, pornography and trash fictional novels (which can also be pornography aka fifty shades of grey).

Finish this sentence…

Garbage in…

Garbage out?

Most people will finish the sentence “garbage in” with “garbage out” implying that if we put garbage into our brains, we will receive garbage as output.

The truth is, the results are much worse…

In reality, Garbage goes in, it festers and multiplies by three. “Garbage” has “Garbage Babies who turn out to be triplets” and morphs into a debilitating emotional cancer.

All of the above “garbage” in our mind feed sources can create a cesspool of poison in our emotional brain that breeds fear and inhibits our ability to take action.

We are given the most powerful, fertile land known to man and unfortunately; most of us are negligent farmers who fail to plant corn.

Even worse, instead of planting corn, or better yet – planting NOTHING; we plant an abundance of the deadliest poison of all.

THE DEADLIEST POISON

If good, clean, positive, empowering, affirming thoughts are corn, then what thoughts account for the deadliest poison?

Steve Chandler, a man who spent the majority of his life studying how the brain works as an psychological warfare specialist, defines the brain as working in one of two ways:

1)   The brain either functions with an OWNERSHIP mentality

2)   OR the brain functions with a VICTIM mentality

The ownership mentality represents the brain working as it was designed and this is where creativity, success, opportunity, fearlessness, and happiness come from.

Those of us with an ownership mentality are planting corn on a daily basis.

The opposite of an ownership mentality is a victim mentality. The victim mentality is the exact polar opposite of the way that the brain actually works. From an early age, through school and traditional upbringings, most children are taught to use their brain in the exact opposite way that it functions.

We teach people in our school systems to plant nightshade instead of corn and most people plant far more nightshade then corn every day.

Lets briefly compare an OWNERSHIP mentality to a VICTIM mentality.

18 differences between an OWNER and a VICTIM:

1)   Owners are Positively charged, Victims are negatively charged.

2)   Owners are happy from the inside (all children are born happy), Victims believe that happiness comes from the outside.

3)   Owners see and seek opportunity; Victims expect to have opportunities “presented” to them.

4)   Owners use the brain for creating; Victims do not create and feel needy instead.

5)   Children are born as owners: 90% of young children believe that they are good at poetry, dancing and singing. Most adults have become conditioned to be victims: 75% of people aged 30+ believe they have no ability at dancing, singing and poetry

6)   Owners are fearless; victims are fearful

7)   Owners actively seek wisdom in every experience; they say “what can I get from this situation”? While Victims turn their brain off and passively float from experience to experience. Victims say “I don’t want to know” or “I’m trying to get through this experience”.

8)  Owners actively create situations, Victims passively react to situations

9)  Owners are the authentic YOU; Victims are YOU reduced down to an animal level

10) Owners say “I use life”’; Victims say “life uses me”

11) You were born an Owner; Victims are “added on” to your personality through conditioning.

12) Owners say empowering words of intent like “I want to”, “I will”, “I Choose to”; Victims say de-motivating words that crash the higher brain functions like “I should”.

13) Owners eat to live; Victims live to eat

14) Owners pull up their socks and complete tasks that others don’t want to do. It’s “horrible” to work 12 hours a day towards a goal that you have chosen. However, Victims take no action and live life as “miserable”. Life is a choice between the horrible and the miserable.

15)  Owners have an internal self-rewarding belief system. Victims have an external belief system that was inherited from someone else.

16) Owners operate from a place of LOVE while Victims operate from a place of FEAR.

17) Owners find satisfaction in measuring small improvements and tasks over time. Victims seek success with an “all or nothing” mentality. If they don’t have 6 pack abs after 10 sit-ups, they quit.

18) Owners create a vision of who they want to be and start living in that reality NOW while Victims are living a life as one half cynic and one half skeptic.

In my own mind, I have become a diligent farmer and have “weeded out” most of the nightshade that has grown in my brain. To me, planting corn is very important and I have hired a coach to ensure that I can produce the best crops possible.

The mind can be a brilliant machine that creates wonderful art, health, wealth and life or it can be a prison that kills dreams.

Take some time to go through the list of the 18 differences between owner and victim mentality and isolate any limiting beliefs you may have.

Strive to become a diligent farmer and produce the sweetest crop of corn that has ever grown.


Thanks for reading,

Stefan Aarnio
Freedomway.ca
facebook.com/stefanaarnio
https://twitter.com/stefanaarnio
http://ca.linkedin.com/in/stefanaarnio

P.S: Please share this article if you found it helpful

By Stefan Aarnio
Freedomway.ca
Facebook.com/stefanaarnio

Photo: 40 Wall Street, The Trump Building by Donald Trump. Bought for 1 Million dollars, valued today at 400 Million dollars.

Remember: Please share this article if you find it helpful!

Almost every day I get asked by one person or another; "how do you find great deals?"

My answers are always vague:

1. Deals come from ads I put up
2. They come from my network
3. They come from bird dogs or wholesalers
4. Inside connections with centres of influence
5. Deals come from my blog
6. Or one of my realtors

Every week I look at more than a dozen deals and send out offers. I keep very active and can often get great discounts or no money down deals that are not offered to the general public. 

HOWEVER

Just because a deal is no money down or at a "discount" doesn't mean that it's a good deal.

The truth with deals, whether in real estate, business or dating is that they are often cherry picked before you get access to them and the best ones are usually taken.

Even a private deal goes through at least a dozen sets of eyes before it gets to you privately.

If a deal is so great, then why hasn't anyone bought it yet?

The answer to the question is: There is no such thing as a good deal because - the best deals are created, not bought.

The formula for a great deal is simple:

1. Find a great opportunity
2. Add value
3. Collect profit

The key with this formula is step #2.

Adding value is the hardest part of this cycle and figuring out how to maximize the opportunity takes the most skill.

I would estimate that the average person gets 8 great opportunities every day (real estate or just personal life opportunities). However, it takes a certain pair of eyes to recognize the 8 opportunities that fall into our laps and a very sharp skill set to add value and collect profit.

At the stage I'm at in my career, I have deals coming to me daily and the biggest challenge I have is figuring out which ones to pursue and which ones to drop.

When evaluating deals, I ask myself: which opportunity can I force the most value out of? Which deals take too much time or effort? Which deals can be done the fastest? Which deals will align with my mission in the best way?

Often i have found that the more creative I can get with a deal, the higher my profits go. However, just because I get creative, doesn't mean that I am ensured a profit.

There are many times when creativity doesn't work, we have to be very careful and look at creative approaches with a sober second look.

The questions I always ask when someone approaches me with a deal is:

1. Why is this a good deal?
2. What is everyone else failing to see?
3. What mistakes did the vendor/seller make?
4. What is my unfair advantage with this deal?
5. How can I maximize my profits?
6. How fast can this deal be done?
7. What is the effort required on my part?
8. How safe is my partner's capital?
9. What threatens my position in this deal?
10. Can I negotiate further on the price/terms?
11. How can I get creative with this deal and make it even more valuable to me and my organization?
12. Can I repurpose this deal and sell it to another audience (rezone, repurpose, assembly, commercial/residential)?

The wonderful thing about real estate is that there is a very high degree of control.

A real estate entrepreneur controls just about every aspect of a deal and value can be created in an infinite number of ways. 

I was at a Real Estate trade show this weekend and looked at 40 different real estate companies who were promoting their products and their deal inventory.

I was very impressed with the creative and innovate ways that the 40 different companies were able to find unique and innovative ways to create deals, create value and in turn, create profit.

The ability to create a deal is an entrepreneurial skill that very few people are actually competent at.

When I think of a person who can create a deal, I think of Donald Trump. If you study Trump, you will find that almost every one of his deals is created, engineered and highly innovative.

Every deal is different and he can see value where no one else can see it.

One deal that comes to mind is 40 Wall street that Trump bought for 1 million dollars and is now worth close to 400 million dollars. Some people say that it is the best real estate deal of all time.

Most real estate entrepreneurs make amazing returns when they double the value of a property. Through creativity and deal engineering, Trump was able to increase the value of the property by 400 fold.

What deal can you multiply the value by 400? I do not have the skills to create a deal like that yet, and very few people in the world have a skill set like Trump. This is why Donald Trump is a billionaire and the rest of the world is not.

When you are analyzing a potential deal, think of the ways that you can "create" a great deal where most people fail to see a profit.

The best deals of all are missed opportunities that are often obscure and mis-marketed.

Get a hold of a mis-marketed opportunity, create value and reap the rewards. The formula is simple.

Thanks for reading,
Stefan Aarnio
Freedomway.ca
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By Stefan Aarnio
Fredomway.ca

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A wise man once said "put your money where others can see it."

As humans we are tribal creatures and we are constantly judging and placing value on each other on a social scale.

Some people we meet score high on the ladder, others score low on the ladder.

All of this value is calculated and determined within seconds of meeting; aka: a first impression.

We are able to calculate social value extremely quickly and can determine if we want to further associate with a new prospect within 30 seconds of meeting them.

There is an unwritten rule in dating, networking, relationships and business that states:

• 3 seconds will buy you 30 seconds
  
• 30 seconds will buy you 5 minutes
• 5 minutes will buy you 30 minutes
• 30 minutes will buy you 2 hours
• 2 hours will buy you a day

There are many variations of this rule, but the concept is always the same.

When we meet people, we run a series of subconscious tests to see if we find enough value to bring our new prospect into our social circles.

If we find a person's appearance to be inoffensive, we will give them 30 seconds. If we find them to sound somewhat intelligent in an introduction, then we will spend 5 minutes with them. If we find them interesting, we will spend 30 minutes with them. If we feel good after 30 minutes, we will spend two hours with them. If we still like them after 2 hours, we will spend a day with them.

Every single person works the same way, we are constantly screening who we will and will not accept into our social circles.

The question is, if you had to invest money into yourself, would you invest in the first 3 seconds of yourself or would you hold back and invest later in your social process?

Although some may argue that "getting to know a person on the inside" is true value, we all behave the same way when we go on a first date. Even idealists who believe in "truly" knowing people on a deeper level invest heavily at the beginning of the relationship.

A wise man once said "If everyone kept the promises they made on a first date, there would be no such thing as divorce."

Lets consider a first date...

The man puts on his cleanest, best clothes, shaves his face, washes his hair, puts on cologne, shines his shoes, tucks his shirt in, brushes his teeth, cleans his car, shows up on time, holds the door, pays for dinner and drives his date home as a gentleman.

The woman puts on her best dress, shaves her legs, washes her hair, puts on perfume, picks out the most sexy shoes, tucks her stomach in, brushes her teeth, shows up on time, acts like a lady, says please and thank you and gives her man a modest good night kiss.

These two people have invested heavily at the front end of the relationship because they want to give a good first impression.

They want to impress their date in the first 3 seconds to earn 30 seconds. They want to hold their date's attention for 30 seconds to get 5 minutes, they want to say the right things in five minutes to earn 30 minutes, they want to be interesting enough to last two hours and eventually spend a day together.

Out of the whole process, however, the most important part is the first 3 seconds.

If you don't look appealing, confident, happy and successful, the rest of the social process is difficult and potentially impossible.

If I am going to invest money into myself, I will stack all of my dollars in the first 3 seconds to create a great first impression.

10 WAYS TO CREATE A GREAT 3 SECOND FIRST IMPRESSION:

1. Smile
2. Be well groomed (hair is trimmed, styled, no facial hair)
3. Shoes are shined, appropriate for the setting (Lace-up oxfords are very versatile and so are dress loafers... wingtips are good too). Your shoes must communicate social value. Shoes indicate how you spend your time, what your profession you are in and are a primary indicator of social status. Spend some money on really good shoes - it's worth it.
4. Pants are pressed, tailored and "break" only once.
5. Shirt is clean and pressed, white collar is stiff, shirt is appropriately buttoned for the occasion.
6. Tie is tied, selected and worn appropriately for the occasion. Tie bars may or may not be fashionable, depending on the setting/demographics of the room.
7. Blazers have appropriate color and lapels for the current fashion and setting. There are over 9 types of common lapels. Spend some time to learn about lapels, they are extremely important for social status. Men's magazines like "GQ" can give you an idea of what messages different lapels give and which ones are relevant today.
8. Your wrist watch must fit well and be appropriate for the setting. No cheap watches. If you don't want to spend thousands of dollars on a watch, pick a fashion brand that at least lets people know that you know a fashionable name for a few hundred dollars.
9. Jewellery is kept to a minimum and is kept tasteful. No costume jewellery.
10. If you are wearing a suit, it MUST be tailored, no exceptions. Nothing looks worse than an un-tailored boxy suit from Moores.

If you can follow the 10 rules above, depending on your geography, you will automatically be in the top 80-95% of people for giving off a clean, professional appearance which is invaluable in today's social market.

Social opportunities are always offered to those that look clean, professional and successful. Maintain your appearance and invest in your first 3 seconds because it only takes 1 person or opportunity to change your life. Remember, you only get one chance to make a first impression.

Thanks for reading,
Stefan Aarnio
Freedomway.ca

P.S. Please share this article if you found it helpful!

By Stefan Aarnio
Freedomway.ca

Today I spent the day in Edmonton with one of my money partners at the Fast Track SuperConference hosted by Darren Weeks. Darren is the Canadian Rich Dad, one of my mentors and a man who taught me a lesson that has made me successful to this day. I owe much of my success to Darren because I developed a skill set that very few people have (and one that is almost impossible to obtain because so few people teach the art of raising capital). When I worked for Darren I learned 1) How to sell and 2) The art of raising capital.

Darren Weeks is an extremely successful Canadian entrepreneur. His company, the Fast Track Group has been in the top 100 of the fastest growing companies in Profit magazine 3 years in a row, and when I worked for Darren, his team was the 40th fastest growing company in Canada. In my opinion, Darren's personal talent is his ability to identify and assemble groups of amazing people and with unbelievable talent who are motivated by a mission greater than themselves.

Contrary to traditional business models, The Fast Track Group was built around giving out "more education than anyone in the industry". There are few businesses who give first and receive second.

Darren prides himself on the fact that he provides more FREE value to the market than anyone else. To some people, giving out FREE information and building a business around it sounds insane, costly and risky... but I think that consumers nowadays expect FREE gifts and services before they buy - it's the trend in modern business. 

Business models that revolve around FREE gifts and services are especially strong in the financial and real estate sectors right now.

When I was 22 I attended the Fast Track Super Conference in Edmonton, I was absolutely blown away by the calibre of the company. I loved the mission, I loved the people and I loved what the company was doing for Canadians. I wanted to be a part of the group, I could feel the energy and it was infectious.

One thing Darren always used to preach when he was educating his audiences was "if you want to get rich, work for FREE." He would often pick out a young man or woman in the audience who would be just entering the work force and ask them "can you afford to work for FREE?"

Almost every time, the young man or woman would say "absolutely not!" and then Darren would teach the lesson.

The difference between the rich and the middle class/poor is that the rich do not work for money, they work for FREE. This may sound completely ridiculous to your belief system, but hear me out:

Lets consider two scenarios. 

In my personal life, when I was in my early twenties, I had two jobs at two different times. At my first job I worked for money, at my second job I worked for FREE.

MY FIRST JOB (WORKING FOR MONEY):

At age 22 I worked at Frito Lay Canada and my job was to merchandise (which is a fancy word for putting bags of chips on the shelves at 4 in the morning at Wal-Mart).

My primary motive for working with the company was the salary and the hours. I was truly chasing the dollar in every sense of the word. I wanted a salary so I could get mortgages to buy real estate. I took that job for the wrong reasons, didn't learn the proper skills in the field and it became harder and harder to get out of bed every day when I worked there. I had no passion for the industry and felt that there was nothing to learn.  

When I left the company, I had maxed out my purchasing power for properties and but had acquired ZERO skills towards building my own business. Since I had chased the dollar, I had a small cash reserve on hand, however, I had built NO SKILLS or contacts. Although I had made a little bit of money, I had built no human equity in myself, no skills and had no way of propelling myself forward towards my goals, hopes and dreams. In a way, I had traded time for money, lost my time and had crippled myself in a way.

Most people don't consider the skills they learn at work. My advice to young entrepreneurs is to leave their job once they stop learning the skills required to do it. Always work to learn. Move from job to job until you have all of the skills required to run the business of your choice.

Lesson: When it comes to work NEVER chase the dollars, find what excites you, find where your heart is and chase your passions. The money doesn't matter and it always gravitates towards the most enthusiastic people.

MY NEXT JOB (WORKING FOR FREE): I had heard Darren Weeks say on stage "If you want to get Rich, work for FREE". I took his advice, although it challenged my belief system, but I had nothing to lose so I and volunteered for his company whenever he was in town.

Every time Darren was in town, I would dress up in a suit, show up early, leave late, pack and unpack books, process paperwork, seat people, help out with sound-production and do any task that was required of me. I expected NO financial compensation and just wanted to be on the team.

I volunteered for Darren for three years and I applied to work for his company three times. Twice I was rejected for the job and the third time I applied I said, "I have been volunteering at this company over the past 3 years, I have applied twice and been rejected, I will keep applying until you hire me".

I then flew to Edmonton and volunteered at a Fast Track Super Conference event shortly after my interview. Darren Weeks noticed that I had flown from Winnipeg to Edmonton (on my own money) to volunteer to work for him. After the event, he personally took the time out of his evening to offer me a job with the company. 

What Darren didn't know was that I had already been hired to start work with the company and on the following monday I was to begin formal training.

Consider the lesson: working for FREE and volunteering had grabbed the attention of the founder of the company and had brought me onto the team OF MY CHOICE.

Now that I was positioned in the only company I wanted to work for, I got paid to learn more about the topics I was already passionate about. I was in heaven.

I got paid to sharpen my skills and become an extremely valuable asset to myself. I learned the art of sales, how to do public presentations, how to run an office, how to recruit good employees, how to fire bad employees, prospecting, sales tracking, databases, securities regulations and public speaking.

Most importantly, I learned how to raise capital and work with investors. This has been my "secret sauce" in my business and it's what sets me apart from other real estate investors who DO NOT have the skill set.

These skills are the base of my empire and the building blocks of my portfolio. I have based my entire career and current business around skills that I acquired by working for FREE.

Had I not volunteered at the company first, I would have had no chance of working with them. I would be of no value to their tribe and I would not have learned the skill set that makes me valuable today.

Every morning, you would still see a wandering soul putting bags of Doritos on the shelf at Walmart at 5:00am. I would have throttled passions and big dreams, but no way of executing them or aligning with other people who matter.

Lesson: Every week I meet young people who are passionate about a certain field or career. Many people say they are passionate about music, art, acting, sports, television, radio etc. and don't know how to break into those "hard to enter" industries. Whenever I study a highly successful person, I notice that almost all of them worked for FREE scrubbing toilets, mopping floors or doing the most pointless jobs at the bottom of the barrel just to be a part of the industry of their choice. Unfortunately, young people today do not see such opportunity.

Steven Spielberg began his brilliant career in film by just "showing up" to the movie studio, wearing a suit and pretending to be a director in an abandoned office. He was a film student who pretended to work there and snuck into the studio every day. The people at the studio assumed he worked there and eventually his passion for film brought him an opportunity to make his first film.

Steve Jobs of Apple was too poor to pay for his college education so he collected aluminum cans on campus and would cash them in to eat his next meal. Jobs had no money, so he would sit in the university classes for free and let his mind absorb the information. The FREE classes he attended for no credit became the building blocks of the apple philosophy. Steve was genius who blended liberal arts with technology. If he were paying for the classes and chasing marks/credits, he would not have been so creative and open in his approach.

Trent Reznor, the frontman of of the iconic band Nine Inch Nails, got a job as a janitor at a recording studio where he mopped floors and poured coffee for 8+ hours a day. He shared an apartment with a friend and ate peanut butter sandwiches for years just so that he could earn studio time to make his debut record in the middle of the night when the studio was vacant.

The most brilliant people in the world, the people who are at the top of their game and dominate their fields with enthusiasm, passion and leadership often started at the bottom working for FREE.

The reason why working for free is so powerful is:

1. It gets you in the door, an employer can't say "no" to free labor
2. You make contacts in the industry of your choice immediately
3. You learn the business form the "ground up"
4. When a job opens up, you are first in line because you are at the business and eager to work anyways - you are the best choice!
5. If you aren't passionate about the industry you won't last long, you will weed yourself out to find your true passion
6. Over time you gain experience and you will either be hired by the company you are volunteering for OR A COMPETITOR of theirs. This is a no lose strategy if you stick with it.
7. You free your mind from "chasing the dollars" which can limit your creativity. You will approach the industry with a creative, fresh perspective. This is priceless in the long run.

If I lost everything tomorrow, had no skills, no money, no contacts and no experience I would re-discover what I am excited about and offer to work for FREE in the industry.

Of course I would need some income to live, so I would get a job at McDonalds for 8 hours of the day (or another McJob) that is not too stressful, then work for the company of my choice for FREE in the other 8 hours. I would continue this 80 hour a week routine until I am hired by the company of my choice and then I would quit my McJob.

I would then gain all of the skills I need to be successful in my industry and re-evaluate my position. I would likely find a way to start my own business in the same industry and leave as fast as possible as soon as I stop learning.

Exercise: Take a step back from where you spend your time on a daily basis. Ask yourself: Are you chasing dollars? Or are you building valuable skills in an industry of your choice? Is your work based on passion and enthusiasm? Would you keep working there if they stopped paying you?

I used to say when I was in the music industry "You know you're in the right industry when you can work 18 hours a day, lose money and still wake up the next day to do it all over again." Follow your heart and make a choice of passion and NOT logic.

Thanks for reading,
Stefan Aarnio
Freedomway.ca

P.S. Please share this article if you found it helpful!

By: Stefan Aarnio
Freedomway.ca

Photo Left: Stefan Aarnio and Award Winning Investor Nik Fast with his trophy earned at the West Coast Top Investor Awards.

One of my favourite things about being a real estate investor is the opportunities to meet extraordinary and interesting people. I had the pleasure of meeting Nik Fast of 2nd Story Investments this week. Nik is a local Winnipeg investor with an accomplished track record. He was recently the winner of the West Coast Top Investor award for "Best Deal of the Year" and he is a local celebrity in the investor community.

I have known of Nik for some time in the Winnipeg market, but had not had the chance to sit down with him to get to know him better. Upon meeting Nik, I found him to be a very humble guy, he speaks well and has a very pleasing personality. All traits of a shrewd real estate investor.

Nik has earned himself some local press for doing absolutely beautiful renovations, but the deal that he won the West Coast Top Investor award for was not a cutting edge, high design renovation that would earn a spot in the newspaper. The deal that won Nik a national award was actually a very simple deal based on seeing what others had missed.

Nik's award winning deal was a small house in the Weston neighbourhood of Winnipeg (a low to mid income blue collar neighbourhood.) Weston is notorious for having a very mixed base of inventory and it is very difficult to price out comparables in the area because the houses drastically range in builds and values.

Nik's "deal of the year" was a very simple concept. It was a "missed opportunity" and a house that had scared off too many buyers. It was sitting, getting old and racking up "days on market".

The small starter house that Nik is known nationally for was originally marketed at $109,000. No one bought it, and it sat... 

Next it was reduced to $99,000. No one bought it, and it sat... 

Next the house dropped to $89,000 and after 2 large price cuts, Nik sensed a motivated seller and an opportunity: it was time to take a look.

PRO TECHNIQUE: Nik was very smart in that he kept his eye on mis-marketed "problem houses". These are often houses with fatal flaws (like badly damaged foundations, or severe mechanical deficiencies), however, they can sometimes have problems that irrationally scare off retail buyers and are relatively easy to fix: These types of houses are money makers.

Upon seeing the house, Nik was very impressed with the cosmetics, the kitchen, the bathroom etc. It was a pristine house on the surface. However, after venturing into the basement, he found a basement absolutely FULL of mould.

PRO TECHNIQUE: Mould scares of many retail buyers and for smart investors, it can be one of the easiest ways to buy equity because it can be cleaned up for a couple hundred dollars and irrational buyers and irrational sellers are both terrified of it. Mould houses can be purchased for huge discounts and fixed quite easily. This is a profit generating technique to keep in your mind at all times.

THE PERCEIVED PROBLEM: When Nik inspected the basement, his agent told him that the foundation was "cracked" and that water had run into the basement creating mould. 

THE ACTUAL PROBLEM: Upon further inspection, Nik found that the dryer vent was not hooked up and had been blowing hot and moist air into the basement for years creating mould! Also, the house had no eavestroughs, which made all of the rainwater run into the basement to create moisture and mould. In addition, the plumbing for the garden hose was leaking down the foundation and into the basement creating moisture and even more mould!

Nik was able to inspect the foundation walls and sure enough, there were no cracks!

PRO TECHNIQUE: Find a problem house and find a way to solve the problem creatively and on a boot strap budget. The more creative you are, the more you will earn.

After the house had sat for 90+ days on market (which is unheard of in Winnipeg), Nik wrote an offer for $81.5 and it was accepted. Nik had the mould quickly cleaned up and had the house immediately appraised for $120,000. All of this was done WITHOUT RENOVATIONS - Instant margin, instant equity and instant profits! Some people would call this "money for nothing".

With nearly $40,000 of instant equity created, Nik was able to pull his funds immediately out of the house and purchase another house immediately.

PRO TECHNIQUE: Velocity - when evaluating an opportunity consider the velocity of your investment. If you can get your money out of the deal fast, it's high velocity. If a deal takes years to return your principal, it's low velocity. Stick to high velocity deals if you are an active investor and keep your money moving. In Nik's case, his money moved at lightning speed.

The biggest lesson I learned from Nik is to be consistent and persistent in your local market. Keep tabs on houses that have "problems" and when they get to a high number of "days on market" go in and take a look. I don't like to buy off of MLS and prefer private deals, but I have used this technique in past and it works. Find the "deal killing problems" and find a way to fix them quickly, but take a steep discount for your problem solving abilities. Missed opportunities and mis-marketed houses have the potential to be the highest velocity deals and the highest profit earners.

Amateurs cannot spot the gold hidden in most opportunities, but professionals like Nik can! Congratulations on the deal of the year Nik!

Thanks for reading,
Stefan Aarnio
Freedomway.ca

P.S. Thanks for reading! Please share this article if you found it helpful.