Archive for encouragement
Whatcha want?
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It was a few years ago that I watched my wife teach at an early event of ours. She made a statement that stuck with me and impacted many attendees at the time. Because it was contrary to what all the gurus teach it took a while to sink in but then the truth of it was more in your face.
She said: “You can have anything you want but you can’t have everything you want”. And you know most of us don’t understand that. In fact society as a whole doesn’t understand it.
If I try to get everything I want I will probably get none of it because my vision and energy are scattered all over the place. And in truth it is just a silly concept. Many single things require all our energy to achieve so all other things would need to be sacrificed.
But if I decide what I really want and go after that then I can have anything I want.
It just takes planning and execution.
So if you are feeling scattered today decide what you really want, what you have to give up to get what you really want and start moving towards it. But accept that many dreams will have to die or be postponed if you ever want to get to what is really important.
If your vision doesn’t make you laugh, cry AND change, then it’s nothing ~ Dean
Power of Words
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I had an amazing email over the weekend from a long time client/friend who reminded me of something I had said to her when I first met her to help with her investing journey.
She said:
“ I have never forgotten the meeting I had with you. Rather than just the good outcome you gave me in regard to my next investment property it was the impact of a passing comment you made. You suggested that by setting myself up financially I could do some short term mission work, such as in an orphanage.
You instilled a dream in me that day! I have just retired from my hospital job and am looking at going to India next year with a team from church.”
The power of words in action. I can’t tell you how amazing it felt to read her words and know I made a life changing difference in anothers world.
So remember today what you say has power, power to bless or curse, power to build up or tear down, power to change a life!!
If your vision doesn’t make you laugh, cry AND change, then it’s nothing ~ Dean
Dean Letfus, Dean Leftus
How’s your hattitiude?
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I had a pommy boss years ago who talked about hattitude.
It was funny at the time but in a warped way he was quite right. Our attitude quite literally sits on top of us affecting everything we see and do. Rather like a large hat.
All of us suffer circumstances that we don’t like or wish we could avoid. Goodness I have had my fair share of those in the last 4 years.
But ones hattitude determines what happens next. At my lowest ebbs I had choices:
1. Kill myself
2. Drink myself to oblivion
3. Get angry and attack those who were causing the problems
4. Find some dishonest means of solving the situation
5. Have a nervous breakdown
And all of those would come to hover over me looking for a place to land. But instead I decided to look for the good in the bad, learn all I could and find a way to rebuild again better, smarter and much wiser.
That hat stuck because I had enough years of deciding that was who I would be before the pressure came on. It’s often the hardest road but it bears the most fruit and creates the head space to enable you to keep going.
My experience has been that by being as transparent as possible and refusing to go to the negative my friends and clients have stayed with me and supported me and in turn I have been able to stand up again, serve them again and actually end up better, stronger and more in love with God, my wife, kids and life.
And that is 150% about what hat I put on and nothing to do with what was going on.
The choice is always yours!
If your vision doesn’t make you laugh, cry AND change, then it’s nothing ~ Dean
Dean Letfus, Dean Leftus
Worried about the bills?
Posted by: | CommentsMaybe you are wondering why you hit the credit card quite so hard at Xmas or how to survive without a daily latte till you can go back to work. Well this may brighten your day, or at least help you get things in perspective.
These are some new friends of mine. They live in the building behind us. Mum can’t read or write, the older girl has had her mind damaged through abuse and they live on $80 a month. Now how is your day looking? (More images on my Facebook)
- Imagine living in 35 degree heat in a hut made from 44 gallon drums
Stay Real and Stay Inspired ~ Dean
Building a great life
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I was reading an article this morning that was specifically about keeping the power of God in ones church but the 5 warnings from the author equally apply to building a successful life whether you believe in God or not.
Legalism. We all need principles to live by and to know the difference between things like right and wrong but as soon as our life becomes “ruled by rules” we are in trouble.
If you will “never” do this and “always” do that and never associate with people who “do that” you are on a certain path to loneliness and becoming smaller. We need to experience people and things that push our buttons and our comfort zones. That is how we grow.
Racism. No explanation needed. I believe we are called to learn to love people everywhere—regardless of whether they are black, brown or white; whether they have dreadlocks or tattoos; whether they are legal or illegal; whether they are veiled in burqas or wearing biker helmets; or whether they speak Spanish, Arabic, Chinese or Hindi. When we close our hearts to people because of racial, cultural or language differences, we constrict the flow of His love and become rusty pipes full of poisonous water.
Cliques. When your group is the only “in” crowd we tend to get smaller as people. Never allowing our ideas to be challenged, never accepting that change can be good. Refusing to see difference ans diversity are all dangerous ground.
Unforgiveness. I have a whole facebook page devoted to this subject. Unforgiveness kills, quite literally in some cases. More at http://www.facebook.com/forgivenessfans
Egotism. We are called to be people of character, not celebrities. The most important thing to look at in your life is who you are when no one is looking. Think about that for a bit, it will seep into you and cause much reflection!
Get Going and Stay Safe ~ Dean Letfus
Tortoise and the Hare
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I was reminded of this story yesterday when talking to a fellow investor. We had both purchased 50 rentals but as he explained his journey I wished I had been more like him!
You see I bought 50 properties in 3.5 years and basically did a life time of learning and mistakes in a highly concentrated period. Whilst I still achieved the result of an investment portfolio my cashflow isn’t anything near what I’d like yet and the stresses of so much “hare” activity takes a significant toll.
My friend on the other hand started buying a property a year in the 80′s and then had a spend up in the early 2000s when he built a portfolio at average yield of “10 to 12%”.
So today his portfolio has more than doubled in value and my guess is it is providing a 15 to 20% plus return.
And that’s the secret of the tortoise strategy.
Less obvious results initially but over time the tortoise get’s the money, gets the growth and gets the girl all without any hyperventilating, grey hair and sleepless nights.
I have for some time taught young people just to buy a property a year for the rest of their lives because I know how stressful it was to build a big portfolio so fast, but it was nice to meet someone who was at the other end of that process, a happy, wealthy retired tortoise.
Anyway gotta hop over to my next deal now 
Stay Inspired and Stay Safe ~ Dean Letfus
Property Investors Life Cycle
Posted by: | CommentsI started out like every other investor……
I had time to enjoy the flowers……….
And life was basically………
Once I knew my yield from my elbow I started looking for more excitement……
I learned how to do lease options and quick flicks…….
Then I did my first 100K profit deal…….
Investing heaven here we come baby!!
Then someone mentioned a recession…….
Suddenly I found myself searching out how to handle this anomaly…….
Everywhere I turned the knives were out……..
The you know what’s were circling…….
And next thing I’d landed back to earth with a splash…..
Maybe I’d grabbed the violin instead of the girl??
Everybody seemed full of the stuff you feed to……
I attended all the meetings to find everyone aflutter……
I interrogated the……
All they did was hand me a mirror. I knew I looked like this…..
But my journey had subtley changed the image in the mirror…..
Then I remembered why I’d started this journey and what I’d lost…..
The hands and heart are older, wiser and scarred forever now, but I have returned to the simple things in life, the things that really matter…..
Stay Safe and Stay Inspired ~ Dean Letfus @ www.MassiveAction.tv
