Over the years we've been approached by many people who want access to the amazing group of Rock Star investors that we proudly get to associate ourselves with.
The two main reasons these people want access to Rock Star members are:
a) There's quite a lot of us now.
b) We all buy stuff. We buy properties, we buy books, we look for that little advantage, that little piece of knowledge that can help us achieve our investing goals, our health goals, our fitness goals, our family goals, our legacy goals ... and we're not scared to pay for it. Which is good but it also makes us very attractive to people who want our cash.
When we were just starting out these people thought we were crazy with a capital "C" for not granting them access.
We'll never forget when one well-known author promised we'd have to "back up the trucks" because of all the money we'd make with a certain "pitch" to Rock Star clients.
Another time a very well known developer in the Toronto area wanted us to endorse his project and invite Rock Star Members out to a special "preview" where he would "allow them" to invest before anyone else.
We didn't like the smell of the project so we said ... no-way, no-how.
He then blasted us for "not understanding how to make money."
And each time we were approached with these things ... although we could have used the cash influx ... the decision was easy.
We always said no.
And the reason we said no is that most of the stuff being offered by these people were quick ways to make money.
Ways to flip houses quickly for profits, ways to invest in developments that would double and triple their investments.
Our long-term relationship with our clients is WAY more important than a sudden cash influx.
WAY WAY MORE IMPORTANT.
That's us thinking "long-term" instead of "short-term."
And we've noticed something...
Long-term thinking always seems to win, in almost everything.
If you start a new fitness program and you want to lift a million pounds after you plateau most people start looking around for supplements that will help them ... instead of putting in the endless hours of work.
If you start real estate investing many investors want to make a zillion dollars overnight which often leads them into trouble (we can share countless stories on that!!).
So it was super interesting when we stumbled upon an article where Rick Rule describes the investment philosophy of himself and Eric Sprott.
If you're not familiar with these guys they are some of the wealthiest people in the financial world.
Eric Sprott is a Canadian billionaire - self-made.
Rick Rule has been heavily investing in the mining sector and if you've been following that section of the stock market you know it's been absolutely slaughtered over the last few years.
I mean, pure devastation.
You'd think these guys may be panicking because the sheer extent of the collapse in those stocks has been breathtaking to watch.
But listen in on Rick Rule's perspective that he recently shared with Eric King of King World News...
“It’s interesting that at age 60 I have a lot more patience than I did when I was age 30. And I think one of the things that’s happening right now is the fact that markets and conditions have caused me to be a 3-to-5-year thinker, and most of the people I compete with, who are 20 years younger than me, have a 2-to-3-week time frame.
And the idea that somebody who has a 2-to-3-week times frame can compete with somebody who has a 3-to-5-year time frame is very problematic. What Eric and I are trying to do in very crass terms is go from being quite wealthy, to being ludicrously wealthy.
But the reality is that we are competing with people who are trying to make payments on their 2nd house at Whistler. In other words we are competing with people who are trying to live rich as opposed to being rich, which constrains them to a very, very short time frame.
Certainly I feel bad about having paid $3 for some stock that is selling at 60 cents, but it’s not the first time I’ve ever done that, and it’s certainly not the last time I am going to do that. But what I can tell you is that the money I’ve made in my life has come about through the aggressive deployment of capital at times like these.
This is the case even though I may lose more capital in some of these, but also understanding the incredible increase in value that one gets by maintaining a 2-year, 3-year or a 5-year time frame in markets where your competition is so despairing that they are worried about how they are going to get through month-end.”
They clearly are fans of long-term thinking.
Recently we heard Jim Rogers, another self-made billionaire, share that he doesn't know how to make money in the short term ... he picks a strategy and stays with it for the long term.
He's often interviewed for this "stock pick of the day" and he always laughs it off and declares that he invests for the long term.
Many of our own real estate properties had a point of time where we would have loved to just sell them.
It could have been an unexpected vacancy, unexpected repairs or whatever bothered us at that time ... and we would have to calm ourselves down and stay the course.
And because we did many of those decisions turned into hundreds of thousands of dollars in equity for us.
Long-term thinking seems to be an almost sure bet winner.
So if you're in one of those moments where something is freaking you out about one of your investment properties understand that we've been there too ... and the best decisions we've made during these times is to fight the emotions and stay the course.
In business, in real estate, in health, in fitness and in life ... long-term thinking wins the day.
Until next time ... Your Life! Your Terms!