Ep #265 – Rock Thomas – From Overcoming Adversity to Selling 85,000 Homes

Here is some of what you will learn:

Qualities to look for in a mentor
The value of self confidence
How to translate fear into action
How to trigger your success
Discover the greatest motivator
The value of a good work ethic
What passionate curiosity is all about
The value of calculated risks
Say yes and figure it out later
Practice in private so you can perform like a pro in public
To learn more about our guest, please click here
Join us at a Multifamily Bootcamp, visit: MultifamilyBootcamp.com

Full Transcript Below:

Rock Thomas – From Overcoming Adversity to Selling 85,000 Homes (Ep #265)

Rod: Welcome to another edition of “How to Build Lifetime Cash Flow through Real Estate Investing”. I’m Rod Khleif and I’m thrilled you’re here. And this is a real treat for me today to interview the gentleman I’m interviewing today. His name is Rock Thomas and Rock and I actually met in Fiji at Tony Robbins resort and I’ve had a lot of memories of that time we spent together there and we have grown to know each other over the last two decades since then. And Rock is a dynamo. Rock, he’s touched millions of lives. He’s created something called the “I Am Movement”. He speaks about motivation and dealing with adversity regularly, his background is he started in the in real estate business with some award-winning Remax franchises up in Canada wasn’t it Rock? is that where you’re from Canada? Yes so listen I’m just blessed to have this guy on the show. Rock welcome to my show buddy.

Rock: Well it’s an honor to be on this podcast and after 20 years to watch you overcome what you’ve overcome you should be talking about overcoming adversity maybe not even me.

Rod: Well let’s compare notes you know it’s always it’s you know it’s not something anyone should ever dwell on but you know we all grow from what happens to us. So you know why don’t you start by talking a little bit about your story Rock and how you got to you know where you are and how you started out and how you ended up where you’re at today I think that’d be fascinating for my listeners.

Rock: Yeah sure I mean my story is kind of Middle America even though I’m from Canada. It’s about farm boy to financially free and breaking out of the things that caused me pain. So I grew up in a farm where I had to work very hard the age of 8 and a half I’ve had 22 horses before I had a chance to eat breakfast. Literally locked out of the house and what I didn’t know at the time was that I was actually being prepared for life and what I felt at the time was I wasn’t being loved. So I developed a little bit of a passive-aggressive kind of character but at the same time when the chips are down you wanted your sports team you wanted me to be the guy in your corner because I knew how to make it happen no matter what. Fast-forward 20 years later I’m in my late 20s I bankrupt a restaurant and my father got diagnosed with cancer, I was almost a millionaire, surely Rod through hard work, 16 hours a day cutting lawns, waiting on tables, driving cabs, doing all the little labor work that I could do because that’s what I was taught my program. My father passed away to cancer I took all my savings and I ended up paying off his debt and taking care of him and I ended up being bankrupt and sitting on my mother’s couch and then I met my first major mentor and this guy, and for me I’ve learned that a mentor has some characteristics number one is you got to admire them. You gotta have a good look at them and go I want to be him or I want to be her and I love this guy this guy was his name was Wayne Jordan. He drove a 500sl Mercedes. He dressed in sharp suits. He had really cool hair and he was an accountant turned salesman. So he had the numbers and he had the style and he’s the guy that took me under my wing and here’s what he taught me. Rock you are better than you think you don’t just have to work hard. Nobody ever taught me that nobody ever told me that my father didn’t tell me that. He was just pushing me down. So I started to believe in myself and when I started to believe in myself he says well here are the gaps. I needed to learn how to interact with people, build rapport, have people’s skills that I didn’t. He sent me on Dale Carnegie courses so he guided me. But only that Rod is he came in the field with me when I fell down on my face he says yeah that’s normal that happens wipe yourself off and get up and go knock on another door. So I started to believe in myself and he gave me the strategies to overcome my own story and eventually through training with Tony Robbins, I was able to develop the mindset to overcome the negative things had happened and I went from this struggling salesperson who’s selling a hundred homes a year then I bought the company up to five thousand five hundred homes a year I’ve sold over 80,000 homes in my lifetime, a billion dollars a year and everything sprung from there because I learned about passive income and how you don’t have to work if you pour your money into things that work hard for you.

Rod: I love it I love it and it’s interesting to hear you describe your story because you know I’ve seen that evolution in you and that growth and you know and I love the fact that you reference this mentor and you know credited the mentor for those dynamic critical characteristics that every human being needs and guys you know if you consider, if you feel like maybe you’re not the greatest communicator maybe you don’t have the greatest people skills you know I remember I never did any of the Dale Carnegie stuff but it was fantastic. My brother talked about it and of course he wrote the book “How to Win Friends and Influence People” which is really just about asking questions and allowing other people to talk. So guys if you feel like that’s something you need help with I’m gonna recommend you reach out either his organization. I mean he’s going gone but I know that they’re still helping people and or get that book how to win friends and influence people but the other piece that you touched on and that is critical and that is that self-confidence, that belief in yourself so that you’re not afraid to take action. So what do you think he did to help you build that in yourself Rock? Can you speak to that a little bit?

Rock: Yeah I mean that’s one of the things I say is, say “yes” and figure it out later and it was really born into me by when you grow up in a farm and let’s say the pipes go out to the horses to feed them water in the automatic feeders and then they freeze due to a really cold frost you don’t not feed the horses water, you carry buckets and you do whatever it takes it has to happen. It’s not optional. So you become a very resourceful person. So I learned that a young age and I remember when I was 23 I had this dream to be in a movie and I was working on a set with Patrick Dempsey who is losing, yeah he’s losing his virginity to this angel who was this porn star and it’s like 11 o’clock at night were in Montreal filming this movie it’s on the water the boat is in the water on the deck docked, and they want to rock this boat to simulate him losing his virginity. So you gotta

Rod: You can’t make this stuff up

Rock: No you can make this up true story meatballs 3. So um this whole sets they’re the directors there he says ok now rock the boat but nobody had planned to rock the boat. They’d like they didn’t think about that part and Patrick Dempsey isn’t in the boat they don’t need that for the b-real of the boat moving so they’re like somebody rocked the boat and they’re all looking around at each other and I’m an I’m just a gofer I’m walking around the back literally sleep suite banging and stuff like that and he starts yelling somebody needs to get this boat to rock. We’re wasting money here. I literally run right past everybody fully-clothed jump in the freezing ass cold dirty murky water up to my chest and I go like hey how about this? and he goes perfect roll camera. The next day they had another scene where they’re moving some stuff through some mud and nobody wanted to get their shoes dirty and the director again he’s like ok come on, he goes where’s that kid that rocked a boat last night? He’ll do anything get him down here and that led to me to realize that most people don’t want to do what’s difficult. They want to do what’s easy. They don’t want to overcome their fear so I learned when I read a book I grew up without a TV, “Do what you fear and it will disappear”. So every time something shows up like walk across the bar and ask a girl and tell her she’s got a nice smile and ask her out on a date soon as that fear of flutter showed up my body, boom, I knew I had to move into action. I want to knock on a door as told 10 times no and I didn’t want to go to the next one my brain says time to go for a coffee I said no hang on another 10. So I trained myself that when something bubbled up as a fear if it wasn’t gonna physically hurt me, that I would take action on it. And that’s where I developed this say yes and figure it out later because most of the time we die a thousand deaths just in our own mind.

Rod: Oh I love that especially what you just said it’s so true. We dwell on it and we stay in our head and we never take any action and you stay in your head you’re dead. And I love what you said about you know most people aren’t willing to do what other people aren’t willing to do and it’s one of the things that I teach in in my events and you know particularly as it relates to marketing and going out and finding deals and I mean when I bought 500 houses in Denver, I was knocking on doors of houses of people that were in foreclosure and I did it every night for years and know who does that? you know and but it triggered my success and that’s an example of it and you know it’s and I love you’re quote, I love what you said about resourcefulness. I really don’t believe that there’s a trait that’s that can be as impactful on your success is your ability to adapt and just take action and do whatever it takes and it ties right into your you know your say yes and figure it out later quote. So tell me you know in your past talk about an action you took big or small that massively improved the quality of your life.

Rock: Yeah I mean I remember when I was 23 it was right after that movie actually I ended up convincing my mom to loan me $20,000 to get into a restaurant business. It was her life savings well and of course I knew everything about restaurants at 23 within six months we were bankrupt then I lost all her money

Rod: Wow

Rock: The guy that got me into the business was an airline guy so he went back to India Airlines and he brought me with him I got a job as a flight attendant. I had to move up to Quebec City where there they speak only French and you know that mmm you know necessity is the mother of invention and I felt so desperate to pay back my mom that I moved to this city and I learned how to speak French. I learned through immersion just listening to it, reading the newspapers, radio, TV, nobody speaks English there and I forced myself to adapt and I started parking cars at Hotel de Google Merritt at night to make some extra money flight attendants during the day and then I picked up a book called Nothing Down by Robert G Allen you might have remember one

Rod: It’s one in my library, its there along with some of his other books. That’s hilarious

Rock: Right so it shows you how old I am but the fact is I started reading it and I didn’t believe that you could actually buy a house for no money down. It seemed ludicrous that you could do that right so I start driving around I saw this little for sale by owner I decided to knock on the door it was a piece of crap house on a busy street and nobody wanted to buy it and I realized that with for handicapped people in it that you had to take care of that you needed a kind of a mini permit for there was another obstacle for people buying it which was the perfect occasion for me to become the new owner of this property. So I took 2,000

Rod: I cant understand the handicapped piece, were there for handicapped people in it?

Rock: They’re four physically handicapped people I had to had to learn how to give insulin shots. I had to feed them

Rod: So you were buying a business basically you weren’t just buying the house.

Rock: It was kind of like a semi retirement home with four people in it

Rod: Okay okay interesting okay

Rock: But the revenue was $2,400 and in those days the mortgage on this $62,000 home I bought was was $400 a month right. So I hired a girl to take care of them during the week while I was working for $250 a week so the total cost was $1,000 for the labor leverage people you become wealthy. I bought the real estate with $2,000 down on my Visa card and I got a vendor buy back of the mortgage so they loaned me sixty thousand. So I didn’t have to qualify at the bank which I wouldn’t have qualified for and then I got this property that I lived in that cost me no money to live into it and I made about $1,000 a month added on to my job as I know parking cars and as a flight attendant and I paid back my mother in 18 months

Rod: Nice

Rock: So I would say that desperation is a great motivator. Hopefully you can do it through inspiration and have a dream that you can live into unfortunately if you’re over 25 years old most people don’t change unless there’s a trauma in their life. So they have to go through a divorce, a bankruptcy, or a breakdown, some illness, before they make a shift unless you can be around people like yourself Rod that are saying hey here’s what I did and you can do it too you can lead an epic life. You can have all the money you want to either impact yourself or other people’s lives most people don’t change. So mine was born out of necessity but what I learned from that was I went on to buy a senior citizen home and I learned that real estate I think I mean think you think it is the best vehicle for creating wealth. There’s just many different ways you can do it you have to find out which one resonates with you

Rod: No question couldn’t agree more and I love what you said about desperation, creating leverage and momentum and I will say I will add to that discussed sometimes works as well where you just like I’ve had enough, not another day, not another minute, not another second, I’m taking action I’m gonna I’m gonna change my life. Awesome awesome awesome. So tell me you know what’s something that amazes you Rock?

Rock: I’ll tell you what amazes me is that seventy-seven percent of the population lived paycheck to paycheck yeah something that amazes me is that eighty percent of the people are stuck doing something they hate. What amazes me is that people leave college or school and they think that the education stops when really it’s just beginning

Rod: or that they actually got any education

Rock: Yeah

Rod: Any relevant education you know sorry to interrupt but please continue

Rock: Yeah 100% and I really think that college and universities should be there to teach you to learn but they’d actually do the opposite. They teach you to be stupid

Rod: And memorize yeah

Rock: Yeah and memorize stuff and one of the reasons that you know I teach, two things will create success. Rod number one is a work ethic. I was blessed growing up on a farm I developed a work ethic and I’m proud to say I can usually outwork other people I show up early I stay late and I begin given multiple opportunities of different things all the way from getting my pilot’s license at fifteen because I was so keen to help out the pilot around and clean for him that he started giving me lessons to the ownership and the restaurant to buying the business to getting a job you know as a trainer for Tony Robbins or for TR Becker, they’re all because of my work ethic. I’m no smart guy. I’m a farm boy. I’m Dyslexic. I can’t spell very well. Some people say I don’t speak very well even though I’m a public speaker but what happens is I have a massive desire to work and add value and show up. So that’s something you can learn and that’s what I invite people to do is just show up early, stay late. Just start with that. Say yes to the overtime shift. When I was a flight attendant, I went to the dispatcher and I said every time somebody shows up sick put my name at the top I’ll say yes every time. Guess what? that made his job easier right? You got to add value to your mentor and you got to add value to the people around you and opportunities will start to knock on your door. People are like, well, no opportunities come on. No they don’t come your way because you’re not adding value. You’re not going to give extra value to the world. So work ethic number one and number two as I say passion and curiosity. So Einstein said that he’s not the smartest guy, he just stuck with the problems longer than other people and I’m kind of at too is I’m curious. I’ll go to another event I’ve been to 71 Tony Robbins events. People say are you crazy?

Rod: You know I neck and neck on that one yeah that’s about you’re always growing you’re always learning and you’re continually curious. Guys if you’re listening and you have children there is no greater quality that you can instill in your children than curiosity and it’s never too late to be curious. I love what you said passionate curiosity. I’m gonna steal that that’s absolutely fantastic and back to your circling back to what you said about work ethic you know whenever I’ve hired hundreds of people in my lifetime and that’s the number one thing I look for. I look for passion and work ethic the technical knowledge we can train every time it’s the you know it’s the desire to want more, it’s the willingness to do whatever it takes, love it love it

Rock: Yeah and it’s the willingness to learn at everything and not come in with an attitude of yeah well I know that swept the floor before. I want to know how what technique do you use how can I make it one percent better right? It’s that interest in what do you Rod know that I don’t know that I need to know that’s gonna transform my life and give me an edge?

Rod: Yeah it’s almost almost a, what’s the word I’m looking for, Far East philosophy you know that that the gurus in the Far East will teach you that the cup is never completely full that you’re always looking for information if the cups full you have no room for more knowledge. Love that. What would you say is the biggest risk you’ve ever taken Rock?

Rock: hmm there’s so many to choose from. I’ve made millions and lost millions but the biggest risk I guess when I was given the opportunity to buy the real estate company. I was a realtor. I was just overcoming debt from a divorce and from some bad decisions I’ve made. I was making about four hundred thousand dollars a year as a realtor but my expenses were about four hundred thousand dollars a year and I had just moved into a house. I had kids that were four, three, and one and my wife and I had two kind of very average cars and my owner walked into my office he says I want to sell you the company. Now what I didn’t know is that he was sick with cancer and he looked at the 94 agents in the office and he said how do I quickly sell this company before anybody sees me get worse and he chose me because I prepaid my bill to him six months and of all the Realtors say you know Realtors, Realtors are notoriously bad at

Rod: Hand to mouth

Rock: Terrible with money, So he looked down his sheep and he goes who’s a good prospect he goes well this guy can pay his bill six months in advance, he’s definitely on the list and I was also innovative in the industry at the time I was selling 100 homes a year which the average agent was selling six. I was hungry, aggressive, had a great work ethic never complained and I was also very curious. So he walked my office and he says do you want to buy the office, the entire office? And I said yes because I say yes and I figure it out later and but inside I was freaked out. I’m like I don’t have the money I don’t know how I was like five years as an agent and I had agents in that office, it was back in the days when REMax have recruited all the top brokers from all the other agencies and

Rod: They were the best, they were the best back then I mean I remember that period of time I was in real estate then I told they were they were like the creme de la creme they were the best agents out there

Rock: Exactly. So I was this new kid disturbing things in the creme de la creme and now I was gonna run this office? I didn’t know to public speak. I was nervous. So I went all in I sold my house sold one car moved into a rental and gave him everything I had and had to make another hundred sales that next year and run the office just to make the payments and if I did anything wrong, my kids were out on the street and I was done. So that was one of the biggest risks but here’s the deal is I was so freakin alive Rod. Every day I got up I was focused. I little a campaign here, a little sore throat you don’t have time for that stuff.

Rod: Right

Rock: You overcome what might normally be a problem as I say to people that are bitching him complaining about stuff, you don’t have big enough goals.

Rod: Why do you think that was, why do you think that you crushed it back then and you were in the zone for that period of time? what was it necessity? was it passion? was it that you saw a goal at the end of the tunnel? what do you think drove you in that particular period in time?

Rock: I read a book called The Millionaire Next Door and I remember them talking about the fact that once in a while a calculated risk will come to your door and it’s in that moment that you can have a quantum leap in your life. And I just felt that this was that occasion if I stepped in fully embraced it fully and gave it my all, my life could become 10x and within a couple of years I was making 1.3 million dollars a year and I was netting or netting 1.3 million instead of netting like a hundred thousand. So it was that desire

Rod: Because you got uncomfortable

Rock: I got freaking uncomfortable

Rod: You just did what you had to do you know I just had a sold out live event in Chicago this last weekend 409 of my now new closest friends and you know one of the things that I say from stage and it was an awesome event and I do a lot of the psychology of success pieces and goal-setting and pushing through fear and embracing gratitude and all of these things that are so important to your success. And one of the big things is to tell everyone there that the life that they want is on the other side of comfort and so those are you listening if you were there or you want to know more about that go to rodsbootcamp.com. My next event is in Atlanta it’s coming very quickly and this venue is half the size. I’d love to see you there. It’s November 2nd, 3rd, and 4th and we will crush it again but it’s gonna sell out very quickly so if you’re interested you know go there right away to buy the tickets and our early bird pricing is only gonna be around for another week so don’t waste time. Just go do it

Rock: Say yes and figure it out later.

Rod: Just say yes and figure it out later I freaking love that. So Rock, let me ask you what do you think is the trait you like the most about yourself?

Rock: So for me I’d fall into the category of drive or determination or discipline because I think that so many people give into that, part of their mind that says I don’t feel like it I’m not in the mood which is there for all of us. I mean I want comfort too I like flying first-class etc but the reality is I find a way to do what needs to be done by doing the little things that I don’t want to do. So for instance if I’m in bed and I forgot to brush my teeth I forced myself to get out and brush my teeth and I do a little dance and celebration and say yes I was disciplined. And people are like you know that’s kind of quirky but you know what you can’t get rejected that way you can’t get told you’re an idiot or a fool when you’re doing those things I say pay the price of practice in private so you can perform like a pro in public. And that’s the difference between the people that they go I’ll brush my teeth nobody will know no but you know your cells in your body know that’s who’s paying attention. It doesn’t matter who knows what matters is your own integrity. So my integrity with myself is I’m 55 I work out consistently I take care of my body like you do. I honor that part and it’s that consistently shows up so when I show up in a meeting or on stage, it’s in the cells of my body and that to me Rod gives me the edge. So pay the price to practice in private if you want to really perform out there. Don’t wait till you’re in the heat of the moment go oh I got this. The pros don’t do that they practice and rehearse and practice and rehearse and they discipline their disappointment and they step forward. So to me I’d say it’s those little tricks of doing the little things behind the scenes that gives me the confidence when I’m on the real stage of life.

Rod: No I love it I love it and I love you know the way you described it as celebrating the discipline and you really need to do that and fact I was just on a coaching call a moment ago and you know and I tell people celebrate your progress even you know it doesn’t matter how minor it is because progress and growth equals happiness. And when you celebrate when you went over and above and you know and it’s the things you do when nobody’s watching like you just described that really define your self-discipline. So let me ask you this what personal trait has gotten you in the most trouble?

Rock: Probably saying yes and figuring it out later

Rod: Same answer

Rock: I think that it’s a lack of vision. So I came I would come along I don’t have a clear vision and because I’m a visionary as far as ideas are concerned and I have a lot of things I want to do I start many businesses they grow quickly and then somebody that isn’t qualified says oh I can handle that from you or I could do that for you I say okay run with it without going to the proper vetting or the or you know indoctrination and later on I have to undo things.

Rod: Fire ready aim

Rock: Exactly

Rod: All right I’m so guilty of that too.

Rock: So I would say yeah just a clearer vision and commitment to that and then higher slowly and fire quickly would be the way that I run my businesses now and I’ve been a little bit of a slow learner in that area to be honest Rod. I’ve got you know four hundred four hundred employees and thirty-six streams of income but it’s, I’m still learning you know I’m still learning every day.

Rod: Tell me about some bad advice maybe that you’ve gotten along your journey

Rock: You know I got some bad advice from some people that I thought I could trust and I once loaned $200,000 to this woman that I shouldn’t have and her house was a crack house I ended up repossessing it out of emotion when emotion goes up intelligence goes down. And I said I’m gonna get my money back I didn’t you know I didn’t even go see the house I just heard I took over I took the first mortgage over for $583,000 when I got the property and took possession of it which took a long time to get her out. There was 26 animals in it I poured more money into it got worse and worse I mean up losing $400,000 because I listened to one person that was a mortgage broker that I thought I trusted but the reality is I didn’t do my due diligence. So I have to own it but I was bitter pissed off angry mad I played a victim for probably a decade.

Rod: Wow Wow yeah that’s painful that you relive that stuff and we are we’re all guilty of it. So what do you do now on a consistent basis to continue to educate yourself?

Rock: Well, I’m part of multiple groups that are mastermind groups where we share high-minded conversations

Rod: Yeah let me give a shout-out to one that I know you’re very proud of it’s called Go-bundance and I’ve heard nothing but fantastic things about it and you know I’ve got a mastermind myself I just started around multifamily real estate investing was just incredible but I know that that the power in a mastermind is incredible and I know that that you’re very proud of that one. And I know Pat who’s in it and some other people friends of yours in mind that are in it just an incredible organization so shout out for that and I’ll put that in a show notes if any of you are interested

Rock: Sure I would say this though in a nutshell is you are the sum of the five people you hang out with we know that you’ve heard it before. I’ve taken it to heart Rod and I don’t like small talk about tell people I’m not interested in small talk when I meet you I want to go deep I want to know what you’re passionate about I don’t want to know what you’re afraid of, I want to know how I can help you who I can introduce you to what I can do to push you, to support you, cajole you, energize you, or mess you up, or just have a blast with you, but I want to go frickin reach rich and I want to go deep in my life. So if you’re interested in average or just gossiping, sorry I’m moving on. So I am I’m ruthless with who I spend time with and that’s the biggest thing that will because then we are osmosis I’ll even looked it up in the dictionary. Osmosis we learned about this in you know biology in school, it is the infiltration of energy without your permission. So when you’re just around people unconsciously you pick up a vibe you’ve heard people say oh I have an intuition or I can feel that person or you feel somebody walk in the room you go oh my God that’s heavy. We don’t realize it but you have to really be careful with what you expose yourself to all the way from food to conversation. So how do what do I do for personal development? I exposed myself consistently to great audio books podcasts, I read, I meditate, I do incantations and I spend time selecting the conversations I have with people very carefully.

Rod: Now I love it andyou know you’re dead on and I know that you know I’m a member of three or four masterminds myself a couple of them have made me you know millions of dollars. One was Tony Robbins Platinum partnership and you know and others and I’m very excited about the one I just started as well we you know and I just had a version of it in Las Vegas couple about a month ago actually and he had about three billion in assets represented and you know guys those are you listening you know, your peer group where it will either elevate you and expect more of you and push you or they’ll pull you down and so you really need to pay attention to who you hang out with and I tell people from stage you know and sometimes it’s your family as well. You’ve got to really be careful who you allow to influence you and I say you know love your family and even love some friends but choose who you allowed to influence, you choose your peers and very very important and if any of you are interested in my mastermind, it’s called the Multifamily Boardroom, multifamilyboardroom.com and I’m really excited we’re gonna have

Rock: Great name

Rod: West Palm thank you yeah it’s really is the top multifamily investors on the planet most of them have at least a thousand units it’s just incredible and I’ve got a huge big name surprise guest coming to the one I’m having in West Palm in December. In fact it’s right after Tony’s event, date with Destiny. I’m going to date with Destiny and then the next day is my mastermind in West Palm Beach so it’s kind of funny. The other thing I want to mention I want to circle back to something else you said which is, guys you have a choice as to what you allow into your brain. There’s so much great content out there on YouTube, podcasts, you know free content and so motivational content I mean you know if you listen to my podcast you know I do a weekly motivational tip but you know don’t just rely on me get out there and bring that great stuff in. But also stand guard at the door to your mind there’s so much crap out there that you know I don’t even watch the news anymore because it’s all so negative and you want to bring positive in would you agree Rock?

Rock: Yeah by the way the news isn’t news. They’re entertainment and they’re are appealing to the 95% of your brain that is fear-based and therefore it grabs your attention. Somebody just texted me yesterday there’s a tornado that’s gonna happen you know like 15 miles away from here and I’m like, whatever. It’s like I just don’t tend to focus on things I can’t control and there’s no there’s no space in my mind for that because I’m into creativity I’m into what can what’s the next idea I can jump on and I think maybe people know this but I would say I would encourage people to spend 10% of their wealth on education, going to your events is hanging out with other great people meeting cool people earmark 10% for that and that can include your travel if you want to depends on how much you’re earning but also you know 10% of your money should go into investments pay yourself first. It’s kind of cliche but you know what most people aren’t doing it Rod. The piece that people talk about is I say 10% minimum of your day should be bathed in inspirational and educational stuff beyond what you know the thoughts and mind that you have today cannot get you to a higher place than you are. So you got to go and you got to get more of them. I have this one saying I like is that your friends are comfortable with your present but your mentors are comfortable with your future.

Rod: Love it love it love it love it love it awesome awesome saying. So what’s next for you buddy?

Rock: Well I mean I’m going to Japan in a couple of days with my GoAbundance’s guys. We do an international trip every fall so that’s 12 ruckus days

Rod: I think last year was Vietnam if I recall right?

Rock: Last year was Vietnam and Peru and we do really cool stuff every year so I’m excited about that I’ve got a bunch of my own events this fall and it’s really about helping people get into an ecosystem that gives them the support, encouragement, and challenge that will cause them to realize the goals that they want. Basically being the better version of himself

Rod: I love it I love it and guys I also want to circle back to something you said earlier I forgot to add some emphasis to, any time you add more value you will be a success the most successful people on the planet the ones that added the most value. So think about how you add value, think about how you can add value, and it ties right into your success in anything including your life. So Rock I really appreciate your being on the show brother it’s been such a treat to have you here and we’re gonna definitely need to do it again and I look forward to seeing you very soon at an event you know. Learning is earning guys you know I did a picture on my Facebook page of all these lanyards from hundreds of events that I’ve gone to. I put them on both of my arms because I that’s my education I never went to college and you know I just want to stress that and Rock is a great example of that if you guys are interested in checking out Rock’s stuff it’s rockthomas.com. Thanks again brother I appreciate it’s great to see you my friend

Rock: Yeah well it’s a pleasure to be here and I just remind everybody that the words that follow I am follow you. So if you’re in the multi business you might want to go is I am an amazing investor. I find great deals. I’m always open to partnerships or whatever. Language yourself into your results and watch how the two start you close the gap on that so it’s a pleasure being here Rod.

Rod: By the way Rock, I want to mention, Rock wrote a book called “Get the Power of your Identity Now” and like he said anything you put the words I am in front of his an identity statement and there’s no greater force in the human psyche than the need to remain consistent with how we identify ourselves. I’m sure that book is awesome. I’m gonna actually get it myself now that I see it here on your bio I didn’t know about it. So get that guys. Rock, thanks for being on the show my friends.

Rock: Pleasure Rod thanks buddy

Rod: Take care see you!

[music]

Thank you for listening to the Lifetime Cash Flow Through Real Estate Investing Podcast.

If you’ve enjoyed the show, please take a minute to visit iTunes and leave your comments. For more resources or to connect with us further, please visit our website at rodkhleif.com. Tune in next week for our next show.

[music]