Richard W. Price

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Wasting Time

A few weeks back, a buddy of mine called and said he wanted to get the hell out of what he was doing and get into something else.

Here's what the conversation looked like, starting with me:

"Get into real estate investing, it's great."

"I don't know anything about it."

"You can learn, and you can make good money. I made $X my first year; you can do the same and then quit your current job."

"Yeah, but you've been in real estate for years, so you knew about it already."

"So what, you can learn. Go take this class."

Today, he's halfway through that class, has been following all the instructions, and doing all the shit.

I'm sure he'll be doing deals later this year.

Around the same time, someone else asked the same question. And we had the same conversation.

That person, though, just keeps asking questions.

"What do you think about this? What do you think about that?"

And I'm like, "For the love of God, just take the damn class! It's like $200 or something. Hell, if you promise to do the work, I'll freakin' pay for it!"

But I know the type.

They're not going to do it.

They're just like my buddy who's going to stop drinking. . .tomorrow.

And my friend who's going to start eating clean but needs to "do a hardcore detox first."

Or the other guy who signed up for the same class, but has been "too busy to get started."

Bullshit.

Bullshit.

And bullshit.

One of the first concepts in the class isn't about money or investing or anything like that.

It's about the voices in our heads.

Lesser self vs. Heroic Self.

Inner-bitch vs. Inner-badass.

Big-Me vs. Small-Me.

Good Angel vs. Bad Angel.

Whatever you want to call it, it's there.

For all of us.

Small-Me, this morning, whispered, "It's cold outside. This bed is warm. Why would you want to get in the cold water? Hell, it's 40 degrees outside!"

Big-Me said, "Get in the water, bitch!"

I did, and it sucked.

But only for a minute.

Then, like every other time I listen to Big-me, I was glad I did.

Doing what Big-Me says always feels great after.

My friend that's in the class? He's listening to Big Him, and I'd wager a pretty penny on how his story turns out.

I'd wager another on the folks listening to their Small Thems, still asking questions and making excuses.

And I'd bet my life savings that they'll be on opposite ends of the spectrum when the stories are told.