Skin in the Game


 

A long time ago I used to own a small development company w/a good friend of mine. I know, business partnerships with friends rarely work, but Chad and I not only have been friends since middle school, we also have had several business ventures together. 


Each had been a grand adventure. Although our business ventures are no longer, Chad and I still enjoy our friendship. 

One of the projects Chad and I had was a big abandoned building on Division and Logan downtown Grand Rapids. In the process of purchasing the building back in the early 2000's I can remember negotiating with Ed Kalus an old school real-estate investor. 

Ed was probably in his 80's then. He was a shrewd businessman even in later years. It would have been interesting running into him when he was younger. 

We met several times to talk about the purchase of his building. It was a huge project for Chad and me. It was a three story 18,000 sq. foot building that we were planning on gutting and converting into commercial suites and several residential condos. Big plans for two young guys with regular jobs.

Because it was such a big step for Chad and me, we were taking our time to plan and plan, and plan. Due to the relative size of this project, we were hesitant about taking the plunge so to speak. 

After several meetings with Ed, he was growing impatient with us. He was still polite and jovial, but I remember him simply saying,

"Make me an offer. If you don't have any skin in the game we really can't go any further."

It got to the point where he basically refused to see us anymore until we either put in an offer, or backed out all together. 

We had discussed and negotiated pretty much every angle we could shy of putting our money where our mouth was. 

At this point all the good intentions in the world wouldn't move us forward. If we truly wanted to move onto the next step we had to have real skin in the game... 

We had to make a real offer.

Ed knew this and was teaching these two young bucks that talk was cheap! It was time to buck up or shut up and move on. 

Your Training Is Like that Too!

You're training is no different. 

In a world of cheap, free, and spoon fed, you have to have skin in the game in order to really move forward. 

WHAT!? 

Yup. 

Free and easy may be a good introduction to something, however it won't get you too far. At some point you'll have to have focus and get some skin in the game in order to really excel in whatever your endeavor. 

Just like good ole' Ed Kalus said to Chad and I so many years ago. 

You can only get so far looking, talking and planning. Yes, those things are important parts of the process, however, tire kickers will never drive away in that new car.. People only eating free samples will never get the nutrition of the full meal. 

At some point you'll have to put something down, make that commitment, get some skin in the game... 

Or don't, and move on.


So, Here's the REAL Question...

The real question here isn't whether or not you will be putting skin in the game, it's WHAT game are you willing to invest your resources in?

2024 is on the horizon...

What are you going to do with your time?!

You don't have unlimited energy, focus, financial resources or time, so are you going to use all of those things to chasing free and cheap? If you never really making the commitment to yourself (or others) to invest in your improvement where will you end up?

Probably not where you want!

Tony Robbins often says that you have to 'burn the ships' so to speak. If you don't know what that means. It's doing something that makes it impossible for yourself to turn back. 

The figure of speech derives from legends about conquerors who supposedly, upon landing their army in enemy country, ordered the invasion fleet to be burnt.

Now, you don't have to go to that extreme, however, in order to make some serious progress toward whatever goal you are hoping to obtain, you'll have to do more than stick your toe in the water. 

So, I'll ask again, what waters are you going to decide to jump into?! 

Hopefully ones that will help you build the Life you were wanting. 

You have to think about the big picture. 

How do you cultivate a Life where you are happier, healthier, more powerful, more loving? How do you live Life with more clarity, and confidence?

Your training should bring you closer to those things. 

If you're training right that is. 

But, you have to have skin in the game!

No matter how you slice it, you're not going to get there on free and easy... Sorry!



So, What's It Going to Be!?

At the core of your investment should be in yourself and your loved ones. If you don't invest in yourself, why would you expect anyone else to?!

Without investing in yourself, you jeopardize relationships with those closest to you as well!

How?!

Because if you are unhealthy it affects every relationship you have.  

Learning how to make your own operating system work at an optimum level should be priority one if you plan to be truly successful at anything else in your Life. 

Why?!

Because when you are dialed in, it's easy to dial in the rest of your Life! If you're not, than it just isn't!


Low Investment / High Return?!


Here's a simple approach to learning how to to protect yourself: https://www.peacewalker.org/ 

It's a free home study course. Just click on the link, scroll down a little, you'll see the link.  

It'll give you free access to show you a Simple 6 Step Solution to being a tough target.




Keep going,
~Craig

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