Essential Traits: Surviving Tough Times with Passion

April 8, 2020

About This Episode

In this episode, Bill Allen talks with real estate entrepreneur, Andy McFarland, to discuss one of the “six essential traits” Gino Wickman says every entrepreneur must have: passion.

Gino’s book, Entrepreneurial Leap, identifies passion as one of the absolute essentials to success as an entrepreneur, and very few people in the real estate world exemplify passion like Andy McFarland.

Andy is a wholesaler, a retail flipper, a landlord, and the founder and CEO of Enlight Homebuyers. Andy has been a mentor to Bill and an inspirational leader to many.

You can find Andy on Twitter @AndyMcFarland, and learn more about his business at https://enlighthomebuyers.com/.

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Real Estate as a Means to an End

Andy is passionate about real estate, but more importantly, he’s passionate about people, something he and Bill have in common.

Real estate investing is a path to financial freedom. And for many people financial freedom is enough to get passionate about. For Andy, however, much of his passion in the real estate business comes from helping others, one client at a time.

Early on in Bill’s career, real estate itself was exciting, but as his business has grown over the years, real estate has become more of a means to an end. That end is seeing his team succeed.

In this interview, Andy says, “If you’re constantly looking at ‘what’s in it for me’, certainly you can step on a bunch of people and grab a bunch of money, but it’s not going to bring you fulfillment, and it’s definitely not going to bring you joy. There’s no joy in that.”

Hitting Walls in the Real Estate Business

In business, something goes wrong every day. There are always unexpected problems to solve. These challenges can seem overwhelming, but the key to success often lies in our perspective. Can we get outside of ourselves and our own emotions and find someone else to help?

The walls we hit in our business are sometimes due to circumstances we can’t control. We must focus on the things we can control:

What am I listening to?

What am I focusing on?

Who can I serve today?

The Real Estate Business – Duct Tape and Bubble Gum

Andy often says his business is “put together with duct tape and bubble gum.” That doesn’t mean he’s not working hard and working passionately, it just means the business is still a work in progress, and there are always new problems to solve.

Will Passion Lead You Through Hard Times?

When tough times hit in the real estate business, many people get caught by surprise. Entrepreneurs should expect no shortage of adversity, but passionate entrepreneurs see tough times as opportunities.

Even in a perfect market, there will always be a reason to say your real estate investment plan won’t work. Passion will push you to move beyond those reasons.


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