The Importance of Mindset in Multifamily Real Estate Investing and Other Endeavors

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By Rod Khleif, Author of How To Create Lifetime Cashflow Through Multifamily Properties 

My name is Rod Khleif and let me take a moment and tell you a little bit of my story as it will add framework to this topic. I immigrated to the United States from the Netherlands when I was six years old. When we first got to the United States we struggled financially. I remember eating expired food and drinking powdered milk with our cereal in the morning because it was cheaper than real milk. I ended up wearing clothes from the goodwill and the Salvation Army all the way through junior high school until I was finally able to get a job to buy my own clothes. 

My mother had an incredible work ethic. She babysat kids so we would have enough money to eat. With her babysitting money, she became a bit of an entrepreneur and started investing in real estate. Her first real estate acquisition was a house she purchased for $30,000 when I was about 14. When I was 17, she told me she had made $20,000 in her sleep. It was then I knew I was getting into real estate.  

My first year in real estate while still living at home, I made about $8,000. My second year I made about $10,000. But my third year, I made over $100,000 which back in 1980 was very good money. So, what happened between year 2, and year 3 that caused me to 10x my income? I met a man that taught me about the importance of mindset and psychology. Using that knowledge and fast-forwarding to today, I’ve owned over 2,000 houses that I rented.  

In 2006 my net worth went up $17 million while I slept. From that success, I thought I was a “real estate God”. I’m sure you realize when someone gets cocky like that, sometimes God, or the universe, will give them a nice little smack down? That was 2008 for me. I lost $50 million in 2008. Everything I owned.  

I often get asked, how did I recover from losing that much? The answer is mindset.  

Here are some steps that you can utilize to create success in your business and life.  

1. Know what you want and why you want it. Create a burning desire that pushes you to take action and push through fear and limiting beliefs.  
2. Make a decision and commit to it fully. The Latin root for the word decision means to cut off. There is no escape. Take that first step, even if it is small. Dr. Martin Luther King said take that first step in faith, and the next step will be revealed. Sometimes that first small step, can be the biggest step in your life. 
3. Play to your strengths and hire, align, or partner for your weaknesses. In the multifamily real estate space, there are lots of different hats you can wear. Trying to build your weaknesses is not effective. When you’re playing to your strengths, you’re doing what you love. Passion is required to influence others. The multifamily real estate game is a team sport, and it requires you to influence brokers, potential investors, sellers, and other team members. 
4. Surround yourself with a peer group that encourages and validates you. Eliminate naysayers from your life. Some people out of their own fear, or fear of losing you, or fear of feeling embarrassed by your success, may hold you back. 
5. Manage your focus by exposing yourself to positive motivational content and minimizing exposure to negative news. If you are reading this, you’re a leader. Right now, more than ever, the world needs leaders. As a leader, it’s very important to manage your focus. Whatever you focus on gets larger. Both positive or negative. There are many empowering and motivating videos on YouTube. For example, in my podcast every week I include a clip called “Own Your Power”. These clips are only five minutes long, and they are very motivational regardless of what business you’re interested in. 
6. Utilize free content and resources to learn and grow. For example, you can attend my multifamily virtual boot camps to further your education and skills and access other free resources at RodsLinks.com.  

Take these steps to improve your mindset and go crush it in business and in life my friends!  

About the Author 

Rod Khleif is host of the number #1 ranked real estate podcast on iTunes, “Lifetime Cash Flow” which has been downloaded 13 million times. 
 
Rod is a seasoned and passionate real estate investor who has personally owned and managed over 2000 properties. Rod has combined his passion for real estate investing with his personal philosophies of self-actualization, goal setting, envisioning, and manifesting success to become one of America’s top real estate investment professionals.