Not Just Another Venture

I remember driving home from work this past summer feeling stuck, frustrated and depressed.

That drive was one of many moments that year where I just couldn’t move on from my past failures as a wantrepreneur and couldn’t see what my purpose for the future which led me to feeling worthless in the present. If you were in the passenger seat with me, you’d be surprised that this typically optimistic and casual guy was acting all funky.

I vividly remembering cursing at my steering wheel (that poor innocent wheel) and demanding God to speak. I needed answers. I felt like i was racing against time and I was losing. Here I was as Mr. 27 Year-Old Albert, feeling disappointed that I hadn’t lived up to the expectations of Mr. 22 Year-Old Albert.

Why did I waste all those evenings and weekends on side hustle projects that always led to nothing? 

What happened to those dreams of running a passive income business that would replace my day job? 

What happened to those dreams of writing a book? Of traveling the world inspiring thousands of people with motivational speeches? 

What resulted from all the ambition, drive and potential that so many people had saw in me from a young age? 

Some might call it a quarter-life crisis but maybe a better categorization was a pre-30 crisis. I had a narrowed tunnel vision that everything that I ever wanted to happen needed to happen in the next 3 years. I knew life would change once kids came and I didn’t want to have regrets of not taking bigger risks when I could. Whatever the label was, I knew the enemy was whispering all sorts of lies about my identity and purpose and I couldn’t find my voice.

I needed God to intervene.

I love that God isn’t restricted by time in the same way we are.

I love that was a singular thread that weaves itself through every story and is able to sew them together to make something beautiful. I love that His plan is always greater than anything we could ask, think or imagine.

He’s just that good to us.

I wish I could tell you that there was one powerful, defining event that flipped the script upside down but instead, it turned out to be a gradual series of faith building ‘mmhmm’ moments that led to the authentic peace, hope and gratitude that I’m celebrating today.

There was one event however that pushed some things into motion.

In February, VIVE Church had a speaker come to a special event that we held for a community of entrepreneurs, business owners and other working professionals where he shared his testimony on how he found his calling. This guy had a pretty incredible story where he went from a plumber to a real estate developer and was able to give generously throughout the journey there. Like a million dollar check kind of generous. What stood out to me wasn’t the size of the check he wrote but just the fact that he seemed like a pretty ordinary guy who did the simple things right like walking daily with God, being disciplined and taking action on the opportunities he was given. He knew without a doubt what he was put on earth to do. His WHY for life was pretty audacious and it was important. At the end he posed a pretty simple question which I quickly rationalized away.

“Why can’t it be you?”

Nevertheless, a tiny seed was planted that night. Although I didn’t see it at the time, over the next 6 months God started to weave some things together in the background.

First, I met someone from church named Tim who had been in the real estate investing (REI) game for some time. I can’t even remember how the conversation got started since it’s kind of a random topic to chat about but it was life changing in some sense. He encouraged me to start getting educated as that would take time and to not worry as much about having the capital to buy something.

I had read a couple books about REI in the past and I knew it was a proven model for building wealth (outside of stocks and starting a business) but I never believed it was for me, or at least not at the time as a recovering college student so I filed it aside for the ‘later in life’ cabinet. I saw Tim almost every week and it seemed like each week, he had something new to share with me – a new book, a CD, a booklet or some story to share about the properties he was getting an incredible deal on.

Altogether, it sparked an addictive hunger and curiosity to want to learn and discover more. It was a hunger I had come to know in my past entrepreneurial endeavors that failed but had built up a habit that I was putting to good use now.

Those books and CD’s found their way into my morning commute, weekend reading and even into my daily work routine. It eventually led to meeting other real estate investors both in the local area and out-of-state, committing to a market to invest in (hello Cleveland!) and hopping on calls to meet realtors, property managers, lenders and all other sorts of people.

All of this took time.

It took time out of my day at work which in any of my past companies would have been difficult to balance. Things were unusually slow at work and for recruiting, that’s just never a good thing. My first 9 months at Facebook was a perfect storm of re-orgs, team changes and an over-hiring of recruiters that oddly forced me to find other ways to be productive. Though I didn’t realize it at the time, the timing was perfect. The slowness at work gave me the mental, emotional and physical energy I needed to focus and double down on getting to know this new REI game. It gave me some extra time to start analyzing deals at a greater velocity and narrow down the exact neighborhood, criteria and team that I needed for my first deal.

Around the same time, there was a series of sermons and events at church that gave me the unshakeable WHY behind this new endeavor in wanting to build wealth through real estate.

Pastor Adam had begun an incredible series on the tithe and more importantly, the bigger principles behind the importance of putting your faith in action. He also talked about how faith is established when YOU build the fortitude to finish something and how easy it is sometimes to rely on the inspirational stories of others but never taking a step forward. He reminded us we’re not alone in taking these first steps but we have a loving Father who wants to come into those tough situations and provide for more than we could ever ask, think or imagine.

It was time for me to take a step forward and not just pray about things but to take some real, consistent and persistent action forward. I pushed me to wake up and not accept the lies that I was believing about myself and to start putting some real action behind this newfound passion of REI. I had to just start somewhere.

Toward the end of that month in late October, VIVE Church was also hosting an annual Vision Gala where we as a church got together to celebrate all that happened in the year(s) before and also hear what the direction and and vision that Pastor Adam and Keira had for this upcoming year. In the week leading to the Gala, Noelle and I took some intentional time to write down the vision that we wanted for our lives.

I remember sitting down in a cute little Italian restaurant in Millbrae and we began to just dream out loud on what we’re hoping to see happen in 2019 in all aspects of our lives – personal, relational, spiritual and for me, entrepreneurial. It was a simple, yet powerful tool of imagination that gave me a new sense of freedom from feeling stuck, lost and confused about the future. We mapped out a 5 year and 1 year vision then emailed it to ourselves so that it’ll be saved forever. That night was one of the first times (in a long time) where I gave myself permission to dream again and see just a tiny glimpse of what the end destination will look like.

A few nights later at the Gala, Pastor Adam took it one step further and gave a really great word on the power of speaking into the unseen future. Typically we walk by sight and what we see is always our current reality which in my case, was filled with doubt and unbelief about how God could use someone like me. However, throughout the Bible we see the importance of walking by faith and having vision is so much less about what you see but more about what you speak.

“Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.” – John 14:13-14

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” -Eph 3:20-21:

He went on to encourage us that what we speak isn’t empty in it’s power and authority but it’s centered on knowing who our Father is and the unlimited resources that He provides. It’s a matter of being totally dependent on Him and knowing that He gives not because He has to but because He wants to so that He can build up our faith and share the good news to others.

If we can’t see then we can speak and declare the future that we want to see. God’s given us a blank slate at every crossroad to decide what we want the future to be.

Ps Adam has repeatedly shared that faith and fear exists in the same realm, so choose faith! We get to decide.

Over the new few days, I began to declare some new things over the lies that the Enemy had placed in my head before. That my good and faithful Father did have a plan for me. That I shouldn’t just settle for an ordinary life. I began to speak new life into my dormant soul with bold statements about my future that I did not have the courage to do before and experienced a new sense of joy, peace and undeniable excitement for the future.

I allowed my Father to help ask new and bold questions to myself:

What if my future is what I decided it to be?

What if God only gives in alignment with what I ask?

What if my WHY for wanting to be the entrepreneurial, go-getter, make-the-most-of-this-life person that I am was connected to something so much bigger than just wanting to retire early?

What if it that vision had to be that scary, that bold, that crazy to truly know that it was God leading the way and that it’ll be his glory (not mine!) that will be magnified?

So I began to write some things down on top of the vision statement that we had in our inbox. I wrote about wanting to build wealth so that I could serve others and give generously to advance the Kingdom of God. I wrote (and laughed) how I’ll be able to write a million dollar check in 13 years time through a diversified portfolio fo real estate investments, whether that’s multifamily units, apartment complexes, commercial, mobile home parks or storage units.

I put a reminder on my phone each morning and each night to read this vision statement and as crazy as it sounded, I knew I had a path forward that I never could have imagined having just a few months ago.

I love what Hebrews 13:21 says,

that [He’ll] equip you with everything good for doing HIS will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever.

As I enter this new venture, something feels different. There’s an unshakeable confidence, a Godly swagger that stems from being firmly rooted in a God-given purpose and solid foundation. This wasn’t inspired from a “Quit Your Job, Live Freely On Passive Income!” book or an inspirational podcast interview with Mr. So & So who was able to, “Scale A 6 Figure Business In 2 Years With No Experience!” that had once been my stimuli for new ventures in the past.

This was a vision that I knew wouldn’t fizzle out like the ones in the past solely because it was so outrageous that it would require my powerful, loving and all-knowing Father to guide me, open doors and do more than I could ever ask, think or imagine to make it happen.

It was a vision that highlights His glory and tells stories of how He can do the impossible.

It was a vision that wasn’t about me but had everything to do with and for Him.

It was a vision that allowed me to put the magnifying glass on how creative, how wise and how amazing my Father is and less on what I lacked.

It was a vision that gave me freedom to feel like a new person again.

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So fast forward 2 months to today, Dec 27th 2018, we’ve closed on our first investment property in Cleveland (of all places, I know).

There’s too much to share about how this first property came about so I’ll have another post documenting the process but wow, this one had God’s hand all over it. All you have to know for now is that it’s hard to find deals in this hot market, let alone something came in nearly 15% below the asking price from a listing that was found on notoriously competitive, accessible MLS!

While the prequel of this story finishes, it’s breathtaking to just take a moment and reflect on how we got to this point and to remember what the whole point of this new profound passion is all about.

It’s about serving and giving generously to others. It’s a lifestyle, a daily choice to think and be selfless. It’s about investing in God’s Kingdom and giving as many people as possible an opportunity to experience His love through a nearby church, a social media campaign, or some other form of creative, genuine outreach. It’s about an eternal purpose that will last exponentially longer than our short stay here on earth. It’s not about the money. I repeat, it’s not about the money even though the world wants it so badly to be!

The million dollar check I want to write one day has everything to do about the journey. The personal transformation I know I’ll go through in walking with God through the worst and impossible of situations and more importantly, the stories I’ll get to share on His provision and His miracles. It’s a journey I pray will always reflect His glory and not mine and will be a catalyst for others to be re-awakened and re-inspired to their calling in life as well.

So with that, I’m off to finding my next property.

More posts to come, stay tuned.

God bless,

Albert