They Volunteered and Raised Their Own Rent

© Can Stock Photo

     My wife and I started investing in buy-and-hold rental real estate a few years ago. We are looking to sustain a very comfortable retirement, as well as build a good additional piece to our legacy. Having abundance to us, means we have more to share or give away. We've been able to build a small nest egg, through some traditional employment we've had. And, we were able to leverage some of that to get us started. We're also helping other people create additional income from home. But, for now, I want to relate a story that just happened to us today, about our real estate.

     We've owned this one building for around 2 1/2 years now. We are not slum landlords by any means. Rather than take all possible income out of a building, instead, we treat it as the valuable long-term asset it is. When there are repairs, or upgrades that need to be made, we invest in them. We still take a profit, so we still have to weigh whether an investment is prudent now, or can wait a little bit of time. But, we keep it on the plan, and do what is needed.

     We have also developed a rapport with our tenants. From the moment they apply, we try to connect with who they are, and what they need, for a home. In fact, some form of the word "home" can be found in the name of each building's LLC. We've also shown some pay it forward kind of acts. We have gifted baked pies to all of our tenants on Thanksgiving. It was inspiring to us, when we were buying the pies, and whipped cream to go with them, in the store, a woman asked if we were having a party. Why were we buying so many pies. When we told her that we were buying them for our tenants, she told us to wait. She ran off into the store, and came back with a bottle of sparkling apple cider, for each of the pies, paid for them, and gave them to us to include.

     As great as that is, there's more. Today, as my wife was collecting rent from one of our tenants. The tenant told her that this was the last time she would receive that amount from them for the rent. Curious, my wife asked the tenant what they meant. She was then informed, that starting next month, the tenants were going to pay us an additional $50 a month. They went on to state, that they appreciated the way we treated them, and, the building they consider their home.

     Draw your own conclusions, or, be inspired, and change just one thing you do. Or not. I am again amazed at the blessings received when giving has been for the big picture and providing value for others without expectation of receiving anything in return. I am reminded, again, that giving is far better than receiving. And, it's contagious. Together, let's start our own viral explosion of paying it forward, and paying it back. Any challenge will be overcome, and awesome achievements will be accomplished when more of us share our abundance, lend a hand up, and give in a true positive spirit of love.

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with gratitude and in service,



Tony Koker
A Mentor with a Servant's Heart

I Was Lost, But Now I Am Found

Reading the chapter this week inspired me to express a story of my journey.


Version 1 - The Symbolism

"I was lost, but now I am found".

I planned. I followed the plan. I had a dream. I followed the dream. It lead me to a plateau. I accepted the plateau. I fell asleep.

I got lost in the execution. Performing what needed to be done, while pleasurable, led me to forgo dreaming.

I was waiting to die, but I was in a fog and didn't know.

Sparks of light ignited the fog, but my sleep was too deep. Brighter and brighter the sparks became, but the darkness prevailed.

My mind didn't die. It didn't rest. Each spark restored pieces of the dreams from the past. New dreams began to form. But, the darkness prevailed.

As I began to awake, I recognized the plateau I had accepted. I begin to see the paths beyond the fog and the clouds.

The clarity is crystal, in bursts. now more and more frequent. I am gathering steam, moving fast again and building my legacy.


Version 2 - The Facts

I went to school. I got a degree. I got a job. I got married. I started a family. I started a company. I became a consultant. I got another job. I got stuck. I accepted the plateau.

I discovered network marketing, along the way. It was the first spark. It was also the source of the darkness that prevailed. Lack of success and failure put water on the fire and doused the spark. No fire remained.

Another opportunity. This one's fresh. But, again, the same lack of skill and leadership. More darkness.

Truth. Brilliant clear, powerful truth. We all know this when we hear it. We first have to listen, to hear it. We have to silence or squelch the noise to hear. Once heard, the vibration always rings true. Leadership skills, mental clarity, time ownership and mastery, not a product, company or opportunity are the path to fulfillment.

Multiple times a week, every week, we gather to keep the fires hot, the focus clear, and the vibration, rhythm and song alive.

Mentoring for Free and this 30 Day Mental Cleanse, has re-equipped my mind. Full clarity has returned and control has been restored.

I am grateful to everyone who participates. Together we mastermind a world full of miracles empowered by Infinite Intelligence.

with gratitude and in service,
Tony Koker

Image Credit: CanStockPhoto.com

Time Always Wins

Ruled by the Clock

      Time always wins. Tick, tock, tick, tock time marches forward. Sooner or later, we will stop, but it will not, just like taxes.

      Awareness. Are you awake enough to know what you're doing? Often I find myself in auto-pilot. I find myself focused only upon what I have to be doing. The alarm goes off. Maybe I can snooze it, once or twice, but mostly I have to resign myself to getting up and getting ready. Have I mastered that task list that determines my fate, or am I following someone else's lead? Have I convinced myself that satisfying their demands also serve me and my family and friends? These are questions I find time to ponder and attempt to use a slight edge to implement.

      Always busy, doing something. Even sleep is something. If I don't get enough sleep, I cannot think clearly enough to be sure I've taken a vivid review of the task list.

      Wasting time, productive use?

      Productive is also subjective. Productive for whom? Them or you and yours?

      The order is important, too. Priority and time both need to be considered. Some things have windows of time where they need to be accomplished. Some things are preparatory - they need to be done in advance of some point in time, like a scheduled meeting. Others have to be done now, like right after a meeting, to capture what steps will need to be accomplished before the next meeting or event occurance. Of course priority should never be ignored.

      You and Yours, then short-term emergency, or, at lease, short-term priority escalation or life-long priority? Emergency or short-term priority escalation, in relative terms, that I use, relates to this whole concept of being able to really only perform ONE task at a time. And, manage but a handful of tasks. This handful should be the most important. Survival, comfort, luxury, perhaps that is the order you choose? Or, do you consider it more noble to forego some level of comfort for the survival benefit of others?

      Even survival is subjective. Water, food, clothing and shelter likely lead the list, but the whole requires much, much more. There's the physical, which was just (mostly) addressed, but there is also the emotional and the spiritual. How often do we neglect or even fail to recognize these? True work and life balance really requires that we find opportunity to satisfy the needs of the whole.

      So. Are you really multi-tasking? Are you really busy doing what's important to you? Or, are you just busy, doing just enough, and passing time to a future event (looking forward to something)?

with gratitude and in service,

Tony Koker

Photo credit: CanStockPhoto.com

Half Empty or Full - You Choose

Happy Holidays to All 2013

      Please take a moment to reflect on What Is Most Important In Your Life as we move into a new year. Tony, Lisa, Michael, Noelle, Amanda and Curt.

      Most of our friends know that my parents are both gone, and Lisa's Dad passed almost 4 years ago. We were left with incredible holes in our Heart’s, but, because we put our Golf Balls into our jar first the best parts of Barry, Tony Sr. and Ann Marie live on in our lives forever.

      I'd like to relate a little story for all of you.

      A professor stood before his class and had some items in front of him.

      When the class began, wordlessly, he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

      The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar.

      He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

      The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full.

      The students responded with a unanimous 'yes.' The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.

      'Now,' said the professor, as the laughter subsided, 'I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things -god, family, children, health, friends, and favorite passions – things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.

      The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, house, and car. The sand is everything else - the small stuff. If you put the sand into the jar first,' he continued, 'there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls.

      The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you.

      So... pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your partner out to dinner.

      There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal. Take care of the golf balls first - the things that really matter. Set your priorities.

      The rest is just sand.' One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented. The professor smiled. 'I'm glad you asked.

      It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend.'

      Our family and team Believes in You and Your Dreams, we hope You will take the time to reflect and relive the most important part of this amazing life.

We Believe In You
Tony & Lisa Koker
1-781-864-2624 anytime.
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Image credit: CanStockPhoto.com

Self Talk

"Auto-Suggestion

The Medium for Influencing the Subconscious Mind

The Third Step Toward Riches"

      After reading this chapter of "Think and Grow Rich" and Napoleon Hill's words on auto-suggestion when he states that we should carry out this instruction as if we are still a child, it reminds me of a saying my wife has used since we first started dating: "We're just ba'y kids in a grown up ba'y world". This has been one of our themes during our relationship where we try to approach many challenges from a child-like perspective.

      Having a singular focus a child will persist in their efforts until the objective is accomplished. If told that someone in a large crowd in a stadium has a special present for the child, they will go from person to person, not skipping a single soul, even to the final person in the crowd, if necessary, until they find that present. Without hesitation they ask "Do you have it?". From person to person they go, no fear, no obstacles, just an obsessive action.

      As adults, we work to stay focused like that again. We deal with the complexities we've allowed to invade our mind. We deal with the people and situations that confront us in our routines and the demands that are put upon us. We overcome the negative emotions that spontaneously erupt and threaten to dampen our desire.

      By focusing on a written statement, which we recite out loud, we actively focus on the positive emotions we associate with our burning desires. We concentrate, like the child, on holding that present in our hands. We know what it will feel like in our hands. The weight of it, the sight of it, the total thrill of owning it is already coursing through our body even as we travel forward in the aisles between the seats.

      We have instilled the emotion, focused burning desire and faith all with this simple act of writing down instructions for our subconscious, reading them aloud, and repeating them often, keeping that child, that we are, moving from person to person, through aisle after aisle to get OUR present.

 

with gratitude and in service,

Tony, Lisa, Michael and Amanda

Image credit: CanStockPhoto.com