Lebron James gave my 7 yr old a basketball

Feb 3, 2010 I Don't Like to Work

By: Greg Clement

BUT, it almost didn’t happen…

How do YOU overcome fear?

A good buddy of mine, Scott Scheel, gave me his tickets
to the Cavs/Memphis game last night. They’re 2nd row
right next to the visitors bench, so they’re decent seats, lol.

I took, Jonah, my 7 year old with me and we got to the
game a little early (early bird gets the worm) to watch
the players warm up, I mean they were right there
in front of us – so cool.

Seeing a starry eyed 7 year old brought me immediately
back to when I was a kid.

A Cavs hostess walked up to us and asked Jonah if he
wanted to go on the court and be a “ball boy” and the
following is the conversation:

HOSTESS: “Hi, would you like to come with me and
go on the court to be a ball boy before the game starts?”

JONAH: (shaking his head) “NO.”

HOSTESS: (a little surprised) “NO? Are you sure?”

JONAH: “No, no I don’t want to.”

ME: “Jonah are you sure? I mean Lebron James could
give you a basketball. You have to go out there”

JONAH: “No, NO, No.”

ME: (to the hostess) “give me one sec and let me talk to
him real quick.”

Then what happened next is actually pretty remarkable
and it hit me like a ton of bricks at the end of the night.

I’m big on (usually) not forcing my kids to do things they
don’t want to do.  Like, I wont force them to ride big roller
coasters, or jump off big diving boards – stuff like that.
And I was on the verge of letting Jonah decide that he
didn’t want to go out there.

I asked him why he didn’t want to go and he said he was
scared because I couldn’t go with him.  I then said, “Jonah,
you have to go” in a sort of pleading way, and he said he
didn’t want to for the 5th time.

I then made the decision for him.

I know as a parent what’s good for him, and I can’t expect
him to always know at 7 years old.  I told him basically to
man up and go out there and I removed any type of begging
or pleading from my voice.  I wasn’t mean or demanding,
I really just told him, “YOU’RE going dude – you’re gonna
love this.”

The minute he “knew” he was going he jumped up and
walked out to half court. When I “burned the bridge”
he then had to take action.

So he’s standing out there as a few players walked out
of the tunnel and handed the kids next to him an NBA
ball.

Then I saw LeBron walk out with 2 balls in his hands
and start walking right to Jonah and the girl next to
him.  As he reached out I took this pic.

Jonah didn’t say a word, he was speechless.  LeBron
handed him the ball, Jonah didn’t say anything and
LeBron turned to warm up.

To say he was on cloud 9 the rest of the night would be
a huge understatement.  I mean it’s like Joe Montana
handing a little kid a football before a big game, it was
crazy.  As people kept asking him all night where he got
the ball from you should have seen him retell the story
in his way.

And while it’s realllllllly cool that my 7 year old son now
has a memory that will last a lifetime (on the way home
he said “Dad, you can have the ball when I die” and my
heart melted) this story isn’t about him.

It’s about you.

Jonah almost missed it because he was scared of taking
action – he didn’t know what to expect.  But when he did,
he was soooo glad he took that first step.

I know there a lot of very successful people reading this
right now but I also know there are even more who haven’t
even scratched the surface of what they can really do.

What’s one thing in life that you aren’t doing that you
KNOW you need to? One thing that would produce HUGE
results for you and your family…

I am thinking of a few for myself right now…

P.S. And of course if you have a cool story of catching
a ball at a big game OR overcoming fear I’d love to
hear about it below

Popularity: 61% [?]

Tags: greg clement, kids, motivation

Seriously, what are you doing?

May 7, 2008 I Don't Like to Work

It’s time for me to clear up some confusion surrounding the focus of this blog. What does “I don’t like to work” mean? It’s very simple actually. It means that…

I don’t like to work. Hang on, let me explain a little before you get ticked off.

Let me ask YOU a couple of very simple and direct questions…

Would you rather work OR be on vacation? For me, vacation is a little (okay, a lot) better! What about work OR spend time hanging out with your kids? For me, my kids win out ALL the time, even when my 4 month old won’t go to sleep and it’s 3 in the morning. OK, what about work OR making a difference for a young person by volunteering for your church youth group? Making a difference CRUSHES working ALL the time. It’s NOT even close.

Let’s be honest, does ANYONE really LOVE working? Let’s talk about real estate investing for a minute because a lot of us do that for a living. Do you LOVE investing in real estate? Do you love going to work every day and pounding the pavement for your next deal? I don’t. What I love is the financial reciprocation that investing gives me for the time I spend in it. There may be NO better way for the average guy to become financially free than by investing in real estate. Most of us know this, right? I love that real estate gives me the freedom to keep on doing bigger and better things in every aspect! Do you love work? Or do you love what it gives back to you? Do you love work OR do you love how you feel when a job is well done?

Why not really FOCUS on setting up your business ONCE so you can then PROFIT forever.

What I’m leading up to is this: It seems that there are 2 schools of thought out there when it comes to this concept of financial freedom. It has different definitions for many, but for the sake of my point here, let’s assume that it means that you are making at least 50% more residually (from investments, rental income etc…) every month than your expenses. So for example, if my expenses are $100k a year and I am making $150k a year, then I am financially free. For most people $150-$250k a year coming in automatically would suffice. So let’s take a closer look at these 2 schools:

1. The “lazy” concept… Most people have this dream of becoming financially independent “someday” sooner than 65 so they can travel and lay on the beach. Most opportunity seekers are suckers for this concept. They will do anything for it. They yearn for the day when they don’t have to work anymore and can spend their days doing whatever they want, which for most is some serious R&R. I’m definitely up for a little of this.

2. The “achiever” concept… There is a small group of individuals who have reached total financial independence AND hate the above concept. They actually are workaholics, and can’t stop their compulsive behaviors. They are grizzled “war veterans” who take great pride in not ever being lazy. This happens more than you think… for example, I’ve noticed this happening to me over the past couple of years. The more I’ve “connected” to my hopes and dreams for the future, the more I’ve realized that I want it NOW, and thus I’ve worked harder and harder to make that happen. Once you ingrain a habit, good or bad, it is hard to break. It’s my theory that most people who reach financial independence have literally “convinced” their subconscious that productivity is linked ONLY to working and NOT relaxing, playing with their kids, or helping out their church.

Starting to get my point?

But the truth is when achievers reach one income level , almost without exception, they want more and more and more. When you make $100k you want to make $250k, then $500k, then $1B…. Sorry, I got carried away a little there. You get the idea. So if you want your income to keep going up and up – THEN financial freedom keeps getting further and further away. Now, I think you’re starting to get my point, eh?

Chocolate is good right? For me it’s awesome. But, if I ate 2 lbs of it every day I would get sick and it would lose its power.  So, what’s the answer?  Balance!  Balance in life is key. So here’s my advice to you.

1. Don’t work yourself to death waiting for the day you’ve made it. That’s an elusive goal.  It’ll keep changing.
2. Work Smart NOT Hard. Disclaimer , when starting a new venture there is no substitute for hard work, just don’t give yourself a friggin’ heart attack.
3. Find your higher calling. What do you really love to do? work, play, impact? Then do more of it NOW, not later.
4. Finally, design your business so YOU don’t become addicted to work like so many poor unhappy souls that think almost exactly like we do. A difference in thinking of just 1 degree means everything.
5. Your business SHOULD support you NOT the other way around.

Check this sweet video out.  It further drives home the point!  Whatever your religious or spiritual core, this video below will show you Nick Vujicic who I AM CERTAIN works very hard but it doesn’t feel like work to him at all. My good buddy Brad just emailed it to me this morning. All I could say is WOW!!!!

Thanks and let me hear your feedback, I’ll make sure to read every one.

Greg

Popularity: 40% [?]

Tags: greg clement, kids, Nick Vujicic, quit your job, Real Estate Investing

Why’s Your Dad Always At Home?

Apr 23, 2008 I Don't Like to Work

Why’s your dad always at home?

So the other day, I had a really interesting and important conversation with my 5 yr old Jonah.  He said “Daddy, why don’t you have a job?”  I wasn’t sure how to answer this.Was this now the time to explain what an entrepreneur is/means to my little one?

WOW this was a tough question to answer the right way.

I knew exactly where this question was coming from.  There’s a long standing joke in my neighborhood that I don’t really work, that I’ve got it all.  Simply by being home to put Manny, my 8 yr. old, on the bus at 9 am, and usually getting home early enough to be playing with the kids long before their Dads get home, I have developed this reputation for living the good life.

So Jonah told me about a conversation that he had with his little buddy, Rea.  If I could have been a fly on the wall… If you have kids then you know exactly what I’m talking about.

REA , “why doesn’t your Dad have a job?”
JONAH , “a job?  What’s that?”
REA , “he just plays all the time , he doesn’t work”
JONAH , “so”
REA , “so, my Dad has to work so we can eat food and live in a house”
JONAH , “well, we eat food and live in a house”
REA , “ok, well let’s play Spongebob, I’ll be Spongebob and you be Patrick”
JONAH , “OK”

Had to be something like that, or probably even better.

I then had a short discussion with Jonah about how you don’t HAVE to have a job IF you have a business or invest properly. It was simple and to the point.

ME , “Jonah if you have a business then you don’t have to have a job”
JONAH , “hmmm, why not?”
ME , “well, because your business makes you money whether you work or not.  You know how we go on vacations a lot. Well when we are gone my business is working for me so it’s the one with the job”
JONAH , “awesome, cool.  Dad I want to have a business too”
ME , “ok great then let’s start one, what would you want your business to do?”
JONAH , “make ice cream”
ME , “ok cool, let’s do it”

Now both of my boys understand that life is full of opportunity and possibilities.  I think two of the most important things we can do as parents is this:

1. Give our kids unlimited hope and encourage them to dream
2. Build their confidence and self esteem up any chance we get so they can achieve them

This is a side note: I make sure to instill a strong work ethic in my kids.  I have worked in some capacity since I was 14, and found NO substitute for one very important quality that’s found in all mega successful people initiative.

What I really love about real estate investing is that it gives us all the opportunity to build substantial wealth and huge cash flows.  This in turn gives you and I the opportunity to do what we’re really passionate about.  Whether it’s vacationing in exotic locations or backpacking across Germany.  Helping build a child’s self image or building a water treatment plant in a small Mexican village.

So really, it’s not that I don’t like work, it’s that when I’m doing what I love it never feels like it.

Popularity: 39% [?]

Tags: greg clement, kids, quit your job, real estate, Real Estate Investing, realeflow, stop working