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

I Don’t Like To Work – How It All Started

Apr 22, 2008 How It All Started, I Don't Like to Work

Maybe you’ve had an experience like this before…

I remember when I graduated and was actually excited about working.  Can you believe it?  Fresh out of college I was working for an insurance company and really looked forward to waking up and seeing what the new day would bring.  Earnest.  New.  Jacked up.  Then it happened.  After a few years it was A LOT less exciting than before.  I remember driving away from an appointment, a random meeting, and thinking “what the hell am I doing here?”

It was just one of many, but that thought as I was driving home for the day kept coming after me.  I couldn’t escape it.  I was even making decent money, but that thought was the seed of extinction for me and regular jobs.  It grew bigger and bigger. I finally told Kelly that I was done, and she like me wondered what we were going to do.

I wanted to do so much. I envisioned myself really making an impact in the world making a difference!  I knew I wasn’t doing it working for someone else, and worse yet , HATING every minute of it.  I admit, it took a few months for me to actually pull the trigger but I remember the day as if it happened just a few years ago wait a second , it did happen just a few years ago.

Most people know this, I have a stuttering problem, and on some days it’s worse than others.  Well this was one of those bad days.  Listen cause this is funny.

It was about 100 degrees on a super sweaty July day. I had to drive over a prospective clients house that I had never met before, and when I got there it was straight out of a scene from Beverly Hillbillies.  Actually a better description would be to imagine a movie where Larry the cable guy (git r done) is the most polished one in the room. I thought I’d fit right in, speech impediment and all.

As I got there Karen (her real name) invited me in and even though the place looked less than inviting I accepted , reluctantly.

I should have turned around, but actually this was THE appointment that cinched me getting into real estate.

I spent an hour trying to explain her options to her and when I wasn’t wiping away the sweat from my face, I was trying to get her 10 yr old bratty kid to stop shooting spitwads at me.  She seemed oblivious to the whole thing, but this kid was having fun at my expense and after she so eloquently declined my offer I packed up my briefcase and started to put my shoes on.  She disappeared. But he was still there , the little demon.  I wish I could say something nice about him, but I. can’t.  Note: the written stutter

As I’m lacing em’ up the kid walked up to me and said “you talk funny” and I said the ONLY thing that came to mind “no, you talk funny” and on we went back and forth all the way out to the car.  As I got in and drove away, I realized that:

1. I couldn’t stand doing this anymore
2. I needed to FEEL true freedom
3. I loved all God’s creatures except for one

I was at the end of their driveway and my briefcase started to ring. Now this would make sense IF my cell phone wasn’t squarely in my hand feverishly dialing Kelly’s number about to tell the mother of my two children THAT we were moving to Mexico.  But, it was, and so that meant something entirely different.

In my haste to get the hell out of dodge their cordless phone got shoved in my briefcase. In the approximately 2 minutes since I saw Karen, she had ordered a large pizza, and for obvious reasons (I’m sure she has a little non-payment history with the local pizzeria) they called back to confirm the order.

Now I don’t know what’s up with me and salt, but I’ve been known to dump it in friend’s and even non friend’s beers, sodas, waters, whatever when they get up to use the bathroom.  So what did I do?  You’re probably thinking something that had to do with salt. Unfortunately no¦ I just hung up. Drove back to the office, waited the customary 3 weeks and 6 days, popped the phone in a fed-ex package and thought often of little Jake and his impact on me, my family, and everyone around me.

WOW what a difference a kid can make!

That was the END for me, but what’s happened since then has been a whirlwind.  I’ve honestly thought of myself as a little bit of a slacker, and often looked for ways to get out of work.  So, I figured the best way for me to start this new blog off would be to tell the story of the day I really did stop working!

Tell me about the day you took the plunge OR the day you will!  If you’ve got a cool or funny comment or story just leave a response below¦

Thanks, Greg

Popularity: 52% [?]

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