Lessons From My Younger Self
Looking back on 2021 and all that came with it
Let’s go back…. a few weeks.
Back in December 2021 I really did not want to reflect on the past year. Everyone around me was reflecting on social and it was overwhelming (are you one of those end of year social media reflection posters?). At the time I felt disappointed in myself. I was disappointed because I didn’t invest in another real estate property.
At the beginning of the year I had set a bunch of goals for myself and I really wanted to achieve them. Among those goals was to invest in a cash flowing real estate investment whether it was a syndication or another property. I didn’t make it happen. My success was tied to this one goal (I know insane!).
My disappointment in not achieving that one goal blocked me from realizing what other successes and achievements I did have. This disappointment also highlighted a major flaw of mine from the beginning of the year: goal setting.
Now that January has started I can look back and clearly see some of the progress that I did make in the past year. I’m proud of myself for that.
Lessons Learned and Things Accomplished:
Finished & successfully rented out the basement apartment - this was no small feat, it took almost all year to finish but we did it! Now it feels like a blur. We successfully reduced our cost of living.
Master one strategy and move on to the next - this past year I had analysis paralysis, I started looking into short term rentals, syndication, long term rentals and started investigating out-of-state markets. I realized that I needed to have a heart to heart with myself and pick one. Being distracted by shiny object syndrome would not help me here.
Successfully completed a cash out refinance on my condo - this is huge because this enables me to invest in the next deal a lot quicker than racking up a bunch of savings. I can use the equity from my condo and invest in the next thing. If you are considering investing in real estate I highly recommend you take some time to learn the BRRRR method.
Realized I don’t need to do everything all at once - like I said earlier I came up with a bunch of different goals at the beginning of the year and realized I had bitten off more than I can chew. My list of goals this year is a lot smaller and more focused. I know now that some goals are better served over a longer period of time. One such goal being optimal portfolio diversification (more on that soon).
Educated myself on Syndication (group investing) - this will allow me to do a lot more passive real estate investing in the future.
Funded my Roth IRA - I made the leap and talked to some financial advisors (I’ll share more about this in the future). They pointed out that I’m not saving enough for retirement via stocks & bonds. So I started to make strides to improve that. I fully funded my Roth IRA with my cash out refinance money. Here we come compound growth!
New job… who dis? That is the other big news. I will be starting a new job at a new company in the New Year (do you think I used the word “new” enough there?). I accepted the offer in 2021 and will start in 2022. This is going to be the biggest change for me and I’m beyond excited for it. P.S. Shout out to my network of friends who supported this journey - you know who you are.
I guess you could say I accomplished a good amount this past year without realizing it at first. In the moment we can all feel a level of disappointment. When we take a step back and look past the bad we can see the good. I hope you are proud of your year and all that you accomplished. I know you worked hard for it too. Let me know in the comments what achievements or lessons you are most proud of!
Until Next Time,
In Pursuit of Financial Freedom