Are You Too Comfortable?
I had a long conversation with a potential coaching client yesterday. We walked through the usual stuff about where they are now, how they got there, experiences, wins, losses, etc.
Then we started exploring to figure out what is holding them back.
Comfort.
Comfort?
Yep, comfort. They are very comfortable and satisfied with their life. They have no consumer debt, a few rental properties with positive cash flow, some stocks and plenty of time to adjust when needed. They a good job with regualr 401K contributions and reserves set aside for emergencies; all is pretty much right with the world. Except they think they need to be investing more.
When I realized this, I didn't dig further into planning for retirement or illness or anything like that.
Why? They already know they need to prepare more and they are taking some steps. But, our call was about their real estate investing and right now they are too comfortable where they are to take the next step.
In the past, when this person purchased rentals the economy was much better and they had a larger reserve of ready cash than they do now. They still have a reserve, but not enough to be comfortable buying more rentals.
After talking about it some more, I left them with a few tasks.
I told him to sit down with his wife and figure out how much more cash they needed to feel comfortable adding just one more rental property to their portfolio.
I also asked him to sit down with his wife and talk about whether they wanted to enjoy this current comfort zone or grow out of it to the next comfort zone. That is not a trick question to explore. It takes work to expand anything and the payback is not immediate. Success demands a pre-payment of effort, time and money.
Then I said, let's circle back around in a few days and see where you are. If he and his wife decide they are ready to grow beyond their current comfort zone, we can put a plan in place to do just that. Methodically, carefully and without sacrificing the security they have built to this point.
So, if you are having trouble advancing in your investing, stop and ask yourself if you are just too darn comfortable where you are to take the next step.