What’s up?

Usually, the sky.

But not everybody agrees with that statement right now. Some (many?) insist the sky is falling — or at least that it’s about to.

“The sky is falling!” crowd can make a pretty good argument, too—especially those in the real estate and mortgage industry.

If you have no idea what we’re talking about, consider that the average conventional 30-year mortgage is hovering around 7.75% this week.

Yikes.

Pair that with the surprising fact that home values have hardly taken a dip — and on the contrary, in many markets, home prices have marginally increased!

Double yikes.

In an age of overstatements, this following line may be easily dismissed, but the data backs it up: in America, housing has never been this expensive.

The affordability crisis is real. At least as measured by traditional metrics.

So, what do we see at Abundant Journey when we look up to the sky?

Well, we’re not so calloused to deny that dark storm clouds have formed. The rains will be heavy, and there could be some flooding. We’re not excited about that.

But we also see some breaks in the clouds. And through those breaks, we see a blue sky that is firmly fixed in place.

In other words, we see opportunity.

These may be hard times economically. But they don’t have to be ‘bad times.’ At least not for you.

But it is time to get gritty. To think creatively. To operate outside of the traditional boxes.

As Travis Watts said in a recent podcast episode, now is the time to be opportunistic.

And that’s why Abundant Journey exists. We are here to help you identify the breaks in the clouds and take hold of the opportunities before you.

On Tap Today:

• Lessons from the Week

• Something You Should Try

Top Lessons from the Week

1. To partner or not to partner? That is the question.

   You ever have a meeting that you walk out of an hour later with your head spinning like a top?

   
   Yeah. We had one of those this week.

   
   We met with another successful self-storage owner (anyone noticing a theme to the folks we’re meeting with?) and asked him some questions about how to get into the self-storage space ourselves.

   
   The first thing he said to us was, “Well, you don’t want to do it together. You do not want to enter this space with a partner.”

   
   We glanced at each other as the awkward silence hung in the air.

   
   Despite his eccentricity, this owner made a fair point.

   
   Partnerships are often fraught with challenges.

   
   Who hasn’t heard stories of business owners getting screwed by their partner? There’s justification for the age-old advice not to mix friends and finances.

   
   But partnerships can also be incredibly powerful. In a healthy partnership, 1 + 1 = 3. Or more! Christian Osgood & Cody Davis of Multifamily Strategy are an excellent example of the power of partnership. You can hear their story on our latest podcast with Christian here.

   
   Partnerships should not be entered ill-advisedly, but they also shouldn’t be dismissed merely because of the potential for abuse.

   
   So, how do you form a good business partnership?

   
   Well, you approach it a lot like you approach getting married.

   • Is your potential business partner someone you know and trust?

   • Have they let you ask questions about the skeletons in their closet (we all have them — there’s no sense in pretending we don’t.)?

   • Do you have shared values?

   • Have you ever had a disagreement? If not, that’s a red flag.

   • If yes, how have you resolved conflict?

   • Do you believe you’ll go further together than apart?

   
   Those are the sorts of questions you ought to ask.

   
   Another question to ask is, are you someone worth partnering with? In other words, if you were sitting across the table from you, what hesitations would you have about partnering with yourself?

   
   It’s important to remember that a partnership is just as likely to fail because of your lack of self-awareness.
   

2. Dig your wells before you need the water.

   One of the themes from our ‘A Banker’s Perspective’ section of the newsletter has been that banks are tightening up when it comes to lending.

   
   The nature of banks is to be bearish. They have a lot of assets to protect. And they’ve been burned in the past on the occasions they’ve played too fast and loose with lending. As such, it’s no surprise that most banks are preparing for recession and economic hard times.

   
   One consequence of their gloom-and-doom perspective is that banks are getting very specific about who they are willing to lend to and what kind of capital projects they will get behind. I don’t see this tendency changing any time in the near future. If anything, securing bank debt will only become more challenging over the next several months.

   
   So, what’s the takeaway?

   
   If you foresee needing capital in the near future, do everything you can to secure it now. Don’t wait until it’s too late.

   
   Dig your wells before you need the water.

   
   Whether you’re a business owner and would benefit from having a line of credit sustain you through a ‘rainy day’ (or rainy week), or you’re an individual who wants to start investing or building a business — it’s best to make moves and secure the financing now.

   
   But ‘digging your wells’ isn’t only applicable to securing bank debt. It also applies to the everyday activities that set you up for future growth.

   
   In business and life, it’s easy to get caught up only playing defense with finances and hedging against risk. But, as George Washington once said, “Sometimes the best defense is a good offense.”

   
   In other words, don’t just think about what you need to sustain your current level of success. Consider just as much what you need to do to grow. Then, get to work digging those wells so that you can draw upon them to propel you to greater success and sustainability in the future.
   

3. You Must Break the Bank.
   Yia Vang is one of my favorite people on earth.
   
   Don’t know Yia? Well, hang tight. In a couple weeks, we’ll release the episode we recorded with him a few days ago. It’s been one of our favorite conversations so far! Which is saying a lot, as we’ve had so many amazing conversations with our guests.

   
   One of the things Yia talked about that I cannot get out of my head is the inevitable necessity we all have to break the bank.

   
   What does that mean?
   
   Well, Yia talked about how people were making deposits into him his whole life. They gave him opportunities. Taught him lessons. Imparted wisdom and practical skills. He had many mentors, coaches, friends, and—most of all—his parents, who believed in who he was and his potential to make a difference in the world.

   
   Viewing his life as a piggy bank that was overflowing with the affirmations of others, Yia realized that the best way to honor all their investment was to break the break wide open and bet it all on himself.
   
   The funny thing is, though, he wasn’t really betting ‘on himself.’ He was betting on the validity of all the potential his mentors, friends, and family called forth in him.

   
   And it’s paid off for him, big time. But to hear about that, you’ll have to listen to the episode.
   
   For now, consider all the deposits people have made into you. Consider your accomplishments. Think about the unique skills and traits others have pointed out in you. And, if you haven’t already, seriously consider what it would look like to break open the bank and bet all the investments others have made on yourself in living up to the full potential that others have affirmed in you.

   
   If you feel like you aren’t achieving your life’s full potential, it may be time to break open the bank.

Something You Should Try

Ever tried cold calling?

If not, you should. Especially if the idea of cold calling makes you uncomfortable.

Why?

One, it’s good to operate outside of your comfort zone. Most people don’t get willingly uncomfortable. Most people won’t. And the best opportunities are generally found outside the zones where ‘most people’ operate.

Two, cold calling has a high rejection rate at almost no cost. Rejection is not fun. But being familiar with and unfazed by rejection is one of the best skills you can cultivate as an entrepreneur and investor. Cold calling helps you build your reps of being rejected quickly. And all it costs is a bit of your time . . . and pride.

Third, cold calling will grow your network and open up opportunities you would otherwise never have. While the rejection rate in cold calling is high, it’s not 100%. You will have some good conversations with people. Profitable conversations even.

Take it from us: we’ve had three meetings this past week with self-storage owners and operators simply because we picked up the phone and asked for the meeting. All three of those meetings were incredibly valuable and wouldn’t have happened if we never dialed the phone.

So, who do you cold call?

That’s the beauty of it. You can call almost anyone.

Want to learn about real estate investing? Cold call one of the guests we’ve had on the podcast. Or go onto BiggerPockets.com and cold call the real estate brokers on there and ask them to give you a few minutes of their time to answer some questions about getting started as a new investor.

Want to learn about starting a business? Find a few business owners doing what you want to be doing, and give them a ring. Ask them if they’d be open to meeting to talk about how you can get started.

Not everyone will be interested or willing to help you. But some folks will. But to find those potential mentors first requires that you pick up the phone and make the cold call.

Give it a try.

That’s all for now, folks.

Thanks for coming along!

If you’re benefitting from anything we’re doing, there are a few ways you can let us know! Consider any of these options:

1. Replying here with any feedback you have for us!

2. Subscribing and leaving an honest review of The Abundant Journey Podcast on your podcast player of choice.

3. Forwarding this email to a friend and encouraging them to subscribe.

More content is on the way!

In the meantime, you can keep up with all the latest by visiting AbundantJourney.net.

Onward & Upward, Friends,

Nick & Nick

PS:

Are you wondering who we are and what we’re up to? Maybe this will help:

Founded by Nick ‘James’ Zalk and Nick Aufenkamp earlier this year, Abundant Journey is a community of active and aspiring entrepreneurs who desire to make the world a better place through business ownership and strategic investments.

The most active part of our community is The Abundant Journey Podcast, a weekly show featuring incredible stories of successful individuals from diverse backgrounds and industries. By sharing their stories, we aim to inspire you to take massive action and live with purpose, meaning, and abundance.

In short, if you think the world is improved by people starting businesses and investing in projects they're passionate about, you’re going to love it here!

So, no matter where you’re at in the process, we invite you to join us on this Abundant Journey.