What’s good, y’all?

It’s another lovely Thursday, and we’re back with the latest edition of the Abundant Journey Newsletter!

We’d originally intended to title this post “This Is Exponential Growth.”

It was a tongue-in-cheek subject line. Last week, we sent out Newsletter #1. And this very moment, you’re experiencing Newsletter #2. Meaning we’ve officially doubled the number of newsletters we’ve sent out. Exponential growth, right?!

Nope. Not right.

Fortunately, we double-checked before hitting ‘Publish’ and discovered one to the power of two is still . . . one.

On Tap Today:

• Three Lessons from the Week

• A Banker’s Perspective

• Recommended Reading

• Featured Episode from the Pod

• Someone You Ought to Know

Top Three Lessons from the Week

1. If you’re gonna shoot, you better follow through.

   You’ve heard of Damian Lillard, right?
   
   He has been the crown jewel of the Portland Trail Blazers for over a decade. For good reason, too. The guy is the best shooter the NBA has ever seen. 
   
   *We said what we said, so save your “Well, akkshuuuallllys. . .” for a Golden State fan!
   
   But seriously, watch a couple of Lillard’s logo shots and pay special attention to his body after the ball leaves his hand. The guy is laser-focused all the way through his shot. It’s a thing of beauty.

   
   No matter the sport, one thing that separates great players from average ones is their follow through. They commit to their shot, swing, or throw and follow it all the way through until the play is complete.
   
   So what’s this got to do with entrepreneurs, investors, and those desiring to grow in financial freedom? That’s who this newsletter is for, right?

   
   Right. Hang with us.
   
   Be honest with yourself. When it comes to your plans for your business or investing goals, how’s your follow through? Do you do what you say you’re going to do? Or, like so many others, do you spout off every half-baked idea that pops into your head for what you could do but rarely back it up with action?

   
   Dreaming is a good thing. Having ideas and drawing up business plans to test those thoughts is good. But be careful how often you share those ideas with others — not because you fear they’ll steal them, but because you ultimately want them to take you seriously when you do need their support.

   
   

   It’s like this. Imagine you’re at a basketball game and at half-time they pull a random dude from the stands, put him at half-court, and have him chuck balls at the basket for 15 seconds, promising that if he sinks just one he’ll win a $10,000 prize. Some people in the stands are cheering, but no one truly believes he can drain a half-court shot. If he does make it, everyone will attribute it to luck.

   Contrast that with a true player like Lillard. When he lines up to shoot—even from half-court—defenders try to block him, and fans hold their breath because the expectation is that this guy can consistently make those shots!

   
   You want people to regard you and your ideas like Lillard, not the half-time amateur. You want and need to be taken seriously.
   
   For that to happen, you must be selective about the ideas you share and pursue. Then, when you have told people what you will do, be committed to doing it. Take ‘your shot’ with poise and confidence like a pro. And, most importantly, follow through.

   
   Taking action on your ideas and following through makes you the kind of person that other successful people want to get behind and invest in. They won’t just cheer for you, they’ll even wear your jersey.
   
   In a wishy-washy world saturated with talk but severely lacking in action, set yourself apart and be someone who follows through.
   

2. You don’t lose money on the deals you don’t do.

   One essential ingredient to success is making money. You already knew that, though.

   
   The other essential ingredient to success is not losing money.

   
   While the principle of ‘not losing money’ seems equally apparent as the need to make money, it’s an under-appreciated value today. We hear the stories of tech start-ups that raise beaucoup amounts of money but operate at even more ridiculous losses.

   
   We were reminded of the importance of not losing money as we discussed a business we are considering purchasing with another experienced business owner & mentor. He wisely said, “You don’t lose money on the deals you don’t do.”
   
   In other words, while there’s a lot of upside to the opportunity we are considering, there’s also some significant downside and risk. The best way to guard against that downside and not lose money is to walk away from the deal.

   
   Surely, you feel the tension here. We feel it, too. To make money, you have to go through with some deals. And every deal has some inherent level of risk.
   
   The point of our mentor’s advice is not to say ‘no’ to every deal. Instead, it’s to remember that walking away from a deal is always one of the options. And if the deal or opportunity is too rife with risk, the best way to not lose money is not to do the deal.
   

3. Often, ‘believable’ is better than ‘unbelievable.’

   Everyone loves to share when they find an unbelievable deal.

   • Jeff next door got his new Chevy truck for $15,000 below MSRP.

   • Cindy saved $2,000 on her new living room furniture set.

   • I saved $3 this week on my favorite bag of chili-lime-flavored chips at Costco. Half-price! I was stoked.

   
   But what happens when you see a house you were interested in get a price drop of $100,000? If you’re like most people, you get skeptical. You assume something must be wrong with the home. The deal seems too good to be true.

   And we all know the adage, “If a deal seems too good to be true, it probably is.”

   
   This is something to keep in mind as you price your products or services. Create deals that are great value for your customers, but avoid creating an offer that’s too unbelievable.
   
   As a practical example of this, when I worked for Comcast selling TV & internet packages, it was easier for me to get someone to sign up for the service when I showed them I could save them $20-$30/month than it was if I showed them I could save them $90-$100/month.
   
   The psychology of this is a bit crazy, but people trusted my offer and ability to save them $20-$30/month because it seemed more likely—more believable!—than when I told them I could save them much more. Whenever I told someone I could save them $100/month, they immediately got skeptical and assumed there was some catch, so much so that most people would psyche themselves out of signing up for a service that could save them significantly more money.

   
   The point: Find that sweet spot in your offers to give customers great value, not necessarily an ‘unbelievable’ deal.

A Banker’s Perspective: Tips to Grow Your Business

Discussing people’s sentiments on the market with my banker colleagues and clients who own businesses has been fascinating.

In general, there is a lot of fear and uncertainty. Accordingly, many banks are tightening up the requirements for lending. Some of the big banks have said they’re altogether unwilling to lend right now. Many local banks are also being very conservative in lending in favor of saving their money on hand for their depositors.

Speaking of deposits, every bank is craving new deposits right now!

As such, this week’s tip is to take advantage of the unique market conditions. It’s easy to hear the noise, get scared, and paralyze yourself from doing anything. When you do this, you miss out on opportunities like almost everyone else.

Here are three things you can do right now:

1. Build relationships with multiple banks.
   In the event your primary bank decides not to lend any more money, be sure you have other banks you can turn to quickly. A wise banker told me every business worth talking to has three bankers in their back pocket!
   

2. If you have some money in savings and haven’t looked at deposit options, you need to.
   Several banks are offering 3-5% interest rates and CDs with even better rates. Use this time to gain interest on your deposits.

3. Don’t neglect the financial health of your company.
   Next week, I’ll launch my second podcast that dives head-first into understanding your company's health from a financial perspective. In times of uncertainty, you must be laser-focused on your financials, sales, cutting costs, etc. A wait-and-see approach never works.

Recommended Reading: How To Inhabit Time by James K.A. Smith

We built Abundant Journey not merely in hopes of you achieving abundant wealth but to help you live an abundant life. After all, we all know people who are flush with cash but empty in their souls.

So, this week’s book recommendation, How To Inhabit Time by James K.A. Smith, speaks to the time-based nature of our lives. Rich or poor, black or white, old or young, we are all at the mercy of the seconds, minutes, and hours steadily ticking on. So, how do you make the most of your time on earth? How do you make sense of the losses, sufferings, and disappointments of your past? How do you redeem the time that feels wasted? How do you advance into the future with a cohesive vision and hope?

Smith, a Professor of Philosophy at Calvin University, speaks to these questions from a profoundly human perspective. He is not writing from an ivory tower, postulating lofty theories with little practical effect. Instead, he writes from a boots-on-the-ground perspective, processing through the scars of his childhood, making sense of the fleeting nature of the present, and how to look ahead to the future with sobriety and hope.

Here are a few stand-out quotes intended to encourage you:

You can pick up a copy of How To Inhabit Time here.

(Note: This is an affiliate link, so you support us when ordering through the link above.)

Featured Pod

This week, The Abundant Journey Podcast featured Eric Beise.

Eric was the friend who first introduced Nick A. to the world of real estate investing. Eric paints a beautiful picture of the quality of life afforded by developing a real estate portfolio that brings in passive income every month. He’s also a remarkable realtor, businessman, and a bit of an old soul with tons of wisdom to share.

We loved our conversation with Eric and, if you haven’t already, we highly recommend you give the episode a listen!

Also, Nick James’s new daily show, The Entrepreneur’s Journey, is set to launch this week! Look for the link in next week’s newsletter, or search The Entrepreneur’s Journey in your podcast platform of choice!

Someone You Ought to Know

Sticking with the theme of great real estate connections, if you don’t know Tony Clark, you really ought to — especially if you’re a real estate agent seeking to grow your business.

In short, Tony is awesome.

Let us elaborate:

1. He is a master in the art of building systems and processes. This is essential for any business owner if they hope to scale and grow.

2. He has a great approach to taking risks and facing your fears. He’s learned to take calculated action, even if the step forward seems scary.

3. He’s obsessed with helping others reach their goals. We have personally experienced Tony’s commitment to helping others, and he was a great guest on our podcast, which you can listen to here.

Reach out to him, talk business, and if you’re a realtor who needs better systems and help to grow, check out Tony’s incredible AgentOS service here.

What’s Next?

Thanks for coming on this journey with us! We hope you found at least one thing that made this email worth opening.

If that is the case, we ask that you consider:

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

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

3. Replying here with any feedback you have for us.

We’re excited about and grateful for the community forming here—and we love that you’re a part of it!

More content is cooking!

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 earlier this year by Nick ‘James’ Zalk and Nick Aufenkamp, Abundant Journey is a rapidly expanding online community that helps you obtain financial freedom while making the world a better place through entrepreneurship and investing.

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

In short, if you think the world is made better by people starting businesses and investing in projects they're passionate about, you’re going to fit in great here!

Better yet, if you’re in the dreaming phase and feel you have untapped potential for what you can offer the world, Abundant Journey is here to help you take the next steps in realizing the life of your dreams.

Okay. Admittedly, that last line felt a bit over the top. But it is true. We exist to help you dream bigger dreams, battle limiting beliefs, and live an abundance-filled life. The process is a journey, though.

You could even call it an Abundant Journey.