Imagine standing at the starting line of the New York City Marathon, feeling the excitement and anticipation. Now, picture the beginning of your real estate investment journey with the same mix of emotions. What if I told you that running a marathon and building a real estate business are strikingly similar? Both require a firm decision, careful preparation, and unwavering perseverance.
In this blog post, I’ll share my experience running the New York City Marathon and the lessons it taught me about real estate investing. You’ll see how the journey of a marathon runner mirrors that of a real estate investor, offering insights into resilience, planning, and long-term success. Ready to see your real estate journey in a new light? Let’s dive in.
How is Running a Real Estate Business Like Running a Marathon?
I recently had the opportunity to run the New York City Marathon. It is 26.2 miles across five boroughs of New York City. Now, I’ve never visited New York City before, so that was a fun part about it. My family was able to come with me—my five-year-old and my seven-year-old who you met in an earlier podcast were able to come with me, my mother-in-law, my wife. It was just a really good time getting to know the famous city of the world where so many movies are based, so many famous people are from, and so many great contributors to the real estate space are from. We thoroughly enjoyed our time in New York City.
But while I was running this 26.2-mile race, I thought a lot about my real estate business and how it is very similar to a marathon.
What is the Decision to Embark on the Journey Like?
One of the very first things that I think about when I compare my real estate business to a marathon is the decision. At some point, there has to be a commitment to embark on the journey that is a marathon. You might hear your friends talking about running a marathon. You might see advertising for the marathon. You might be in your city and see people running marathons and think that looks like something you want to do. At some point, you have to decide that that’s something you want to do.
Similarly, in real estate, you might hear people talking about investing in real estate. You might know somebody that invests in real estate, and people might tell you it’s a great idea for you to invest in real estate. But at some point, you have to decide for yourself to invest in real estate. Until you make that decision, you might look at people who invest in real estate and think they are crazy. Why would they want to deal with tenants, toilets, construction, and remodels? But just like running a marathon, until you become a part of the small minority of people that have done it, it’ll be hard for you to know exactly why we do it. It’s like getting a feeling or a rush that you don’t know until you experience it.
How Do You Prepare for the Race?
After making the decision, you have to prepare to run the race. When I was preparing to run the New York Marathon, I had to establish a training plan. You might decide that you’re going to run on certain days every week, run a certain distance, and increase your training as things get easier for you. The key for marathon training is preparing your body and mind for the long distance you have to go. That training can last anywhere from three to six months, and if you’re thoroughly trained, you can be assured that on race day, your body will be prepared to complete the race.
Real estate investing is very similar. You have to have a plan. You may develop a plan that fits you, allows you to live the lifestyle you want, make more income, or spend more time with your family. You may develop a plan that allows you to go further as you buy more real estate or decide you have enough and want to scale back. Those adjustments to your real estate investing business are very similar to the adjustments a marathon runner may make as they train and prepare. When you get this education and create this plan, you’re training your mind for what you are about to do. You want to be able to say that you are a real estate investor and that you can survive the test of time.
What Happens When the Race Starts?
The race has started, and you made the decision after you prepared. The beginning of the race is something very interesting. You’re excited. All of the others around you are excited. You feel you can do anything and that you made a great decision to get started. You may have some early successes where you run your first mile in record time or your third mile in record time. That feeling of excitement as you get started is very similar to how it is when you get started in your real estate investing business. You might buy the first property and have a home run or encounter some resistance, push through it, and get very excited.
How Do You Handle Resistance?
Next comes the resistance. When you’re running a marathon, there will be a point where your body and mind start to doubt why you’re out there or whether you can complete the task. Similarly, there are times in our real estate businesses where we doubt whether we did the right thing. It becomes a challenge, and we have to push through. This makes the difference between people who finish the marathon and those who are successful in their real estate business.
I encountered a guy who saw me struggling with a task in my real estate business. He told me I had a couple of choices. The first choice was to decide the task was too difficult and turn back. But he said that was not something you see with successful real estate investors. The most important thing was to find a way to make it work. When you encounter a problem, you don’t say the problem is too big for you to solve. You think about all the ways you could solve the problem.
What is the Success Line?
Should you decide to push through these challenges and figure out ways to solve problems, there is a line. We are not going to call it a finish line. We will call it a success line. There is a line that you reach where you’re able to look back and say, “Wow, I have gone 26.2 miles. Look at all the challenges I encountered, the emotions I experienced, and the success I have had.” You can see how far you have come and how much your mind and view of the world have changed.
It’s not uncommon for people who run marathons towards the end to start planning their next marathon. This is what we call the law of the first win. When you win once, you want to win again. Championship athletes are not often satisfied with just one championship. The same is true when investing in real estate. There is a line where after you push through the resistance and execute your plan, you’re not necessarily finished but able to look and say, “Look at how far I have come.” Maybe you thought making $500 a month was great, and now you’re making $1000 a month. Maybe you thought owning a few rentals was great, and now you own dozens.
How Do You Inspire Others?
Others look at what you have done as an extreme example of what you can inspire in them. People may not want to run a marathon, but they see the work of preparation, the decision you made, and the success you had and could apply that to the difficult areas of their life. You become an example of the elite and the accomplished, inspiring hope in others with your accomplishment.
As you build out your real estate investing business, you will find more financial freedom and a greater ability to control your lifestyle. Others seeking the same thing will see you as a resource to learn, grow, and develop their own plan. It is our responsibility as investors to network with these individuals, reach back, and help others accomplish their goals. It’s the cycle of marathoners who help others training for their marathon to reach back. It’s the same cycle we should replicate in our real estate businesses.
What is the Final Takeaway?
How is real estate investing like running a marathon? It is exactly like running a marathon. We will sweat, we may cry, we may experience tremendous bouts of success, and we may help others and our communities. I’d love to be a part of the start of your marathon, so please reach out to me at grabthemapllc.com or email me at [email protected]. This is where we don’t just look at it; we grab the map.
Follow and subscribe to Grab The Map: