In this motivational coaching video, Chris Prefontaine (Smart Real Estate Coach) urges viewers to stop lamenting past financial mistakes and instead use them as a catalyst for future success. He walks the audience through a concrete three‑year financial planning exercise: write down current total assets, set a bold three‑year target amount, and list every perceived obstacle between the two. He stresses that the target should be treated not as a vague goal but as a committed plan that must be broken down and acted upon, ideally with the help of a coach or a supportive community. Prefontaine shares personal anecdotes from his own real‑estate career (e.g., a failed subdivision in the early 2000s) to illustrate the cost of over‑confidence. He argues that most people fail because they keep their aspirations as “nice‑to‑have” goals rather than actionable plans, and he challenges viewers to imagine where they will be in three years if they do nothing. The video concludes with multiple calls to action directing viewers to Smart Real Estate Coach resources (free books, strategy calls, experience‑level programs) and specific URLs for getting started, applying, or scheduling a personal call.
Chapters
If you could personally unwind 2 or 3, let's say 2, 2 of the most stupid financial decisions that you've ever made, how much money would you have in the bank right now? I heard that on an audible recently as I was actually doing a walk-run, and I thought, man, that can be scary in hindsight, right? Literally. Like, I think back to the 2008 crash. I think back to Prior to that, it was like 1993. I'm dating myself, but we were building some homes and we were doing very, very well. And we were doing what we call spot building, one lot at a time. And instead we got cocky, a little bit too big for our britches, and we did a subdivision. Stupid, right? I could go on and on. I could do another book. Maybe I will someday, but I can think of a whole bunch. And it's a great gut check. And there's always great lessons built in because when people say to me on a show or whatever, personally, they'll go, what was your biggest lesson and what was your biggest mistake and what was the lesson from it? Right. So here's the key. I want to help you never, ever, ever say again, I wish I— you fill in the blank, or I should have— you fill in the blank. Tony Robbins always says, don't should all over yourself, right? So that's the key. All of us never going, I wish I, or I should have. Let's like use those past stupid financial decisions as a way, a path, a means to get better. That's all. So do this for yourself right now. Please, I suggest this. Take out a piece of paper. If you're driving, I guess you can visualize, but do it later, please. Take out a piece of paper and on the bottom left-hand side, put a big X and write, I am here now. Now, this is not— it doesn't matter where you are. And on that side, you're going to write down how much money is in the bank. Okay, now you could do this for almost anything, but just bear with me. I am here now and list the amount of money total you have in the bank, in investments, anywhere and everywhere. Okay. In the top right corner, I want you to write the amount of money. No holding yourself back here. No prejudging. No saying but, but, but, but. Just put that in the top right-hand corner and circle the amount of money. that you'd like to see in your bank in 3 years. Okay. 3 years. And put a star on that. So you have your— you are here now like a map. Like you go to a mall and it says you're here. And then this, you know, here's the store you're going to. Now, in the middle of those 2 things on your page, list all the things that are stopping you or perhaps that you perceive are stopping you. But either way, they're in your brain, right? Then so now you should have a— you should have your, your scary number. Now what's in the bank? I hope it's— I hope it's— I hope it gets you motivated to get to that top right number. And then you have all the things in the middle. Now, this is not brain science, guys. Get with me or get with someone on my team and let's tear that list apart and create a plan. Because after 34 years in real estate and 12 or so coaching with Smart Real Estate Coach, we have some predictability built in, I promise you. So why not you? Like, I know it seems such a simple exercise, but why not you? No one's smarter than you that you hear in our community. No one's luckier than you. They literally just took action on some items, and I'm sure they weren't comfortable, and I'm sure it was uneasy, and I'm sure it made them nervous. All these things are normal. That's why 97% of the population doesn't achieve all their goals and do whatever it takes every day, no matter how hard it is, and get up every day and do that stuff to accomplish their goals. They just don't. Here's an idea. Let's sort of let go of the idea of a goal you have, right? Like that number you just put down. Let's not call that a goal. Let's turn that into a plan, a plan that you'll commit to. See, there's a big difference, right? I don't know if you've ever thought about this. Think about this for a second with me. Did you, did you set some goals last year? Did you nail them all? 100% nailed them? I ask this a lot in rooms and I don't get hands staying up when I say, did you set them? Yep. Did you nail them? Nope. Like, literally not. There's usually one outlier, maybe every 3rd or 4th boot camp we do that says, yeah, I accomplished them all. Not sure where to get started? Go to smartrealestatecoach.com/getgoing for free books, strategy calls, and a whole bunch more. We're going to help you get going the wicked smart way. We've been after this for over a decade, doing exactly Exactly that, because it's a goal that would be nice someday versus a plan. So here we go. You have that, that number on the paper. Let's make that a plan that you commit to, a plan you go, all right, well, all right, I don't know how to get there. I would have already been there. So get the people, whether it's us or someone else, to help you rip apart all those blocks you have and get there. Commit to it. Say in 3 years I'm going to do it. Because here's the thing, guys, how fast did the last 3 years go by for you? We're here. We're sitting here in '25. I don't know when you're going to see this, but you're in '25, probably 2025. So in 2022, did you think it was going to go that fast? So here's a— here's the scarier question. Are you okay if you're sitting in the fall of '28 and you are at the exact same spot you're at right now? That's the question. That's it. So, so not a goal that'd be nice, not a goal that'd be cool if I hit it. A very definitive plan that you commit to. You actually have a chance. Let me wrap with this. You have a chance to decide for us. I was going to say change, but you have a chance to decide to change your future with every experience level we have in Smart Real Estate Coach. You really do. I'm biased, but if it's not us, go find someone. I would strongly suggest you either speak with me personally or just go apply for one of our experience levels. So let me go in reverse order. Go to smartrealestatecoach.com. Forward slash apply now. That's it. You'll see a couple of videos there. If you want to call with me first, like, I don't even know what you're talking about, Chris. I'm new to your channel. I'm clueless. Talk to me about these experience levels. Set up a call with me. You'll hit my personal calendar, smartrealestatecoach.com/chrisprecall, and we'll chat about it. We'll rip those items apart on your, on your thing, on your, on your paper you just did, and we'll get after it. All right, let's get after it. Let's take action, even if it feels a little uneasy right now, guys. And we'll see you next week on the next Motivational Monday. See you soon.
