How Important Is Taking Action To Your Financial Success?

Three. Hey, it's Mark Pinolski, the land geek with your favorite niche real estate website, www.thelandgeek.com. and today's guest is pretty cool. Like one of the cooler people we're gonna meet because we're just so geeky. But before we talk to our super cool guest, I'd be remiss if I didn't properly introduce my co host. You know him, you love them. Scott Todd from Scott todd.net landmodo.com if you're not automating your Craigslist and your Facebook postings. Postingdomination.com TheLandGeek Learn anything about anything. Investor ninjas.com Scott Todd how are you, Mark? I'm great.

How are you?

I'm not good, man. I'm not cool. I don't like talking to people who are cool and have done all these cool things. I'm intimidated, but I'm going to get over it because I'm professional.

I think you've done some pretty cool things.

What have I done that's like, you know, what have I owned a restaurant in Spain? No, I haven't.

But our guest has owned. Yeah. And that's one of the, one of the things we'll talk about no longer own.

So Brian Orr is our guest. He, he is many things in life. He's a dj, a real estate investor. He's a family man. He's involved in nonprofit work. He's traveled around the world. He is cool. Brian Orr, welcome to the podcast. You've got a lot going on, man.

I appreciate that. Thank you so much for having me.

Let's just rewind the tape and kind of talk to us about how you became the Twist Life. Brian Orr versus the Brian or you were born is sure.

So I started DJing in the mid-90s and my DJ moniker was DJ Twist. It sort of came to define my life more so than I realized in just the way that I approach, you know, my day to day and the way that I approach obstacles and, and whatever adventures life brings me. And I've been DJ Twist for 20 some odd years. And the term the Twist life actually came about from a couple of friends who once hashtagging became popular, they started, you know, whether they were drinking champagne in the Hamptons or partying on a boat somewhere, and they'd be like, oh, we're living the twist life. Hashtag twist life because of some of the experiences that I've had as a dj. So that's where that term even came about. And it's actually really expressed the way that I do live my life on.

A day to day. Very cool, very cool. So what are you doing currently then?

So currently I am operating, I guess, two businesses. One is the Twist Life. I've actually made a business out of that, which is going to manifest itself through a podcast that I'm releasing next month. And secondly, I have a company called Keaton Capital, which is a multifamily investment company. And beyond that, it's just living family. I'm on two nonprofit boards and just working and serving people in whatever capacity I can.

Very cool, very cool. Scott. Todd, what are your thoughts?

All right, man. So how do you transition from where you were and the life that you had into this whole other world of like real estate investing? I'm not like. I mean, everybody does it, right? Like, everybody who is a real estate investor probably has transitioned somehow. What's the catalyst that gets you to convert and then like, where is that taking you? Sure.

So it wasn't as direct lights on, lights off type of conversion. I'm actually still DJing. I started real estate investing about four years ago. But investing in general, I've been doing since the early 2000s. I traded or I was at. I had my Series 7. I was a securities broker. I worked at Neuberger, which was a subsidiary of Lehman Brothers before the crash. And I've done a million other things aside from DJing throughout those years. And investing was always something that I knew was very important. Unfortunately, I was never very good at it. I was not good at trying to play the market. I was not very good at picking hospitality ventures to invest in, as you mentioned earlier about the Spain thing. And when I discovered real estate that, I just found something that I. That I truly love, that I was actually good at.

And.

I just dove head over heels into real estate investing. So it's not as much a lights on, lights off kind of thing. It's just sort of like one portion of the day.

Very cool, very cool. So, Brian, if you were gonna give somebody some advice about just making this transition, what advice would you give them?

If you're speaking about the transition from. In what capacity? From like the nightlife to the.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, like, yeah, exactly. I mean, you know, maybe not everyone's gonna be living as dramatic a lifestyle as what you were doing with nightlife, but they might have a 9 to 5 and they want to start getting into multifamily. They want to start doing these bigger deals. What would be your advice?

Well, first, I would say certainly don't think that it is. I'm going to do this one day and I'm going to do this the next day. There definitely is a transition period. As I mentioned, I'm still DJing that there's still income from that source. If you're going to start, if you have a 9 to 5 and you're going to, and you want to become a full time real estate investor, do it. Start at night, do your 9 to 5. Don't leave your job that's paying you, that's paying your bills and what do it and do it the best you can. Like you should do everything. But at night now you start working on your real estate career, whether it be starting with meetups, meeting other potential investors, doing your research. I actually got an online certification from Cornell in commercial real estate that I did. You know, in the meantime, I did it on Sunday mornings actually, before the kids woke up. You know, do do that and then start diving into real estate. And it's only once you can actually replace your income that I would ever suggest leaving your 9 to 5. I certainly wouldn't suggest doing a cold turkey because even if your first deal is a magic deal, you're going to be in for a long road ahead. And it would be very risky to just say, you know, from A to B like that.

Scott Ty, what do you think of that advice?

Well, you know, I think the thing is, is that you do. Like you can't, I mean you shouldn't just jump unless you have some mechanism to support your family. I don't think it's wise to just jump. And I think that you got to kind of transition. One of the things I would tell you though is like, whatever you're going to go do, like take, take action to go do it right. You know, like, do you have to go to court now and get a degree or certification? You don't, right? Like that's, that's a path you can go down. But I think the most important thing is that you're just taking action, moving your feet and getting what you want and then grabbing the knowledge that you can as you go down. I think that a lot of times what happens to people is that they, that they, that they don't take action because they feel like, well, I don't have all of the information that I need, I need more information, I need more education, I need this degree, I need this certificate. And the reality is that what you need is you need to move your feet and go do a deal. The minute you do a deal, everything changes. Like Just do the deal, buy something or sell something, and then life changes all of a sudden. And you know what, Mark? It's the same thing that we got this phrase from Grant Cardone. You and I will throw it back and forth to each other. New problems. Go make new problems in your life, man. The more problems you're making, the bigger you're growing. You changing life up. Go make some new problems. Go figure out some new problem to solve. You'll survive.

Yeah, I completely agree with that in the sense of taking action steps 100%. And pursuing that certificate at Cornell was just one of the steps that I took. And it was three years into my investing journey that I decided to take that step. And you're 100% accurate with just taking action. And even if it's at night, on the weekends, in the morning, two in the morning, whatever it is, take the action and do it deliberately and move forward 100%.

So since you have branded yourself to twist life, what is your favorite twist life story that you could share?

Oh, that I could share?

That you can share. In case the kids are listening.

What is your rating on your podcast channel for explicit man, my favorite story. So I've had an incredibly, you know, lucky and blessed and fortunate journey. I've done a lot of different things. I've been on, you know, TV and I've gotten to travel, and a lot of benefits have come from my DJ life. Let me think.

Oh, man.

Probably the best. Here's an interesting story. So I was actually on. Do you know Kelly Ripa, know the morning show Live with. So I was featured. They had one week where they featured DJs, five DJs, one each week. And I was the fifth DJ on Friday. And I had just. I was pursuing a sponsorship from DJ software, and they. In order to secure that sponsorship, I had to agree to use that software on television that day.

Well.

I did not take all the steps needed to prepare to learn that software before going on national television in front of 3 million people. I thought, you know, I thought it was a slam dunk. Right. Well, without getting too technical, one of the devices that you use to convert the digital media onto your turntables is this interface. And it was very similar to the interface of the program that I was currently using. What I didn't realize, though, was that interface required an AC adapter, an actual plug into the wall. The one that I was currently using was powered by usb. I have my computer. I have usb. No problem. Well, when I got to the show, I'm in the Studio. It's about, I don't know, 18 minutes before the show. And I don't have a power source for my new technology before going on national television, so I had absolutely no way to produce music. Luckily for me, I had a team with me, and I can probably pull a million lessons out of this in terms of being prepared, in terms of surrounding yourself with good people and all of that. But I had a team with me where one was able to actually shoot back to my house and get the power adapter, get back to the studio in time to plug it in. And I actually plugged in and powered up less than a minute before going on air so that, you know, and it worked. And it worked, and I was able to. And I made it through the show, and nobody knew the difference. Aside from that, I was probably sweating profusely. But, you know, that. That. That's always been an interesting story that I draw a lot of different lessons from.

That's. That's really crazy. So did being on national television change your life in any way?

No, no, except that it just. It gave me another story to talk about, and it was fun. I got a little bit of social exposure from it, you know, a little. A few more feeds, you know, a few more social engagement and that sort of thing, but in the sense of. I don't know. So, you know, that's an interesting question, if you unpack it, because I kind of feel like every experience that you have in your life does change you in some way or another. So if we talk about, like I mentioned, the lessons that I learned from that, that changed me tremendously. If we're talking about the exposure that I got directly from being on television, I don't think that it was a major catalyst in anything that happened forward, but certainly the experience did.

Yeah, yeah. I mean, I often talk to people, or I might even dream about one day getting on the Today show. And if that happens, my whole life could change, and my book would become this national bestseller. And I don't think that's the case. I think that's a fantasy. And so that's really why I asked a question where I think that the outlook typically in business is, you know, serve your tribe and don't think that national exposure is going to change anything because that's not your tribe.

Yeah, I would agree with that. I would agree with that. I would say to your position, like, one of the things that I didn't do following the episode was leverage it in a way that I probably could have. So when you have Opportunities to do big things like that, or you get national exposure or even local exposure. Any exposure, really. There's a whole system that you can put in place that actually where you leverage the opportunity to. Directly to your tribe. For example, how do you provide value to them based on your most recent experience? And I think that that was something that I didn't execute as well as I could have. And if I did, that perhaps would have. Would have helped a little more directly, but it would have still been something that I would have to do. It's not anything magical that happens just because you happen to be on this show or, or that show.

Got it. Scott, Todd, any thoughts?

You know, I think that, I think that a lot of times we do put emphasis on things that we, we. We have this bigger picture, right? Like, we think of like the Oprah's Book Club. I'm gonna go on Oprah and she's gonna change my life. And well, Oprah might, you know, if Oprah's dedicated show to you or if Oprah's throwing all her power behind you, but the mere, like, blip of, of something on a radar, whether it's making it onto the Today show or something, I think you get the blip. But then I think that it's the 15 minutes of fame, right? Like, it goes away. And I think that the real game changers in life come from the taking of the small actions over time. Right. Like just changing the course that you're on one day at a time and don't let up. I mean, Mark, when we look around at the, at the coaching, students who are, who are doing it, who are doing what they want to do, or really anybody that's doing what they want to do. What they're doing is they're showing up daily, and they're not just hoping and praying for that one big chance, you know, on the Today show or whatever it is, they're just building. They're just continuing to build over and over and over again and showing up. And they're just relentless.

Yeah, I think relentless. Consistency, grit. I'd rather have all those things than getting lucky.

Well, let's look at it this way. You're not getting on that show if you don't have those things, right? So it's not gonna just magically happen. They didn't just magically pick a name out of a hat or something. How do you get your name into that hat? It is with the relentlessness, with the grit, with working hard, taking those action steps every day, stacking them and becoming better at what you do. And that's when you even have the opportunity to get that type of exposure. And then it's how do you leverage it? And does it become what you expect to define you? Or is it something that you use as a tool in your tool belt to catapult you to that next level?

Yeah, no, absolutely. So, Brian, I'd be curious, given the renaissance nature of your life, what do you think of when you think of the word successful?

For me, successful is, I would say the amount of. Or that I would say in volume or I would say the amount of impact that you have on other people. I think that you can measure success by how you change the world. Not necessarily your own bank account by any means. I don't consider that in any way successful. If somebody tells me this guy makes X dollars a year or this guy has X in his bank account, that means nothing to me. If you tell me that that guy just spent three weeks in Guatemala building houses, to me, that's a successful guy. And what he does aside from that doesn't really matter to me. So in short answer, success to me is how you impact other people's lives.

I love it. I love it. Scott. Todd, what do you think?

Well, I mean, I agree with him. I think it's not necessarily about your life. I think it's the lives that you can change. Right. Like, it's how. It's the impact that you have on people. And, you know, are you adding value to the world that's really the ultimate success.

It's not.

I mean, you can judge it by a dollar amount in the bank account or net worth, but the reality is that it really comes back down to one thing. Did you make a difference? Who did you make difference for? And the more people that you can impact, the more people that you can make a difference for. That is where success lies.

Yeah. And I don't even think it needs to be even that dramatic. Like, you don't need to change millions and millions of people's lives. I mean, even if we just took it to a level of, hey, you know, am I a good parent? Is that good enough to show up on the times that you need to show up, you know, with this patience, kindness, which is at times, I mean, we all have kids really hard to do.

I think one. I'm sorry, go 100%. You're right. Yeah. I mean, it doesn't. We're talking on much larger scales here. But, you know, nothing is more impactful than a successful parent. I, you know, we're talking about shaping lives and the next generation of people on this earth. You don't have to be a multimillionaire. You don't have to go to Guatemala to build houses. If your kids, you know, end up being respectful and good citizens and quality people, then that is 100% successful in my book too.

Yeah, no, I, yeah, I agree. So, Brian, I know you're a big reader. What would be the book that you gift the most or recommend the most to other people?

Oh, in real estate, you guys have probably heard this, but I gift Rich Dad, Poor dad all the time. For me it's the mindset. And when I, you know, as an early, I'm early in syndication and some of the people who I'm working with are non accredited investors and there's a whole thing to go with that. But you know, they, they know that real estate is a good vehicle. They understand that there can be money to be made there, but they don't quite grasp the full mindset of assets and liabilities and that type of thing. There's a severe lack of financial literacy in our nation as a whole. And I think that that book really helps people just wrap their brain around the mindset of, you know, becoming or purchasing things that are valuable. And it certainly helps my potential investors become actual investors.

Yeah, that is one of the few transformative books out there for sure. Scott. Todd, I'd be curious, has there been another book besides Rich Dad, Poor dad that is as transformative than that you've read? I mean, we're talking about like, I think Rich Dad, Poor dad came out in like 99.

I mean it is definitely the one, it was definitely the one that I think that most people who venture down in real estate investing, that's one that they often quote, right? Like they'll often quote that book because I think that what it does is it brings a different set of understanding to wealth and he just breaks it down so simply, even in like cash flow quadrant, like to this day, what are we talking about like over 20 years later or close to it for cash flow quadrant, like there's still things in there that I grasped like the whole, you know, are you an employee, are you self employed, are you the business owner, the investor? Fall within, within the, the quadrant. So I mean, I think it's, I think that what he did was he took, he took this complex topic and he broke it down to where anybody could understand it and he made it look easy is what he did.

Yeah, for me, that's been the most impactful as far as gifting, like you mentioned, I mean, another thing that you mentioned, Grant cardone earlier, like 10x for me was big because that also, you know, changed my mindset from small scale to large scale thinking like, shoot big, shoot really, really big. And I. Excuse me. And I think that that's helped me in most recent years as well.

Yeah, I know. He was on my podcast before this, the best passive income podcast, and kind of crazy. It was kind of a crazy interview, but it was a lot of fun, for sure. But I do think him and Gary V. These are like what I would call rubber band people where they, you know, really kind of show you, like, how far you can stretch before you break. And I think, I think those are important people to have in your life. Just to know what is my breaking point. Not that I would, you know, recommend that somebody kill themselves every single day to reach their goal, but to know your limit, I think is important to. While you're doing that and to see what you're capable of. I think that's an important sort of thing to go through in life, just to know.

Right, right. I agree. Gary Vee is another one person who I'm sort of modeling the twist life after or the business of the twist life after and like, you know, endless amounts of content and everything that he, that he preaches on to try to actually build out that business now.

All right, fantastic. Well, Brian, I want to thank you so much for coming on the podcast and discussing your renaissance man lifestyle. But now we're at the point where we're going to ask you for your tip of the week. A website, a resource, another book, maybe something else actionable for the art of passive income listeners to go and improve their businesses, improve their lives. What have you got?

My tip of the week, I would say fail forward and don't ever let your failures define you. You know, we talked about that Kelly example. Like, that certainly was not a success. It was once I was. Once I aired. But up to that point, there were many failures in that morning. You know, you can either let a failure crush you or you can really, really grow from it. And I think failing forward, you know, there's a few steps like acknowledge your failure. Reflect on. Reflect on it. Assess the situation, you know, then. Then pocket it away and, and move forward. And failing forward, we didn't even get into the restaurant. But yeah, failing forward, just, just don't ever let your failures define you. Use them as a step to, you know, climb yourself, yourself, your business, whatever, higher. And don't ever don't ever let a failure take you down.

I love that. I love that. A lot of wisdom in that. And just kind of looking at everything as a learning opportunity. Whether it's a failure, it's a success. We're just. It's just constant growth, constant learning. Don't take everything so personally. There's a lot of things that are outside your control, and if you fail forward, you just keep going. You know, take the Edison approach. How many times did he fail with the light bulb?

Yeah, exactly. Exactly. 100%.

Yeah. I love that. Scott, Todd, I know that you've got an amazing tip of the week, as always. No pressure, though. What's your tip of the week, Mark?

I want you to travel more. I want to give you some traveling superpowers, and I want you to check out plan moretrips.com it is. It is a plugin that you can add. And look, it just takes planning your trips from airfare to hotels makes it super simple. It's a pretty cool trip, especially if we're going to live the lifestyle that we want and just travel, baby.

Landmoretrips.com Can I use points with this stuff? I've got so many points.

What it's doing is it's showing you, like, the. Like the best airfares where you want to go. You can coordinate it. You can send it to your family so that you guys all stay on the same page. You can, you know, it's looking at all these different resources, looking Airbnb, it's looking at, you know, Delta. It's looking at everything, man. It's like thousands of websites. It's searching and finding the best deals.

Wow. All right, Another phenomenal tip. Well, my tip of the week is learn more about Brian or check out his upcoming podcast@the twistlife.com and I think after just exploring that website, you'll feel cooler like I do, which is great. So, Brian, are we good?

Yeah, Guys, this is great. Thank you so much for having me. I appreciate the conversation.

Awesome. Scott, are we good?

We're good, Mark.

All right. I just want to remind the listeners, today's podcast is sponsored by Flight school. Learn how 16 weeks up the mountain land, up the mountain of land investing can literally transform your life. Make that passive income without renters, without rehabs, without renovations, without rodents, and have your Sherpa, Scott Todd take you up there quickly, safely, and efficiently. Schedule a call. To learn more, just go to landgeek.com training and please, if you are enjoying the podcast, if you're getting value from it. The only way. The only way we're going to quality of guests like a Brian orr from the twistlife.com is if you do us three little favors. You got to subscribe, you got a rate, you got to review the podcast. Send us a screenshot of that review to supportlandgeek.com we're going to send you for free the $97 passive income launch kit course, as well as the latest whole tailing course, how to double your money 30 days or less. All right, thanks, everybody. Scott, are we ready?

We're good, Mark.

One, two, three. Let freedom freedom ring.

Ring.

Not bad.

Awesome.

All right, thanks, everyone.