When You Realize the Beauty of the Land Business is the Journey

Hey, it's Mark Pedolski, the land geek. Your favorite niche real estate website, thelangi.com and on this week's roundtable podcast. We have no roundtable. We have now a ping pong table. It's myself and Kirk Peart. Kirk, I don't have a nickname for you yet. Oh.

Oh, no. I was gonna go through this. Oh, Lord. I know what Landon's been. Is Landon still going through it?

No, no, he's. He's done. He's. He's over Landon. He's the aquatic land in AI.

That's right. That's right.

But so we're going to play some ping pong. Kirk, because you're newer to the podcast, you want to just remind everyone you're are one on one coach. You do group coaching, but you've crushed it in the lamb business and are now giving back. For those of you that have not heard my one on one podcast with Kirk and the tips and tricks and what in his whole journey, go to your podcatcher and just do the search for Kirk Parrot. Because I'm so ambitiously lazy. I don't know which which episode that was. Do you know which episode it was?

I do not know. Yeah, no, but you can do a search for Kirk.

So, Kirk, you've got a. You had a big life event. Let's talk about it.

Yeah, I recently got married. And when I say recently, like less than a week ago. Yeah, it's a big deal. I had a beautiful lady who's super awesome, super supportive of all the craziness and change that has happened in life, not just for me, but for her as well. So I've been supportive of her and we've had a really, really good journey and we've. We have committed to continuing the journey very purposefully.

I love it. I love it. So what. What is her take on this land business and your. Your entrepreneurial journey? Because I could imagine that there would be, you know, other partners that would be a little bit more skeptical. You know, this idea of security. Right. It's like, oh, you know, maybe you should get a more secure job and.

Yeah.

And. And take that road. But let's talk about her alignment with you.

Well, you know, I think one of the things that is a key characteristic of our relationship is the sense of adventure.

Right.

Like life in general is an adventure. And she. Her name is Corinne.

She.

She came into my life then really kind of in the middle of COVID Right. So talk about craziest adventure that the whole world was experiencing and at the same time, I was having, like, sort of standard tech job tumultuousness. She was having some tumultuousness in her job as well. And she understands my story of having just gone from one company to the next to the next to the next, and more times of having layoffs or company closings than actually like, me being able to be, like, sort of proactively looking towards my next opportunity. So when I started flight school, we had just started our relationship a couple months before, and, you know, I think I even mentioned if it wasn't on the first day this. It was the second or third that I was thinking about doing this land business. I've been looking at it for a really, really, really long time. I was going to jump into flight school. I told her how much it was, and she thought I was crazy and interesting. And here we are still together, even more together now. And. And yeah, she's been there through this whole entire journey of me learning the basics of the business, jumping into coaching thereafter, you know, doing the. The. The elite coaching program, which at the time was 18 months. So, you know, and then doing the business on my own, sort of in between flight school and coaching. And then after coaching and she came and, you know, got the opportunity to meet you guys and see. See how. How like, sort of the magic and mystery of the business being pulled back at Elite Week. So, I mean, to say that she's all in, I think, is an understatement. And I have been very, very fortunate, lucky and blessed to have her by my side the entire time, because, you know, as we talk about the business is simple, but it's not easy. And, you know, you go through dips, and the dips are real. We talk about them, but nobody really thinks that they're going to hit them. And they do come. And it's good to have somebody that is committed with you when you go through those dips.

No, it really is. We were talking before the podcast just about alignment and, you know, when you look at your life, is there anything that you've done that was. That's worth doing, that's been easy? I mean, you know, we're both fathers. Like, being a parent, like, you know, you have all these expectations. You come in and then you're like, oh, my gosh, like, look at all this responsibility now. I mean, it's. It's hard and it's hard work, but it's so rewarding and joyful, without a doubt.

But, yeah, you're right.

You need that juxtaposition. I think of, of the struggle with the joy. It would, you know, if, you know, if, if you're, if your child never sort of reflected back to you the joy and the love that you gave them, I think it would, it would be challenging. But that being said, I could think of parents with autistic children that, you know, they, they still love them through those challenges and, but it's, you know, like everything worth doing. Learning to drive, learning to read, it's all been hard and yet it just compounds on each other. But where do we get this idea that anything should be easy?

Yeah, yeah. You know, I think it's just, it's human nature. Right? Like.

Right.

Human nature is to, to take the easiest path. Human nature is not to change. But then the juxtaposition of that is that human nature is to like, really go after the adventure. And human in nature is to always be wanting more and always be wanting progress. And there is no progress without change. So we have these things in us that I think we battle and, and I think the battle gets harder as we get older. Right. Because as you get older, you kind of get, you know, more stuck in all the things that, you know, and all the things that you've done and that. And even you can even be successful in those things. Very successful in those things and still afraid to try the next thing, you know.

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, what's your definition of success?

That's a good one. You know, I've been thinking a lot about that as part of this land business building journey. And you know, I used to think it was some end destination. Right. Like when I get to $100,000 a month in passive income, then I'll be totally successful and I can relax. Well, I don't think it's really that anymore, especially as I get older. I think it's. This is going to sound like really woo, woo. And. But I think it's your. My definition of success is being able to be happy in the current moment. And if I can do that continuously, then I'm successful. Right? If.

Yeah.

And, and you know, it's always kind of thinking about the fact that there's nothing's really bad is going on.

Right.

Like we're healthy, you know, bills are paid. Most of them, maybe not all of them, but most of them. Right, right. Most of my, my customers are happy. Not necessarily all of them. Most of them, my kids are, are mostly great. Sometimes they're a little pain in the ass, but they're, they're mostly great. So. So this is Life, right? Like, you just got to be able to be happy with what you have. Because when you reach some destination, imaginary, arbitrary destination, how can you expect that to transform you into some level of happiness if you can't figure it out right now?

Yeah, I mean, I, I totally agree. I, I don't think that's woo woo at all. And I think for a lot of people that is the, the daily struggle. Yeah, I was, I was talking to a guy today and he said, you know, being an entrepreneur is like, you know, being on a, on that rainbow and you know, going and trying to get that pot of gold at the end. And then you realize you never get to the pot of gold, but you're on the freaking rainbow the whole time, right? But you forget you're on the rainbow, right? And you know, being an entrepreneur, you never arrive. And I think being a human being, it's just, you never arrive. There is no top of that mountain. It's constantly striving. And yet can you enjoy the moment and, and let go, if you will, of the, you know, the arbitrary goal, whatever it is. And that being said, if you're listening to this, like, what are you guys talking about, right? I mean, think about your own life. When you wanted something and then you got it. How, what was the, the, the lifespan of the joy of when you got it? I bet that half life was, was extremely short. You spent maybe years trying to get that thing. You get it and next thing you know, you move the goalpost further, right? And, and we adapt to it. And I just think that's the struggle that we, we all go through. And it's especially more dramatic as an entrepreneur for so many reasons. What are your thoughts?

No, I totally agree with that. And those are some of the things that I, you know, like I said, like, I think a lot about, and I thought a lot about when I started this and I thought a lot about as I looked throughout my career as well, because I kind of had that, like I'm climbing the corporate ladder to some destination. I'm gonna get there. Dag on it. I'm gonna get there. And then I realized that it was kind of already there. Right. Even though I might not have had this position, I. Some arbitrary position, I was doing the things that I loved. I was solving problems, I was building teams, I was building camaraderie, I was adding value. And so, you know, it's like again, it comes back to like being able to be happy in the moment that makes it worth keep going to, to keep going because the attainment of a thing, that arbitrary goal isn't going to be the thing that makes you happy. It's just not. At least for me.

Right.

And I have studied, I've looked at my life. When I got that car that I really wanted, man, it was awesome for like a week. And then I was like, oh, it's just a car.

Yeah. I mean, I. I honestly don't think that there's anything out there that makes us happy. I do think it's an internal game.

Yeah.

And it's a game that when you play, it is. It's the infinite game. Yeah. And it never ends. Where I. I mean, I remember when I was younger, I. I used to dream of, you know, these houses and cars and vacations, and I got them all.

Yeah.

And then it was so disappointing and so dissatisfying, you know, from there. But I see Tate wants to jump on. He's. He's gonna be like, what are you guys doing? I'm gonna put him in here. And Tate.

What's up, guys?

So we're. We're doing the. We're so. The round table. We're doing the ping pong table. Oh. So. So, you know, Kirk and I were talking about sort of that. That struggle, if you will, of. Of striving and realizing there is no. You never hit that destination. Right. Like, think of the last thing you desired, you got it, and then think how quickly you adapted to it. Or that the half life of joy and you're on to the next thing and you've moved the goalposts. And so, you know, Kirk, like, his definition of success was like, oh, you know, in the land business, I get to 100,000amonth in passive income, then I'll be a success. And he realized, no, it's. Can I be happy in the moment while I'm striving?

So true.

Yeah.

I mean, there's numbers. I. I think success is often. It's often diminished when we put a number on it.

Yeah.

Right. Like, if we say x amount of money is going to make me successful, then why aren't more people just quitting once they get to. Why aren't they taking their foot off the gas? And it's never the case. And it's. It's not a greed thing for me. Right. It's not a, oh, I'm greedy. I want more. The goal post just moves. It's just. It didn't fulfill me like I thought it would. Right. So money can't be your. Your ultimate. Ultimate. Right. I think it's the family. It's the friends. And, Mark, you do a good job about talking about this in Dirt Rich, right? Where you talk about your why and how everything in your life, you know, according to the outsider, was really, really good. But internally, you weren't happy. Right. Like, you weren't happy because you have the nice car and the luxuries of today, but what you didn't have was a good relationship. You didn't have time.

And I.

That was my takeaway from Dirt Rich. I mean, if I summarized it, it was the saga of a land investor who made it to the top only to realize he was unhappy. Right. Like, that's how I.

Yeah. I mean, you know, in a lot of ways, Dirt Dirt Riches is sort of this cautionary tale.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's.

I've read it. I. I've shared a lot of it with my. With my wife. I'm like, you know, Mark, he talks about lifestyle creep. He talks about never being content and how ultimately that caused him to say, you know what? Get rid of 80% of what I have. Bring me back down to more of a reality. And you were happier. You travel more, you eat better, you. You're healthy, you're physically active, and you've reduced a lot of that stress. And I don't know, when I think about goals and goal setting, the number has to be there because I'm a businessman. But at the same point, there's other things that also need to be on that list of, like never missing a soccer game. Yeah, that's a big goal.

That's a number two, by the way. Right. You know, and like, to kind of piggyback off of that, I started thinking a lot about, like, so I'm in this interesting position in life. My birthday is at the end of the year. I'm a New Year's Eve baby. So at the end of every year, I'm thinking about my life, the past year and the upcoming year, and also thinking about sort of like the normal goal setting that everybody does at the end of the year. And then on top of that, this year is a big year for me. I turned the big five. Oh, like 50.

Yeah.

You know what? My father didn't make it to 50. My father passed away at 49. And so for me, you know, I looked at 50 as, like, oh, when I make it, I'm already winning. So I'm winning. Like, I made it. I'm winning. Right. So what does winning really look like as I continue past 50? Well, instead of thinking about metrics, solely I think a lot about now, like, who do I want to be? Right. So my. My goals are more about what's the human that I'm building here, who do I want to be? And then let who I want to be drive those numbers. Like, what do those numbers look like? Somebody who is successful and giving back to the world and has a happy family and a loving relationship. What do those numbers look like for that person? So that's how I start to. That's how I really started thinking about my goals this year, Especially hitting the big five zero, kind of crossing that threshold that my father didn't even make it to, and, you know, wanting to have a different kind of life compared to the life I've lived prior, which is a good life, by the way, but I want it to be better.

Yeah. T. What are your. What are your thoughts?

Yeah, I mean, seize the day, right? Like, carpe diem.

It's. It's.

It's really easy to look back at 2023 and realize I haven't hit a lot of my goals, plain and simple. But then if I only focus on that, I forget to look at, you know, some of the things that we have been able to do.

The.

The VA's lives, who I've helped change due to the fact that their employment has gone up. Right. The people that have gotten raises internally, the people that I've been able to help in the coaching program, the. You know, there's so many other things that I've done that don't necessarily increase my passive income, but our home runs. Right. So anytime you look at goals, and it's. It's important to be fair with yourself, in my opinion. But I also think your goal should be hard to reach. Right. Like, I'm not a believer in easy goals. I'm not a believer that you have to achieve everything you write down, because as the great Kanye says, you know, reach for the stars. So if you fall, you land on a cloud, right?

There you go. I think we. I think we've got our show title now.

There we go.

There it is for sure. But, you know, it's. It's true. I think a lot of people, when they. When they come into the program, they have these. These either unrealistic goals or unrealistic timelines, and it just makes them unhappy. And I get it. I get it. But I think that it's. It's hard to do. And Kirk and I was talking about in the beginning, anything worth doing is hard. But I think it's. It's worth exploring Ways to try to be happy in the moment as you strive. I mean, you know, I talk about it boot camp like that. The, the, the image of a duck, right? The duck is calm upon and serene above the surface, but is furiously paddling below. And I think it's, it's one of those things that, you know, when you come into a, a new event, a new venture or new adventure, it shouldn't be easy. It won't, you know, but sort of embrace that suck and, and take it on. And you wake up one day and you're like, Kirk and Tate. It's like, okay, I got my money problem solved. I got my time problem solved. And now I'm going to give more value to others, which ultimately I think is really what makes us most happy. Right. I mean that, you know, connecting with others is amazing and giving that value. It's, it's, it's like the great things in life, which, don't get me wrong, I'm not, it's not like I'm against material things, Right. I think they're all great, but I, I don't, I don't think they're gonna make you happy.

Yeah. And, you know, the other thing too is that, that it's got to be hard for it to be good because if it's easy, you don't appreciate it. And, you know, when I look back on life, I don't. I can't think of anything that I really, really felt good about that I did that wasn't hard. If it wasn't hard, I just kind of went through it. So if it was hard, I'm like, ah, I earned my stripes, every single one of them. And, you know, the problems don't stop either. Right. It's not like you reach a certain level and you never have problems again. Your problems get bigger and uglier and you got to be more creative and you still have end up with stuff that you've got to appreciate on the other side of doing hard things. Right? Like, that's just, that's just life.

It's funny that you bring up that because I read something the other day that said I don't want Jeff Bezos's problems.

Yeah, right.

Yeah.

I might want his salary or his net worth, but I really don't want his problems. Can you imagine those problems?

You got to be a different person to be that, to have those kind of problems and have that kind of success as well. Like. Right.

Talk about, I'm good with my land problems. I'm good with land problems.

Right.

I haven't said it in a long time, Mark, but there's no such thing as a land emergency, right? Like, when you think about that, the problems that I have, it's like, oh, my property. I had a property where there was a flooding. Flooding that came through. And if it had been a home or an apartment complex, I would have had to get on a plane. I'd be flying out there. And because it flooded and it was vacant land, you know, what happened to my land? Nothing. Absolutely nothing happened. I remember watching the. The news and thinking, oh, man, this is terrible. I feel so bad for the people that this is affecting, but it doesn't affect me. If anything, it just washed the trash off my property onto someone else's, right? Like, that's it. Yeah, that's my land emergency. Do I have to go out there? No, I'm good with land problems.

Let's keep them. Yep.

Yeah, 100%. And it's so true. Like, we'll look at somebody like a Jeff Bezos, say, I, you know, I want his money, but you can't just take one, you know, part of a person and get that, like, you got to take everything of Jeff Bezos. And to your point, like, I wouldn't want his problems. I wouldn't want his life. I wouldn't want any of it.

Yeah.

Yeah, okay. I'd want his money. Yeah, I'll take the yacht. But, like. But, like. But not in exchange for all the other things. I'd have to be him.

Right.

I wouldn't want. I wouldn't want to trade places with anybody.

Yeah. I'm happy being Tate Litchfield.

It's.

It's freaking awesome, right? Like, it's great.

And it's still hard work.

It's still hard work.

I still get up. I still have those nights where I can't sleep, right? I still get some heartburn and indigestion, but for the most part, take a deep breath.

Work through it.

Use my journal. Write it out. Figure out how to solve these problems. Go to my mentors, talk to them. It's amazing how you take a. You know, a business ending problem, and you share it with somebody who's been in the business for, like, 20 years, like, the main guy over here. And you're like, this is what I'm going through. He's like, okay, we'll just do this. You're like, what? That's.

Are you kidding me?

Just give the money back.

And you're like, give the money back?

How did you come up with that? That's the craziest thing I've ever heard of.

That's very. That's so, so very true. You know, one of the things I love about this, and I was actually sharing this with one of my team members earlier today, that we really are in an infinite game here, right? Like, Mark, you. And a conversation once about sort of the. The issues that I've had in my employment. And, like, when. When your employer says, no more, here's your pink slip. Like, all problems for you in that job stop. And so everything stops. But in your business, and especially in your land business, all you have is a problem. Okay? Maybe your marketing's not working. Well, go figure it out. Maybe things aren't. Your sales aren't happening the way you want them to. Go figure it out. But the business doesn't stop. And the fact, too, that you guys actually exist and have been doing this for, you know, decades now and have such wild, amazing, continuously growing success lets the rest of us know that not only is it possible, if we don't stop, it's highly probable.

Right?

No, for sure. And, I mean, look, I'm. I'm no, you know, Tate Litchfield genius, or Scott Ty genius. I've just been doing it longer than everyone else. Like, everyone else in the community is way more talented than me. I've just been doing it the longest and on a long enough timeline, I think everyone gets paid. And it's just, you know that Warren Buffett quotes like, it's not how hard you rode the boat, it's the size of the boat. We just got a massive market. It's inefficient, and if you just keep following the recipe, you. It's an. Your success is inevitable. It really is. But it's really hard in the beginning and, you know.

Got it. End it right there.

That's.

That's like the words of wisdom, Mark. You just gotta. You gotta let freedom ring. We gotta get out of here because that was. That was good, man. That was good right there.

Mic drop.

I. I try. I try. Well, look, you know, let's put Kirk on the spot and let's ask him for his tip of the week. A website, a resource, a book, something else actionable for the art of passing listeners to go improve their businesses, improve their lives. Kirk, what do you got?

All right, well, I'm ready this time for sure. I just started reading this awesome book, buy your time back by Dan Martell. I love it. I love it because it ties in so well with all the other things that we talk about in the Land geek community, building your team, who not how 10xing your, your goals and how 10x is into. Acts like it all comes together around the simple sort of notion of getting your time back. Like adding to your team and adding to your capabilities to solve your time problems. And when you solve your time problems, you get time freedom, you start to get money freedom. When you get money freedom, you get like all these other amazing freedoms that start to come your way. So great book. I'm about halfway through it right now, but loving it and working hard to tie it into everything that I'm doing.

It's such a small world. I just heard Dan Martel speak at one of my Mastermind events And he spends $2 million a year to buy back his time. Two million.

Believe it. I believe it. What happened?

What was that?

What was that?

What did I do?

That was so cool. You guys have to watch the video of this. Like Tate just put up two fingers and the balloons went up. That was crazy. I mean I did something with AI on zoom. Although it's not seeing, I'm not seeing much right now. What are the actions? AI companion. Catch.

But I think that was basically a congratulations to Dan Martell because yeah, he's spending that much money to buy his time back. How much money is he making? He.

Did you, did you get to the party about the $50? No, he, he empowers all his team members for $50 or less, solve any problem. Oh, that's it. He's like, you don't need to come to me. You don't need to go to another team member. If it's $50 or less, you can solve a problem, solve it solid.

Yeah. I think Tim Ferriss has that same kind of mentality that he talks about in the four hour work week. And yeah, I'm working on that as well.

Yeah, that, that's. I mean I've got to get the book. But in anything to save time, I will invest in because ultimately we can always make more money. We can't get more time. And, and that's the reason I love the land business so much is it solves my money problems, it solves my time problems. Passive income solves all these problems. So we can, you know, move up Maslow's hierarchy of needs into self actualization. Figure out what we really want to do as we spin on this blue rock. So great. Tip of the week. Tate, any last words from the, from our little ping pong game that went to a roundtable game?

No, just I guess my parting tips or Advice for anybody in this business was the only way you fail is if you quit.

Yeah.

Like Mark said, he didn't grow up in a family where they discussed land investing at the dinner table. Right. He just stuck with it. And I think I'm a product of that. Kirk's a product of that. Everybody on our team is just sore losers. They don't like to lose, and the only way they lose is if they throw in the towel. And we just don't do that. We're not quitters. So don't quit.

Yeah, absolutely. And go. Yeah. Embrace the suck. Go through the pain. Because everything's hard. So you might as well pick your hard. Absolutely. So I want to thank the listeners. If you're getting value, follow rate, review the podcast. If you want to be a super duper land investor, learn more about flight school. Go to the landgeek.com forward/training. And I know what you're thinking. Oh, Kirk says, you know, it's expensive. Yeah. It ain't going to cost you nothing. Guaranteed, you're going to make back that money. 180 days or less. Just show us you did the work. So we've got skin in the game with you again. Go. Tolandgeek.com forward slash training. All right, let's do this. One, two, three.

Let freedom ring.

All right, thanks, everybody. All right, just one quick question. Ethical question.

Oh.

What is the. What is the longest duration of time? You, as a guest, should ask a host to stay in their home. Your friend, your family member, what's the longest? You should ask before you're like, okay, I would. I overstepped. I'm asking too much.

For me, it becomes pretty obvious just because I bring a crew of chaos with me in the form of little people, little humans. It's very easy to tell when I've overstayed my welcome. You know, we try to get out of people's houses before we break something. Sometimes that's only 45 minutes, right?

Like, how about if you're spending the night, like, you're gonna go. You're gonna. You're gonna go visit a friend in, you know, Idaho.

Yeah, yeah.

And they're like, okay, we really want you guys to stay. Bring your family. How long? What's the longest you'll stay?

I think it all depends, right? Like, it depends. Are you staying? Is it close quarters? Because if it's close quarters, it's like 45 minutes, maybe a night. But if they live on acreage and you have separate and, you know, you can always ask them Too, like, instead of like, so how long can we stay? Because I don't want to overstep my bounds and let them tell you. I, I'm always like, just tell me.

Yeah, no, I'm. You're putting the responsibility on the host. I don't know. They don't know either. I think it's got to be on you, man.

I had people at my house for Thanksgiving from Tuesday until Sunday.

Wow. Okay. So I, I think that's too long.

What do you. And it was, it was a long time.

And I'll tell you why I think it's too long.

Yeah.

Because your life is disrupted because you're hosting and you've got, you've got to feed them, you've got to entertain them.

And I'm a good host. For the record, don't let anyone tell you I'm a bad host.

Yeah, you gotta take on bike rides.

I believe I'm a good host. This is something I don't play around with. Like, you stay at the Casa de Litchfield. It's going to be a good experience.

Oh, I can't, I can't wait.

Yeah.

I can promise you 5:45 wake up calls. I could promise you diapers all over.

You know, I think three, I think three days is.

Three days is probably about right.

Yeah.

Because, you know, most of the time your host is taking some time off from their day job or their work, they're making a sacrifice. There is the expense associated with that too. Of like, I'm not. You're not going to come visit me and then buy groceries in my house. That's not the way it works over here. I'm going to take care of you. And yeah, three days is probably great because there's enough to do, enough to catch up on, and at the end of it, you still like each other. You want to leave wishing you had another night.

From my experience, I think the person I stayed multiple days with is my sister, my younger sister. And you know, she's got her family and everything like that. It's me by myself, like four, four or five days. Me with the family, like three maybe. But oftentimes what I do is I just go get an Airbnb because I just, you know, I don't. I know what it's like. It's like you said, you, you even if you have the extra space that might be an office that you're using or, you know, so yeah, maybe three, three, three to five days, depending on the relation.

Yeah. I think, I think this is a good topic for people to put into the Mighty Networks group. So if you, if you made it this far in the podcast, go to my Networks group and put in your opinion. All right. Thanks guys.

See ya.

Thanks for listening to the Art of Passive Income podcast. Are you ready to learn how you can start building a passive income without renters, rehabs, renovations or rodents? Schedule a free consultation at thelandgeek.com forward/training let freedom ring.