Sometimes it feels like the results we hope for are delayed, or even that they will never come. We think that we are not good enough or that our dreams are simply not meant for us. When this happens, it can be tempting to give up and stop trying altogether.
But, here’s the thing: there isn’t anything wrong with us at all. The reason our results aren’t coming as fast as we’d like them to is because of something called momentum. Momentum is a sneaky little thing that can make us think we’re doing everything right in our lives, when actually all we need is just a little bit more time (and sometimes a few tricks).
In this episode, Rachel sits with San Diego Metro’s leading Realtor, Maxwell Ventura. Listen in as Rachel and Maxwell discuss how we can keep our momentum when the results we want seem to get delayed and how we can unlock our potential while doing so. They also talk about what personal development means, why consistency matters, the great thing about personality, the 2 levers in life that can help us accelerate, and how we should be planning our day.
“We are here to be the best that we can be.” -Maxwell Ventura
Episode Highlights:
01:11 Discovering the World of Real Estate
05:34 Be the Best Version of You
08:31 What Personal Development Means
11:13 When Results Aren’t Coming
18:45 The 2 Important Levers in Life
22:06 Man’s Greatest Burden
26:36 How to Plan Your Day
Sometimes our goals just take longer than we expect them to, and that's okay! This week, Rachel and San Diego Metro’s Leading Realtor, Maxwell Ventura will teach us tricks and strategies to help us keep our momentum when the results we hope for… Click To Tweet
Quotes:
08:33 “We are here to be the best that we can be.” -Maxwell Ventura
12:32 “It takes so much energy, effort, and focus just to get up off the ground. But when you finally do, travelling distance is a lot easier.” -Maxwell Ventura
15:14 “What’s great about your personality is that you can change it— it’s your choice!” -Maxwell Ventura
18:14 “When you start personally growing and you start putting yourself in positions to have different kinds of conversations with different kinds of people, then that also helps with your personality,” -Rachel Best
18:46 “They say that the two biggest levers in our life are other people and other people’s money.” -Maxwell Ventura
22:37 “Sometimes, there’s more greatness inside of us than we even know about until we start operating and becoming that person that we’re supposed to be.” -Rachel Best
27:10 “Set up the day beforehand. Don’t start the day before you haven’t finished, and your wake up ready to go. -Maxwell Ventura
Meet Maxwell:
Maxwell Ventura, originally hailing from the city of brotherly love, has brought the hustle and bustle of Philadelphia’s fast-paced culture to America’s Finest City, San Diego. Having settled into the Southern California lifestyle and creating a home for himself here, it would be an understatement to say Maxwell is excited about all things related to self-improvement and helping others. His creed: “Strive to be a better version of yourself every single day.” This motivated him to help others with their self-improvement and real estate needs.
- Website: https://www.maxwellventura.com/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/maxwell.ventura
- Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/maxwellbventura
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maxwell-ventura-640b7661/
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxyFZmhEKY3SWQlyXHS5cuA
Transcripts:
Rachel Best: Hello everyone. Welcome back to How to Make a Mark in The World Finding Your Signature. Today, we have an amazing guest, Maxwell Ventura.
Maxwell, tell us who you are.
Maxwell Ventura: Yes, thanks for having me on. I am a Real Estate Broker Associate with Douglas Elliman here in San Diego for the last five years or so. Originally from the East Coast. And I guess, we could take it from there.
Rachel Best: Awesome. So tell us how you get into real estate?
Maxwell Ventura: Yes. I originally came out to the West Coast to Southern California to the Inland Empire, Lake Elsinore, Temecula area. And this was about eight years ago because I had some really good friends of mine that grew up with me on the East Coast, and they had moved out to get into the solar industry. And so that was kind of a turning point in my life. I was ready for a move. I had grown up on the East Coast around the Philadelphia area my entire life. My college was 20 minutes from where I grew up, my high school, ready for a change. And so when I came out to visit, I said, yep, this is awesome. I moved three months later. So it was solar and great friends of mine actually were the catalyst for originally bringing me out to Southern California. What was cool about that experience was, I can’t say I really had too much passion for solar, but it was something new and different along with the territory. But what was really cool was I got to experience, as an outside consultant or sales rep, I got to experience all of Southern California within six months because all my appointments were set for me. I got to see all of San Diego, all of Orange County, all of LA County, the high desert, Palm Springs, and then all of the Inland Empire within a very short amount of time. I didn’t have any bias towards any of the different counties. I feel like a lot of it, the San Diego people don’t like LA people and vice versa. I had no bias. I loved it everywhere. I thought every single town and city has its own unique kind of features.
And same with all of the beaches, all the way from Imperial Beach, all the way up to Malibu, you can probably count 30 different beaches and they all kind of have their own unique flavor to them. But to make a long story short, I eventually settled on San Diego, by far my favorite, not only county but city to live in. And so after doing the solar thing for a few years, I got myself down to San Diego, and then I joined BNI, which is a business networking international networking group. And after being in that group for about a year, that’s when we met at San Diego native that had been in the real estate industry now for about 20 years. He was actually the reason why I got into real estate or I had mustered up the strength to ask him. I said, hey, I’m not really into the solar thing. I’ve been doing it for a few years, I want to get into real estate. And that’s how it started. And it’s one of the best decisions I’ve ever made because I am obsessed.
Rachel Best: That’s awesome. I actually want to back up real quick and just share that I got to meet Maxwell in California at a coaching event. And he’s awesome. He knows what he’s talking about. So in real estate, he knows what he’s talking about. So if you are thinking about buying in San Diego or in that area, he definitely knows the area. He knows a lot about it, and he’s the person that you want to get a hold of if you ever want to move over to the West Coast. And also, I want to share with you guys, go ahead and grab your pen and paper because I’m sure that as we go throughout this podcast, he’s going to probably give you some little nuggets of wisdom and you’re going to want to make sure that you write that down. Actually when you write things down, you’re 50% more likely to retain it and remember it, then you also want to go back some of the things that he shares. If you share something that you can apply to your life, I would encourage you to hang it up and apply it to your life as well. So Maxwell, tell us, so you’ve been in real estate for five years, you love your area, you are amazing at what you do. The name of the podcast is How to Make a Mark Your Mark in The World. So for you to leave a mark in the world, what does that mean to you? When people think of Maxwell Ventura, who are you? What do you want to leave a mark on the world? And how do you want people to remember you?
Maxwell Ventura: I think people’s goals change over time. And I’m 36, and I really started getting heavy into personal development, I’ll say 10 years ago. It was one of the most classic books that most people start with, it’s Thinking Grow Rich. And I remember Bob Proctor talking about how he’s been reading that book for 50 something years. And I think he got all the way up to 60 something years before he recently passed. I read that book and I was like, man, I’ve got everything figured out. This is why I can’t believe this is insane. It opened my eyes. And so to get back to your question, it’s more about, I think, leaving my mark comes more from a philosophical approach. I simply want to be the best version of myself, and I want to inspire other people to be the best version of themselves.
Rachel Best: Yes, that is one of my favorite books as well. That’s my second favorite book. That was so pivotal in my life. When I read that book, it opened my eyes to a whole new holy cow, what the world. And so again, Bob Proctor. I love Bob Proctor. He’s also an amazing personal development person. So you said about 10 years ago, was it what you said?
Maxwell Ventura: Yeah, about 10 years ago. And that was funny too because I remember seeing, I suppose when social media was really starting. And I remember seeing, I guess it was like, probably one of the first ads that you would see in your feed when you’re scrolling. And I remember, it was an ad for Tai Lopez, and he was in his garage. He had the camera kind of facing him and he said he had his two Ferraris behind them in his garage. And he’s like, what’s really cool about how I got these Ferraris, but what’s even cooler, and he pans the camera. There’s all these books that I read, and there were just a couple bookshelves behind them. And then it got me thinking, I was like, oh, man, I really need to start reading. And then I got into reading and that was the first book that I picked up. And then Bob Proctor has also been one of my favorites. He’s really been inspirational for me. It’s too bad that he passed. One of my life goals was to meet him. But I think he lives through so many people. He’s just incredible.
Rachel Best: Yes, you’re so right. I also wanted to meet him. One of his friends is one of my guests on my show so I’ll have to forward that over to you and connect you guys because he is awesome too. Back to what you said, though, about personal development, investing in yourself and investing into your mind. Share with us a little bit what does that mean to you, personal development and investing in yourself? What have you gained from doing those things?
Maxwell Ventura: Yeah. I think that we are here to be the best that we can be. I’ve always loved the idea that life is a series of sprints, or it’s a marathon of sprints because it’s the one day one life mentality. We sleep all night. And hopefully, we get our 6, 7, 8 hours, we get our rest and we’re fully rejuvenated. And we wake up ready to go again. And that day, I feel it should be a sprint. I know that, at least for me. And it’s different for everyone. I can’t speak for anyone else. But for me, I know that when I have put in a solid day of work, that I feel really good at the end of the day. I know at the end of the day that if I really did my best, or if I took risks, or I got outside of my comfort zone, or had difficult conversations, or did things that I tried to get out of like this habitual state and any type of a hamster wheel day. When’s the last time you did something for the first time? I know that feeling at the end of the day. And then that makes me feel good at the end of the day as I go to sleep and I’m getting ready for my next day. So that’s why I’ve always liked the idea that it’s a series of sprints. You gotta love what you do or at least put the passion into what you’re doing.
But personal development for me, a big ritual of mine is reading every day because that really is momentum from my mind. It puts good ideas into my brain, it puts someone else’s ideas that have been there, done that. And now, he’s there writing a book about it in my head. And that’s the type of environment. That’s the type of, I say, philosophy or ideas that I want around me. It’s kind of like trimming the weeds, or trimming the garden because the weeds start to grow every day just from our natural environment. So personal development for me has been a big, big part of my life and just refining, learning and refining my philosophy, and keeping a good attitude. And because it’s just constant daily reminders, and like I said, momentum from my mind.
Rachel Best: Wow. I really encourage you all to go back and listen to that segment because that was so good. I’ve never heard that life is a series of sprints each day. That is so powerful. I’ve never even thought about that. And just showing up in excellence and showing up for the day. That was so good. So awesome. So you’re into personal development, your real estate guy, tell us some of the obstacles that you’ve had to overcome?
Maxwell Ventura: Yeah. Gosh, my first two years were really a struggle. And that’s common in our industry. They say that there’s about a 90% failure rate. And real estate’s hard. It can be hard. And again, that’s a mindset, that’s a perception. But in the beginning when I moved down to San Diego, other than my friends that lived up an hour north and the Inland Empire, I knew one person in San Diego and it was coincidentally a friend of mine that I’d grown up with on the East Coast. We went to personal training school together, blah, blah, blah. I didn’t know anyone. So the first two years were tough. I felt like I was putting in the hours, I was working long days, I was one of the first ones. If not the first one in the office, last one to leave, that whole thing. But the results weren’t coming. Luckily, I had a good team around me, a good mentor. The idea was just keep going, keep going, keep putting in the work. It’s the law of the harvest. If you plant the seeds, and you water them, and you plough, plough, plough. Eventually, they will yield fruit. And that eventually took a lot longer in my eyes, and it should have. That came with a lot of frustration, but it’s almost like this first two years. The amount of torque or thrust it takes, it’s sort of like a jet kind of getting off the runway. It takes so much energy, and so much torque, and effort, and focus to get just to lift off the runway, just to get up off the ground. But when you finally do, it’s not that you want to coast, but flying is a lot easier, or traveling distance is a lot easier. I really struggled these first couple years.
But again, consistency has been one of the most important crucial factors for me. I feel like everyone talks about it because it is really important. John Maxwell says four days of climbing can be ruined with one day of coasting. And so momentum has been a really key trait, or I say our idea or concept because it really is easy to break all that momentum just by having an off day, or not focusing, or getting distracted, or sitting on the couch, or watching Netflix. That sort of momentum is really important.
Rachel Best: Yeah. Those are all really, really good. Consistency and momentum. I love your analogy. That’s so good. What a visual to share with the audience. I love that. What would you say is the best business advice. Over your time of being a real estate guy, what would you say is the best business advice you’ve ever been given especially in those hard times?
Maxwell Ventura: Just do it.
Rachel Best: Just do it.
Maxwell Ventura: Just do it. I can expand on that. I don’t know if you’ve ever familiar with the DISC model, one of the classic personality traits. So I historically have grown up, and I’ve been heavier on the C side, which could be considered Cautious, Conscientious. I’ve been a spreadsheet guy my whole life, wanting to fiddle things to death. And there’s this saying that if you left the cars up to the engineers, it would never leave the showroom floor. And a great thing about my mentor when I came on was he was the exact opposite. He was a heavy, heavy D. So dominant driver, wanting to take action. So just do it is exactly what I’m talking about. Give me the bullet points and let’s go. I don’t need to get involved in the minutiae. If all you do is deal with minutiae, you’re going to end up in a ton of manure. You need to get less micro and more macro. There’s also a great book called Rocket Fuel where they talk about those two people that I just described, actually, make the best partners because they complement each other’s skill sets. What’s great about your personality is that you can change it, it’s your choice. And so that’s something that I’ve made a conscious effort to change over the past five years.
I understood a couple of years of frustration and trying to set up all these email templates, and workflows, and everything’s got to be perfect before taking any action. I realized that that was becoming a detriment, especially in the beginning. With any industry, you gotta get out there. I’ll say any sales industry, which is a lot of industries, and just in general because we’re in sales all our life, and just our relationships, in some form or fashion. Get out there, talk to people and just be yourself and try to help them put yourself behind their eyeballs really, really try to come from an empathetic, compassionate viewpoint. It takes all the pressure off. And I would imagine, it’s the same for speakers too. When you come from a place of really trying to help someone or focus on one person, the wall of ice comes down. And it’s the same in sales. So when I gradually shifted my personality from everything’s got to be perfect before taking action. No, the most important thing is talking to people, and touches, and contacts. And not worrying about this or that and just coming from a place of helping someone and trying to learn, I don’t need to know all the answers up front, we’ll figure it out. And if I can’t figure it out, then someone on my team will be able to help us figure it out. But your best interests are in my heart. So that was a big shift for me getting away from more of that C on the DISC wheel and incorporating some more D?
Rachel Best: Yes, very good. That’s so good because I used to struggle with that too. I’m actually high on there. But I’ve actually shifted a lot. I should take it again to see where I’m at. What you said about having everything perfect, and having to know the answers, and that’s just shuffling papers. You’re not accomplishing anything. And to build a business, you have to have relationships and build rapport and connections with people. And if you’re just sitting trying to make your spreadsheets perfect or whatever perfect, that doesn’t really help anybody. You have a nice spreadsheet, but you don’t have anything on it. Yeah, that’s good. And I love that you said that about being able to shift your personality, because I also had taken that test as well as a few other ones. And I was glad to know that you can shift your personality. So if you aren’t strong in something and you’re like, oh, I want to be that person. Why can’t I be like that person? Not that I want to be like another person, but those characteristics, or those traits, or those forces in those different quadrants. Just working on yourself, and I think that’s where personal development. Just being engaged with a different kind of people as well, that’s what I’ve really come to find out. When you start personally growing, and you start putting yourself in positions to have different kinds of conversations with different kinds of people, then that also helps with your personality, and it helps you. You have to be okay with getting uncomfortable. Just do it.
Maxwell Ventura: Exactly. Yeah. I love that. The power of proximity. You are the average of the five people you hang around with, your net worth is your net worth. And then also they say that the two biggest levers in our life are other people and other people’s money.
Rachel Best: Elaborate a little bit on that.
Maxwell Ventura: That’s one great thing about America. In my business, in real estate, you have to think that there’s a whole business built up around lending money. Will get more into real estate now if that’s what we want to do. But that’s the mortgage finance industry. Leverage, borrowing other people’s money, the bank’s money, private money, hard money. Leverage plays such a big role in our industry because you’re able to acquire millions of dollars worth of real estate for pennies on the dollar, essentially. When you’re able to come in with 3% down, or 3 1/2, or 5, or even if it’s 20 or 25 in investment property, two to four units. So that’s why I say to other people, your network and other people’s money.
Rachel Best: Gotcha. Nice, nice. Actually, the top five people that actually keep coming up on my podcast. A lot of people say that, show me your friends and I’ll show you your future. Who are those top five people that you’re hanging out with? Where are they? Who’s pouring into your life? I know for myself, I’ve had to release people in my life, and it’s okay to still love them. But sometimes, you have to release people. I was gonna ask you, so you said mentor earlier? Do you have coaches in multiple areas of your life, or just a couple areas of your life, do you find coaches valuable?
Maxwell Ventura: Absolutely. Because that to me goes right back to, you’re the average of the five people that you hang out with. And that includes coaches or mentors. I think that’s really one of the most important ways to level up is via coaches and mentors. For some people, it’s mastermind groups. And I think there’s a lot of variables there. I think a mentor really is the most powerful because we’re talking about a one on one scenario, and it’s somewhere that you want to be. Now generally, there’s going to be an age gap. And I think it would behoove that person to have something in common with the mentor, whether you both like to go out and play golf, or you both enjoy fine restaurants, or maybe it’s cigars, or tequila, whatever. Again, you’re the average of the people you surround yourself with. Because otherwise, how are you going to level up? I don’t wanna say I need to, but if you want to raise your thermostat, I would encourage you to get around people who are at a higher temperature.
Rachel Best: That’s good. I like that. Higher temperature. Get around people with a higher temperature, you’re so right. If you want to go places that you’ve never been, that’s how I operate. I always hire coaches for areas I want to go to the next level, who have been where I want to go. And then I hired them. I stick to them like glue. I asked them, what do I need to do? I’m always asking questions and staying connected. And so that’s a good, good, good piece. A little nugget there. So tell me, what is your most favorite, which you’ve given us a ton of them already so maybe you’ve already told us. But what is one of your favorite quotes or a favorite scripture that you fall back on for inspiration?
Maxwell Ventura: Man’s greatest burden is unfulfilled potential. At the end of the day, what’s the most common thing is, and they’ve seen those posts. A nurse in hospice, they’ve been surrounded by people that are dying, for the last 20, 30, 40 years. And what’s the three or the five most common things that they say? It’s never the things that they did, it’s always the things that they didn’t do. So when I say man’s great, that can be obviously man or woman. But man’s greatest burden is unfulfilled potential, and that goes back to the one day one life thing. I know that at the end of the day, I wasted the day. I didn’t fulfill my potential. I didn’t get 1% better. I didn’t push the needle. It’s not a good feeling. And again, that’s for me, it’s not necessarily for everyone. Right now in my life, I’m the type of person that doesn’t really enjoy sitting around and just hanging right, like going to the bar and chilling. I did that years and years ago, a whole decade ago. But now, it’s like, no, I want to progress. I want to learn. I want to get better. So that quote or that philosophy has really stuck with me for the last few years. Man’s greatest burden is unfulfilled potential.
Rachel Best: I’ve heard that before with people, and they’re on deathbed. That’s all the great regrets, and so why not live. We all have a purpose, we all have something amazing inside of us. And sometimes, there’s more greatness inside of us than we even know about until we start operating and becoming that person that we’re supposed to be. I think it’s so important to literally, I made a post about that the other day, I want to live full out, no regrets. Live life, full out to the biggest and best potential that I possibly can. And I think you’re a great example of living in excellence and just pursuing life, your goals and your dreams. You’re an inspiration to me. I always love getting to see you every few months when it’s time to take more coaching classes. And so just watching you grow, it’s been amazing. So I absolutely love it. So tell me, or tell us how can our audience connect with you if they want to connect with you?
Maxwell Ventura: Yeah I’m all over social. My website’s maxwellventura.com. I primarily spend most of my time on Instagram and YouTube. So my Instagram is Maxwell, middle initial B as in Bravo, Ventura, and as Maxwell Ventura for on my YouTube channel. And so I post mainly real estate related. I can’t help but sprinkling in some personal development here and there. It’s part of who I am so I want to try that’d be authentic. I really do love the real estate industry, and so I enjoy putting out a lot of content. I try to make most of it all educational, whether it be in the small swamp, my niche. It’s two to four units, single family residence value add. So I do work with a lot of investors, to be at first time investors that are looking to start their portfolio or more experienced investors that are looking for infill opportunities. It’s such a great niche because you’re kind of in between the commercial guys that are five units and up. Your standard, I’ll say, residential realtors that just help people buy and sell, I come more on the investing side. That two to four unit, which is still considered residential. I really enjoy it. So that’s where I’m at right now in my career, what I’m focusing on.
Rachel Best: Very good. Well, I think we’ll have those in the comments as well. And you guys, you have to go look at his YouTube because his videos are so awesome. I’ve watched a few of them that you post on Facebook. You post most of those on Facebook too, don’t you?
Maxwell Ventura: Yeah. Luckily now that Instagram and Facebook are synced so I post on Instagram, and then I think it sends it over to Facebook.
Rachel Best: Okay, gotcha. Gotcha. Yeah. They’re really, really good. Again, you know what you’re talking about. And if anybody is looking into that San Diego area, you are definitely the person for them to touch base with. And so with all of that being said, just look into the camera Maxwell and just give our audience one last piece of amazing wisdom before we let you go.
Maxwell Ventura: I would say plan out your day the night before. Don’t start the day before you have it started. Or don’t start the day before you have it finished, and just do it.
Rachel Best: That’s a good piece of it. Nice. That is such a good piece of advice. Awesome because you wake up in the morning, you already know what you’re going to be doing.
Maxwell Ventura: That’s right. Your brain will go to work for you while you’re sleeping in your subconscious. And right when you wake up, you are ready to go. There’s no grogginess. There’s no confusion. There’s no having to spend more units of your discipline and willpower on, what should I do? What should I wear? Set up the day beforehand. Don’t start the day before you haven’t finished, and wake up ready to go.
Rachel Best: That is so good. And so true. So true. Anyways, guys, thank you so much, Maxwell, for being on this show today. You gave a ton of wisdom, and I hope that you guys go back and re-listen, take some more notes. Check this guy out. Follow him. Again, thank you so much for your time tonight. Thank you, Maxwell.
Maxwell Ventura: Thank you so much for having me.