Don't Quit Page 4
And throughout this journey, I had been blessed with the opportunity to do something I truly enjoyed and was passionate about: taking the stage and speaking to thousands of real estate investors to teach them how the syndication legal piece fits into their overall syndication puzzle. After all, I was “the Anti-Lawyer” who took complex legal matters and made them simple to understand. That was my “secret sauce.” That was why my dear friend, Tom Wheelwright, coined this phrase, “Mauricio is one of the few lawyers who actually speaks English.”
I was obviously doing something right. Right? But now, it was all crumbling. It was all falling apart. How was I going to support my family? Would I ever live a normal life again? How was I going to provide for my clients who had been so supportive through this ordeal? I had become a successful solopreneur, but at the end of the day, I was still a solopreneur. If I wasn’t out there grinding and working my butt off, the business would stall, the work would disappear, and the money would dry up.
“So, now what? Why am I being punished? What have I done to deserve this? Why is this happening to me?” These were all questions that constantly ran through my mind as my faith in the universe began to wane.
I should have trusted the universe more, as finally, at the beginning of 2019, I began to recover. I began to eat and began the long journey of recuperating. As I write this, I have recovered almost all of the weight I lost and finally feel as good as I ever felt. My appreciation for my family, friends, and clients has infinitely increased as I am finally firing on all cylinders.
But not learning the lesson would be the worst part of all of this. When you go through such a dramatic, near-death experience, you tend to re-evaluate your life. I don’t want to say my priorities have changed because I’ve been very clear on those. My family has always come first, and the purpose of my business has always been to serve and secure my family.
But like most people, I had neglected the little things that MUST be done. One of the biggest challenges we all face and fail to confront, is we are so busy making a living and striving to provide well-intentioned security for our families, that we forget to stop and plan for “unforeseen” events in our lives that we all know are possible. For most, it’s that will or living trust that you know you need but avoid, either because you don’t want to deal with your own mortality or because there’s always something else to be done. Or maybe it’s that disability insurance policy that you just don’t want to spend the money on. For me, it was running a business with a single-point failure, which I knew was a problem, but I always told myself, “I’ll deal with that later.”
One of the biggest lessons I learned along the way was that I couldn’t keep doing what I was doing, having a business that relied exclusively on my ability to be present day-to-day and generate all the revenue. I needed help. I needed to create a self-sustaining business that one day would run without me.
So, the first thing I did was simply recognize this need for change. Tony Robbins always says the first step is always to “decide.” Well, that’s exactly what I did. I “decided” that being a solopreneur not only deprived me of my most valuable asset, my time, but also put my family in danger by risking this happening all over again and putting my family’s security at risk. The next thing I did was start the process of building out my team and my processes to ensure that in the event this ever happened again, the impact on my personal life, at least financially, would be minimized.
Looking back to July 4th and my screaming to the nurse at the other end of the intercom, I can honestly say that things are better today than they have ever been. I did eventually emotionally apologize to the receptionist for my expletive-filled rant. And I did learn and reinforce a few things along the way. So today, I am happy to report that my business continues to thrive and is stronger than it was before this whole ordeal. I’ve begun the tedious task of assembling a world-class team and putting the processes and procedures in place to ensure “unforeseen” challenges have a minimal impact on my business. I know this will take time, but so far, I feel that I have taken significant steps to achieving that goal. We’ve hired two outstanding attorneys, one paralegal, a personal assistant, and two business coaches. Although I have a long way to go to finalize a self-sustaining company, I have never been as excited as I’ve been about the future and the prospect of spending my most valuable asset, my time, the way I want to spend it: with my family.
My hope is that if you’re someone who is in the midst of a struggle, you will find comfort in my story and be reassured that you will eventually get there. Maybe you are fighting depression, maybe you are divorcing from an important relationship in your life, maybe you don’t see the light at the end of the tunnel―I have learned, if you pay attention and learn from what the universe gives you, you can come out the other end in a much better place than you were in when you entered.
So, don’t quit. Some of your biggest challenges in life can turn into your biggest blessings. As my dear friend and mentor, Bob Helms, likes to say, “You don’t need to give birth to new ideas [or experiences]…you can adopt.” Although I would never wish my experience on my worst enemy, my experience has reminded me that life, and specifically your health, is a gift. And I don’t intend on wasting it.
---------------
TWEETABLE
Don’t quit. Some of your biggest challenges can turn into your biggest blessings: if you know where to look.
---------------
One of the few lawyers that actually speaks English, Mauricio is one of the premier syndication attorneys in the country helping real estate syndicators raise hundreds of millions of dollars to pursue their dreams of financial independence. Named as a “Rising Star” by Super Lawyers magazine, Mauricio regularly shares the stage with The Real Estate Guys and the likes of Robert Kiyosaki, Ken McElroy, Brad Sumrok, Peter Schiff, and others. Mauricio currently enjoys an extraordinary life with his wife Heidi and their two little angels, Adelina and Alessandra. Connect with Mauricio at www.MauricioRauld.com
Facebook: MauricioRauld YouTube: Mauricio J. Rauld
CHAPTER 4
From Quitting to Significance
by Brian Brault
I quit. I’m done committing my passion, creativity, and tenacity to building a bigger or a better business. I need to do something more significant.
I guess this realization was inevitable. Looking back, I can see where this desire began.
It was just before New Year’s in 1997 when my father took all the grandchildren to New York City for a little trip. When my son, who was six at the time, returned home, he was so excited to tell me about the Statue of Liberty, FAO Schwartz, and all the places they had gone. Then he told me a story.
He sat on my lap, looked at me, and shared how on the last morning of the trip they all went for a walk in Central Park. It was really cold. As they were rounding a bend, heading back towards the hotel, they noticed a man lying on a bench who didn’t have a coat. He saw his grandfather walk over, take off his long winter coat, and wrap it around the man. He then turned and kept walking. My son ran up to him and asked, “Papa, why did you do that?”
To which my father replied, “Matt, that man is very poor and needs that coat more than I do. I can always buy another one.” And they continued on towards the hotel.
I recognized the impact this lesson had since it was the only story my son chose to share. I realized this was the environment I had grown up in. As I reflected further, one of my many memories growing up was how we would say grace before dinner. Inevitably, my father would end the prayer with “and help us to be mindful of those less fortunate than ourselves.” As I thought about how this mindset manifested itself in the way I built my businesses, I realized I had created a culture of service, taking care of others, and making lives better.
This all brings me to a very important moment in my life.
In early June of 2015, I hosted Jeff Hoffman, a co-founder of Priceline.com, as a speaker for an Entrepreneurial Masters Pr
ogram which I directed at an MIT retreat campus. I listened as he talked about his most recent world speaking tour and specifically his experience of being in the Middle East. There, he saw how people lived in poverty, hunger, violence, and terrorism and that it had been like that for generations. He talked about encouraging entrepreneurship by helping people find basic skills, honing them, and developing small businesses. The result would allow people to shift their focus from WHO was the cause of their plight to building a better life for themselves and their future generations.
In that moment, I knew my life would change. His words crystallized in my mind and heart what had been echoing inside me. I connected with him for some time and explored the concept of leveraging entrepreneurship to help the world. I began thinking about the heart of an entrepreneur, the passion, the tenacity, never taking no for an answer, and the creative force within us. I realized that we rely on those traits every day to get us through difficult times to build better businesses, bigger businesses, new businesses. But what would happen if we could harness that spirit and apply it to the way the world solves its problems.
I started to explore these thoughts with my mentor, Warren Rustand. During one of our discussions, he shared some stories with me about how he and his wife, Carson, spent time in Kolkata, India, visiting an orphanage for children with disabilities. He talked about the fact that these children would probably never get adopted. He also talked about going into a home for dying people. He talked about the powerful emotions that surfaced when he held a dying person in his arms. He expressed the value these people found in just having someone to talk to, to spend time with them, and be present, and how it was one of the greatest gifts they could be given. As he shared these stories, and the emotional connection, we both had tears in our eyes.
I had started to create opportunities within the Entrepreneurs’ Organization to connect our members with ways of being more impactful in the world. So many of our members had already made incredible strides in impacting those in need. Connecting them with other members and other organizations was inspiring.
I thought I was well on the way to living out my purpose.
However, in early July 2018, I was speaking in Mumbai, India. I had half a day available and asked a friend of mine if he would take me on a tour of the largest slum in Asia. It was the slum that he and his father had created projects to help revitalize. I was hoping to become educated through having a guided tour by someone who understood the culture of the slums. I had no idea what was to come and what I would walk away with.
As we got started, I noticed the smell of garbage and the massive number of people. We ducked off the main street and headed down an alley to where people lived. As I walked, I stretched out my arms and touched both walls. I noticed doors on both sides. One was open. I looked inside and found a family of five living in an 8’ x 8’ room with one bed and a handful of kitchen utensils. Door after open door, I saw the same situation. This tugged on my heart.
I walked further, and my attention started to shift to what was really going on around me. I was in the middle of one of the most amazing entrepreneurial environments I had ever seen. Just about everyone was making something out of nothing.
Back out on the main street, to my left, I saw someone take a 3‘ x 3‘ closet and open a barbershop. His perspective was, “Why would I need any more space than to fit a barber chair and room for me to stand?”
A few steps further and two young boys walked by with clear garbage bags over their shoulders filled with various plastic containers they had found in nearby dumpsters. We followed them into a small garage where an older boy was grabbing plastic with the seven fingers that remained on his hands and shoving it into a make-shift grinding machine. The young boys were told to leave their bags in return for a small amount of money. They protested and tried to bargain for more, arguing that the quality of the plastic would fetch the older boy a better price. This was met with threats, and they were quickly shooed away.
What I noticed was all the elements of a supply chain from the young garbage pickers to those who then separated it, ground it, packaged it up, and eventually carted it off to a large recycling plant. Everyone along the way was able to make a little bit of money just to survive. I left feeling like we have so much to learn from them.
Several months later, I was invited to Nairobi, Kenya to speak to a group about authentic leadership. Once again, I had half a day free. I jumped at the chance to tour Kibera, the largest slum in Africa.
This visit was even more impactful than my time in India. I spent much more time and immersed myself in much deeper parts of everyday life. I was guided by the executive assistant to the founder of an organization called SHOFCO. The founder had grown up in the slum. In his early teens, he started to realize that there had to be a better way of life. As he got older, he started to create opportunities for people to break the cycle of poverty.
I walked into a very small building that housed a water purifying plant, built, in part, and run by people from the slum, which distributed healthy water at two cents per gallon.
In the next building over, I toured a school built just for girls. While speaking with the principal, I learned that without such a school, these girls would not likely be educated otherwise.
A few hundred yards later, I walked into a 15’ x 15’ room, with 50 people huddled in the cramped space, eager for their computer training. This program was launched because almost any job these days requires some level of basic computer knowledge. They also recognized that even someone with basic computer skills, if lacking social skills and the ability to confidently apply for and interview for a job, may never be able to put those computer skills to work. So, they added a class on career placement.
The woman guiding me said, “Hey, there is someplace I would like you to see.” A few moments later, I walked into a cluster of small rooms where a number of women were gathered sewing uniforms for the girls’ school as well as laptop computer covers and a variety of other items. They were laughing and enjoying each other while working. They were eager and proud to share all their work. I enjoyed them. I felt like grabbing a cup of coffee and sitting for a couple more hours and talking. It was only as I was walking out that I learned these wonderful women were outcasts from the slum community because they were all HIV positive. Imagine that, being an outcast in a slum.
As I left Kibera that day, I was hit with the realization that I could not sit in my comfortable world, where I get three square meals a day, a roof over my head that doesn’t leak, a comfortable pillow, a car to drive, and a variety of options for me to live my life the way I want to, and truly create programming that is impactful in the world. I need to understand the people, their issues, and the conditions they face before I go out and try to make a difference. This caused me to reflect on the stories that Jeff Hoffman and Warren Rustand shared and realize they were a result of actually “being” in the environments they were talking about.
It became clear to me that I need to be present in the environments I wish to affect. That doesn’t necessarily mean I need to travel halfway around the world. Those opportunities exist in my own backyard.
While I will continue my efforts to bring entrepreneurs together to make a difference, I am also committed to helping them create an emotional connection to their cause. I want to provide immersive experiences for others to hold hands with the people they want to help, to learn from the environments and situations they want to improve, to hold a starving child, to create hope where it doesn’t exist.
We change our ways through emotional connection. Our emotions move us to act.
I no longer have the same passion to leverage my entrepreneurial talents to build more businesses and line more pockets. My passion is to build a movement to create change in the world that will last forever.
---------------
TWEETABLE
“Leadership is about making others better as a result of your presence and making it last in your absenc
e.”
– Francis Frei, Harvard Business School
Join me in making a positive global impact, creating hope where it doesn’t exist, and making change last in our absence.
---------------
Brian Brault is a principal in PURE Rooms, a 15-year-old company that converts hotel rooms to healthier wellness environments and 2008 recipient of Cornell University’s Innovator of the Hospitality Industry award. He led Advanced Facilities Services International, Inc. for 28 years (sold in 2014), earning a spot on Inc. Magazine’s “500 Fastest Growing Companies” list, and being named one of the best companies to work for in WNY. Brian recently served as Chair of the Board for the Entrepreneurs Organization (EO) and is co-chair of the Entrepreneurial Masters Program teaching fast- growing entrepreneurs. He leads the EO Working group on the UN partnership he fostered, which founded two days of think tanks at the UN to address the 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
Brian is also speaker, leadership trainer, and retreat facilitator of the past 11 years.
Brian@Life-Bydesign.com
CHAPTER 5
The Night My Future Knocked on The Door
by Eric Bowlin
H e looked across the desk at me, then laughed in my face. I started to gather up my paperwork to leave, and he said, “I promise you this, you will never get a loan. You are not going to buy a house.” I hurried out of the bank as he continued to chuckle at me.
It was the spring of 2009, and the economy was in tatters. Fortunately, I was a full-time Ph.D. candidate studying economics working as a teaching assistant and also part-time in the Army National Guard as an Infantry Platoon Leader, so I was able to avoid the worst of it. I wanted to buy a home, primarily because of the tax credit in place for first time home buyers, but also because I thought it was a great time to buy at the bottom. I planned to sell it in a few years and buy a home elsewhere when I got a job as a professor.
I wish I could remember who the loan officer was because I’d love to track him down and have a chat. I’m not sure what I would do or say―part of me would want to brag and gloat to show him how wrong he was. I think that’s human nature. But, part of me might thank him.