As someone who has found success in life and achieved a sense of fulfillment, I want to share with you the key that has helped me along the way. While I can't guarantee the same outcome for you, I believe that this concept can empower anyone to take their life to the next level.

So what is this key? It's simple: when you truly know what you desire and believe it's possible, you can accomplish anything as long as you don't quit.

While this may not be a new idea, it's worth exploring in more depth. First, it's essential that your desires come from within, rather than what society expects of you or what you think you "should" want. Take the time to explore what truly pulls at your heartstrings, and ask yourself why you want to achieve those things. The desire that I found that drove me to my success was this: I want $10,000+ per month from passive income from rental properties. This goal was driven by the desire for me to provide for my wife and kids, even if I were not able to work anymore.

I'd encourage you to find a desire that is bigger than yourself. If your motives solely benefit yourself, consider finding a why that extend beyond yourself, such as providing for your family or helping others, since it is much more difficult to give up when others are counting on you. It's the same premise used when you have a gym buddy. If you know someone is counting on you to be there, you're more likely to do the work to be there and show up.

The second part of the key is believing that your desires are possible. Sometimes, this requires meeting someone who has achieved what you want and learning from them. Hearing about their journey and success can help shift your mindset from "that's not possible for me" to "if they can do it, so can I." For me, this occurred when I grabbed lunch with an investor at Olive Garden, Terry. He went on to share with me how he purchased 17 houses, all rented for about $1,000 a piece, which grossed him $17,000/month in revenue. That simple meeting illuminated my eyes to see what is possible. Prior to that meeting, I didn't know that this was achievable. If someone would've told me, "hey, you can have $10k+ coming in every month from your rental properties," I would've shrugged it off and probably said something like "that's not for me" or come up with a myriad of excuses (e.g., "I don't have money, my credit is bad, etc."). But what happened in that meeting was belief. This belief is crucial to staying motivated and pushing through difficult times.

The last part is not giving up. You can know what you want, you can belief that you can achieve it, but if you give up, you'll never reach the goal. There is a reason that most successful entrepreneurs attribute their perseverance to their success. It's because achievements are tough. Life is difficult. Things don't go as planned. With your limited perspective on the situation and with what it'll take to actually achieve it, it's most likely going to be significantly harder than you could ever even imagine. But one thing I've found is that we as humans as stronger than we think we are. Life is difficult but we are resilient. We are powerful creatures. But you must have that resolve to just keep moving forward. If not, you'll always give up before you reach what you truly want.

This last point is probably the most important in this blog:

It's crucial to note that achieving your goals is not the end-all-be-all of fulfillment. The journey towards your goals is just as rewarding, as it forces you to grow and evolve as a person. It's the process of becoming the type of person who can achieve those goals that leads to true fulfillment, not just the achievement itself. And to be clear, I was able to achieve that goal of $10k per month. I currently own 49 units in the Birmingham market.

The amazing part is seeing the person you have to evolve to be able to achieve the goal. The parts of yourself that you never saw in yourself before that come out. The growth in how you handle situations or how you view life, or how you lead, or your communication, or your willingness to take risks, or your discipline. THAT is the reward. The goal is only the catalyst to fulfillment, not the fulfillment itself. But utilizing goals will force you to level up, which in turn brings out a new version of yourself.

So whether your goals involve real estate, fitness, relationships, or anything else, remember that the key to achieving them is knowing what you truly desire and believing it's possible. Don't be afraid to try new things, seek out mentors, and persist through difficult times. With this key, you can accomplish anything and find true fulfillment along the way.