How Leaders Can Use Their Day Jobs To Bootstrap Their Dreams

When wealth falls into your lap, that's luck. When you work to build your own wealth, that's success.

The thing is, success will often require you to give all you have, especially when you don't come from money. One such leader playing the long game to success is Richard Garcia, author of The Seven Steps to Wealth Creation through Real Estate Investing who steadily worked his way to a $10 million real estate portfolio while employed at a 9 to 5. It’s hard to believe he was once living on Walmart’s $7.30/hour.

"Success has no definite destination," Richard explains. "Because every time you achieve a set objective, you subconsciously move the goal post so you always have a new mission to go after. And in my experience, what you learn on your journey is just as beneficial as when you hit your goals."

In this article, Richard shares some of the most important tenets he learned on the way to financial freedom.

Your discomfort is your greatest gift

The first phase of Richard's work life was spent at Bank of America and then Merill Lynch. While still a student at Florida State University, he went to work for Bank of America as a teller, moved up the ranks to become a sales and service specialist, and then became a personal banker, and senior personal banker, after which he worked for Merrill Lynch.

Doing this work exposed him to how the wealthy made financial decisions.

After just one year at Merrill Lynch, Richard left in order to strike out on his own.

"I've always wanted to be in charge of my financial destiny, and making $90k wasn't going to cut it. As the saying goes, 'contentment eliminates greed, but satisfaction eliminates pursuit.' I couldn't picture myself sitting in someone else's company for eight hours daily for the next forty years, so I decided to move on. You could say my discomfort and dissatisfaction was my greatest motivation to take the next step."

Learn every skill available to you on your way up

While in banking and finance Richard became skillful at selling financial products to Bank of America customers. At Merrill Lynch, he was advising big brands like Ashley Furniture and Outback Steakhouse, and garnering 60 clients with an average portfolio of $100 million each.

"During my time there my biggest client was worth around $1 billion. After I left the finance world, I became a tech recruiter for companies like Robert Half, Citrix Systems, Solar City, and Tesla. As it turns out, my time in finance helped me learn to trade. Penny stocks trading in particular. I invested about 40 percent of my savings from my Bank of America job into penny stocks, and I made about $700k in the first few years because I kept reinvesting the money. This money would eventually help me make my foray into real estate in 2012."

Commiting to continuously expanding his skillset and growing hisr knowledgebase was critical, because it prepared him for multiple opportunities down the line. As Richard puts it, "Growing laterally first will build the springboard you need to launch vertically when the time comes."

Take calculated risks, not gambles

There'll always be risk in striving for financial success, but you get to define how much of it you're willing to expose yourself to. Richard advises taking as little risk as possible.

"I know it's not what most people are used to hearing. But taking high risks with the mindset that high risk means high rewards is a dangerous strategy because there's almost no way back from that should you fail. You're essentially gambling."

Richard bought his first propert, a triplex, in 2011. The potential in real estate investing was clear to him, but contrary to popular advice, Richard didn't quit his job. He stayed on for another year even after buying his second property. He was living in one of the properties and house hacking it while collecting rental income from the other. Once he left his 9-to-5, he continued to trade penny stocks.

"If you work a steady job, and perhaps you have bonuses coming in like I did, use that money to set up another source of income without quitting. The first source of income feeds the second, the second feeds the third, and the chain continues like that." explains Richard. "Don't put all your eggs in one basket, no matter how enticing the egg may seem. Always opt for a low-risk long-game strategy. There's a much higher chance of success with that."

Learn from the best, pass to the rest

The BRRRR technique is a well-known technique in real estate that many successful Realtors and investors use to get the best from their portfolio. It's one Richard swears by too. The BRRRR method was popularized by David Greene, and stands for "Buy, Renovate, Rent, Refinance, Repeat.” “By the time my real estate portfolio hit $10 million, I had used the heck out of David Greene's formula. Looking back, finding his method saved me a lot of trouble.”

Richard talked about his experiences and success in real estate on social media, and soon started getting calls and questions from colleagues and friends he'd worked with asking how they could do it too. Soon enough he became a real estate coach.. He has since won awards for reaching the ClickFunnels for making over $2 million club with his two real estate courses. His book has also been downloaded over 10,000 times.

Richard started Wealty.io to allow investors with smaller budgets to get into the real estate game via co-investing. Rather than keep his knowledge and success to himselfm he is continually passing it on to others. Richard asserts that, "If you're the only one who benefits from an opportunity afforded to you, you're not yet successful. When you shine a light down the path for people to follow your footsteps, that's true success."

There are always many opportunities to become financially successful. It may not happen quickly, but being patient, growing your skill set, knowledge, and network while staying steadily building towards your goal is the best guarantee for financial freedom you may ever have.