May 21, 2025
One of the best decisions I made for my family came from taking action in an uncertain time.
(And it’s got nothing to do with me playing pickleball with Jamie Foxx at his house).
Most people wait until they have full “clarity” before making a big move.
But clarity doesn’t come from sitting around and thinking longer and harder about a situation.
It comes from doing.
Let me explain…
Back in 2008 my wife and I were house hunting.
It was a global recession, a total “selling season.”
Almost every house in Southern California was for sale.
After a year and a half of trying to buy some homes that ended up in foreclosure or messy short sales, we found ourselves at an open house.
BEAUTIFUL place in a nice, private neighborhood.
Price tag: $1M (my absolute max budget at the time).
But my wife?
She’s not even looking at the house we came to see.
She’s in the backyard, peeking over at the neighbor’s property and their incredible backyard.
It had a:
- 75-foot pool with a slide and waterfalls
- Rock formation all around the pool
- Beautiful detached pool house
- Half-court basketball court
- Big fireplace hangout area
A completely insane backyard!
“What about this house next door?” she asks.
I scanned around to look for the “For Sale” sign…
Nothing.
So I told her:
“Looks like it’s not for sale. Plus, that house is WAY over our budget anyway!”
A few weeks pass by…
And I just couldn’t stop thinking about the house with the backyard my wife loved.
So I did something very bold.
I went to that house…
Knocked on the front door…
And asked if they’d consider selling.
The owner’s reply?
He wasn’t amused. He literally told me to get off his property.
But I gave him my business card in case he changed his mind.
Less than 45 days later, he called me!
Turns out they owed $1.9M to the bank, hadn’t paid their mortgage in over a year… and were facing foreclosure.
After 10 months of back and forth with his bank later…
We got that $2M – $3M house for just $850,000!!
To think the reason we live in this house today is because we just went and ASKED is crazy.
This would’ve never happened if we waited for clarity and the “perfect situation.”
People now look back to 2008-2009 and say it was a “no-brainer” to buy this short sale house we got, but back then?
Everyone was panicking about the global recession and real estate markets.
That’s why I’m telling you this story.
To get you moving and stop waiting for “clarity” to hit.
Life doesn’t work that way.
You’ve gotta make decisions and take action towards your goals.
A GPS (or Waze) can’t direct a parked car.
You have to start driving to navigate and find your way.
So, what big door are you gonna knock on today?
To your ELEVATED success
Chad
Want to hear more about how rejection often leads to unexpected opportunities? I shared my full journey of embracing failure and taking action despite uncertainty on The BrainStoke Podcast.
P.S. If you’re an entrepreneur with $25M or more in liquidity and want to make your money work even harder for you–set up a call with my team, and let’s explore new ways to make that happen.
