Those who know me, know that I love science. Almost as much as real estate. So in this blog post I get the chance to talk about science and relate it to real estate. And on top of that we get to talk about one of any little kids favorite things, trains. Or choo choo trains. But more specifically the force it takes to start and stop them. But not really talking about trains :). We’re dealing with Momentum in your personal and professional life. Read on to follow along.

Trains are super heavy

As any person, anywhere in the world knows, trains are extremely heavy. The locomotive alone can weigh anywhere from 65 – 134 tons. Then add the weight of all the cars and what they are carrying, we are talking insane weight. According to Google, the heaviest train, including 100 iron ore cars, 6 locomotives distributed between the front, middle, and end, weighed an incredible 12,000 tons. Crazy!

I personally know of a high school friend who had one of his arms and legs severed by a train. It was in a small town so everybody knew about it. In that same town we had another high school friend who had his truck hit by a train which killed him. Stories like these are unfortunately common. Never try to outrun a train. Give them the respect they deserve.

Trains can cause a lot of destruction. It has to do with the Force. Not Star Wars, Physics! Newton’s First law of Inertia. Simplified, an object at rest will stay at rest and an object in motion will stay in motion unless acted upon by an outside force. Since the Force behind a moving train is so high, it takes an equally excessive Force to stop it. Imagine 1,000 or so tons rolling along and trying to stop it. Ever tried to stop a rolling car? A small force will slow it down just a little. Like the train vs the car in the picture. The force of the car is almost insignificant compared to the train. If the train didn’t use it’s brakes it could keep going until the car literally falls apart. Trains are super heavy, and even moving at slow speeds can plow through just about anything. They are almost an unstoppable force. As long as they don’t derail.

Thanks for the Train Science Lesson, what does this have to do with anything?

The point of all of that is to consider how a train starts and stops. We’ve all seen it. Being stuck at a train crossing and of course, the train stops and you can’t do anything but wait. When the train starts moving again, it doesn’t take off at 0-60 mph in 3 seconds. Going back to Newton’s Laws, it takes a lot of Force to get a stopped train moving again. So it starts moving extremely slowly. But, little by little it gains speed. It is building up momentum. It doesn’t take too long for it to build up enough momentum that it will now take longer and more Force for it to stop than it took to get moving. I won’t bore you by showing the math on how that works.

Now let’s relate that to real life. This can be applied to just about anything. Starting a new job, starting a business, getting healthy with diet and exercise, and even investing in Real Estate. I, or course, will primarily relate this to real estate because it is what I do and can use my personal experience. Although there was a time when I started exercising and went through torture to get started but ultimately lost 85 pounds and was in the best shape of my life and running 5 miles a day, but I won’t discuss that here.

Get the train moving

Getting started is the hardest part. It takes a lot of effort, a lot of sacrifice, maybe some tears, hopefully no blood. It can be scary and stressful. You have to dedicate a lot of time to education to learn how to do things. In the case of exercise it will make your body ache. It will require a sacrifice of money being put at risk, sacrificing your time from doing other things like watching tv.

For real estate investing, I spent countless hours listening to podcasts, watching webinars, reading books, asking questions on forums and directly to more experienced investors. I had to learn how to properly analyze a deal. Then I spent a lot of time searching for and analyzing properties, good and bad, just to get familiar with that process. That way, I could recognize a great deal when I found one.

When I finally found one I was ready, but I was still scared. I discussed that fear in previous posts. But I didn’t let that stop me. I purchased that first property. I was applying force to my train wheels. It was barely moving but at least it was moving. Then I bought more properties, now I got that train to be noticeably moving. Now I am working on some new development and networking like crazy, I’ve been a guest on a few podcasts. With all of that, I am just barely pulling out of the train station.

But, the thing is, each day I am doing better. I am still learning, forming partnerships, joining masterminds, and my rental portfolio will continue to grow. As it does, that train will move faster and faster. Then one day, the momentum will be so great that I won’t be able to stop it. It will fuel itself and nothing will stop me.

Fortunately, I am the type of person that likes to help others. So as my train is moving along I will pick up people along the way, tie their train to mine and help get them moving faster. If I do that enough times, they may possibly end up moving faster than I am and begin to push my train to help me go faster too.

Momentum is the Key

The point is that you just need to start. Take those first baby steps. Each little advance will build you up and get you moving. No matter what it is. If you want to start a new business, the same applies. You may put in several years of 100+ hours/week before it becomes profitable. But it will be building momentum and one day you will be able to relax and just ride the train. That is basically how Josh Dorkin did it when he founded Bigger Pockets. It is hard, but worth it later on.

What would you regret more? Starting and failing, or never trying and continuing the rest of your life with nothing changing? To me it is worth the effort to even try. Even if it takes 10+ years to gain some good momentum, what would your life be like in 10 years if you didn’t try? Many people I personally know have been able to dramatically change their lives in as little as 3-5 years with real estate. Some even less. I will always say that in my opinion, Real Estate is the best investment vehicle. The only other thing I would say that could surpass that, or at least a very close second, is to start your own business. Something that is scalable so it isn’t always just you doing all the work.

So, get your train moving. Build momentum and become an unstoppable Force! If you need help getting started with Real Estate, contact me and let’s set up a time to talk about how you can get started. Toot, Toot!