Episode 050 – Paul Thompson

Are you following a default life plan? Growing up, many of us believed that true success came from degrees, a corporate job, buying a house, and working the 9-5 until retirement. You can choose this path and you might find fulfillment. Or you lead a life by your design, filled with passion, success, achievement, and true freedom.

Paul Thompson followed the default life plan of going to school and working in a corporate job. He had money and a loving family, he was living a comfortable life. What Paul didn’t have was time, fulfillment, and true freedom, but he kept working due to fear and uncertainty. Paul finally realized that he wasn’t creating his own dream, he was creating someone else’s dream. 

Paul began buying cash flowing rental properties. He built a business of buying property at deep discounts and creating residual streams of income so he didn’t have to rely on clocking into a job.

Paul swore that he wouldn’t live a default life anymore, and began to lead a life by design. Today, Paul is a real estate investor, entrepreneur, loving husband and father, mentor, and host of the Ready Investor One podcast.

On this episode of the #IAmMovement podcast, Paul and I discuss how he transitioned from creating someone else’s success to creating his own, how he achieves fulfillment by helping and teaching others, and why the one percent rule is extremely important when buying real estate.

Topics Discussed

00:00 – Intro to Paul

01:25 – The path to entrepreneurship 

04:06 – Branching off into real estate

09:18 – The 1 percent rule

10:22 – Wholesale real estate

13:00 – Routines vs habits

14:50 – Happiness is the pursuit of a worthwhile goal

18:20 – Helping others achieve success

19:52 – Cash Flowing markets vs appreciation markets

21:18 – Preparing for a downturn

24:34 – Connect with Paul

Key Takeaways:

“Any sort of investment should be thought of as a long term play.” – Paul Thompson

“When you’re not waking up each morning thinking how am I going to pay this bill, and instead you’re thinking about how can I help somebody else so that they don’t have

to think about any of their bills ever again – that is super super powerful.” – Paul Thompson

“When you establish your reputation, referrals are really all you need.” – Paul Thompson

“My three key stone routines are exercise, meditation and reading. I have to do some version of that so that I can be the best version of me and so that I can go out in the world and serve somebody.”  – Paul Thompson