Four REI Rules: Never Neglect Them!
Build Wealth Without Losing Yourself
Most people get into real estate investing because they want financial freedom. But too many investors burn themselves out, wreck their relationships, and lose sight of the real reason they started in the first place. If you’re not careful, you’ll end up rich but miserable, successful but alone. That’s why these principles exist—to help you build wealth without destroying yourself in the process.
1) The “6-and-1” Rule – Take a Break, or You’ll Break
From day one, commit to taking at least one full day off per week. No deals, no emails, no phone calls—just rest. Eventually, you should aim to take the entire weekend off.
Why? Because financial freedom means being free—not just from money problems, but from the constant grind. If you never let yourself rest, you’ll never feel free, no matter how much money you have.
2) The “Deal Detox” Rule – Don’t Let the Hustle Become an Addiction
Real estate investing is exciting. The thrill of closing deals, watching your net worth climb, and scaling your business can be intoxicating. But be careful—if you’re not mindful, the hustle itself can become an addiction.
Workaholism wrecks marriages. It isolates you from your family and friends. It turns you into a person who is always busy but never present. And if you build your entire identity around chasing deals, what happens when the deals slow down?
Money is a tool, not a purpose. The point of success is to enjoy life—not to be consumed by the chase.
3) The “Geek Out” Rule – Find Joy Outside of REI
If your entire life is just real estate, then your life is boring. You need something outside of investing that you genuinely enjoy—something that’s just for fun.
In the old days, we called this “having a hobby.” Maybe you love reading, golf, fantasy football, painting, decorating, cooking, Star Trek, bodybuilding, or collecting Russian nesting dolls—whatever it is, GEEK OUT over it!
Enjoying things outside of work isn’t a waste of time. It’s actually some of the best time you’ll ever spend.
4) The “Bigger-Than-You” Rule – The Most Important Principle in Life
Let’s get real for a moment. You might be reading this because you want to build a real estate empire, achieve financial freedom, and create the kind of wealth most people only dream about. And hey, that’s great—I’m all for it. But before you get lost in the grind, I need you to understand something: If you make real estate investing the biggest thing in your life, you will eventually feel empty.
Think about it. Right now, you probably feel like your deals, your investments, your portfolio, and your financial goals are everything. But zoom out for a second. You are one of over 8 billion people living on this tiny speck of rock and water, hurtling through space at 67,000 miles per hour around a burning ball of gas in one of billions of galaxies across an incomprehensibly vast universe. If our entire planet were to vanish tomorrow, the cosmos wouldn’t even blink.
That’s the cold, hard truth. And if you subscribe to a purely materialistic, atheistic worldview, that’s where the truth stops. You’re here by accident, a random collection of atoms, existing for no reason other than the blind march of time and physics. Your wins and losses, your love and pain, your memories and struggles—all of it ultimately means nothing. The universe doesn’t care. There’s no grand reason for your existence, no ultimate justice, no deeper purpose.
And yet… does that conclusion feel right?
If atheism is correct, then nothing actually matters beyond what we personally decide to care about. Morality is just a social construct. Love is nothing more than brain chemistry. The death of a child, the suffering of the innocent, the sacrifices of a hero—none of it has any ultimate significance. We are all just temporary, self-aware dust.
Now, some people argue that this is the most practical way to think. That since we can’t prove the existence of God, it’s best to assume He doesn’t exist and just live for ourselves. But here’s the problem: That way of thinking leads to detachment, depression, and despair. It strips life of deeper meaning and turns people into isolated, self-serving beings. And if you follow that logic to its end, what’s stopping someone from doing whatever they want, morality be damned?
Now consider the alternative.
What if you are not an accident? What if the universe isn’t just an indifferent void, but the creation of a Being so vast, so intelligent, so powerful, that He spoke it into existence? What if, despite your microscopic insignificance in the grand scheme of things, you were actually created on purpose?
What if you matter not because of your wealth, your success, or your contributions, but simply because you were designed by a Creator who values you?
Think about the things you love most in life—your family, your friends, your passions. Why do those things matter to you? Is it just a trick of evolution? Or is it possible that your deep, unshakable sense that love is real, that justice matters, that your life has meaning—is actually correct?
Here’s what I believe: The God who made this vast, infinite universe didn’t create you by accident. He made you because you were meant to exist. And that makes you immeasurably valuable.
So why does this principle matter to your success in real estate investing? Because if you live like money is your purpose, it will fail you. You can own every property on Earth and still be miserable and alone. You can build an empire and still feel empty inside. The greatest tragedy isn’t failing to reach financial freedom—it’s reaching it and realizing it didn’t make you happy.
At the end of the day, the point of all these principles is mental, emotional, and spiritual health. If you neglect them, you will destroy yourself from the inside out. But if you embrace them, you will build a life that is truly worth living.
Because when you know why you matter, everything else finally makes sense.
