Tim Kelly - The Truth About Financial Freedom That No One Talks About | Real Estate Educators Podcast with Kevin Amolsch

Description

Everyone talks about achieving financial freedom—but almost nobody talks about what happens after you get there.

In this episode of the Real Estate Educators Podcast, Kevin Amolsch sits down with former Navy rescue swimmer, multifamily investor, bestselling author, and high-performance coach Tim Kelly.

Tim shares how house hacking with a VA loan sparked his investing journey, how mentorship helped him buy apartment buildings while still serving in the military, and why he walked away from a military pension to pursue financial freedom.

But the conversation goes much deeper than real estate.

Tim opens up about hitting financial freedom only to discover it didn't automatically create happiness. He shares the personal struggles that followed, how rebuilding his life changed his perspective, and why true freedom requires purpose, discipline, relationships, and personal growth—not just passive income.

Whether you're just getting started in real estate or already building wealth, this episode is filled with practical investing advice and meaningful life lessons.

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 - From Navy rescue swimmer to real estate investor
09:05 - Buying apartment buildings while serving in the military
12:18 - Why mentorship accelerated Tim's success
18:08 - Why most people stay stuck and never invest
28:05 - The surprising truth about financial freedom
38:20 - Clarity, energy, and courage: Tim's coaching philosophy

Connect with Tim Kelly:
Website: TheTimothyKelly.com

Learn more about Tim's coaching programs, commercial real estate investing, leadership development, and transformational adventure retreats.

Learn more about Pine Financial Group:
pinefinancialgroup.com

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Transcription

Speaker #0
That kind of pulled me in to start diving into the real estate world. How do people build wealth? How do people create financial freedom by owning more real estate? And that's kind of similar to you. I read the book Rich Dad, Poor Dad, and from there it kind of opened up my mind. You can't create freedom by working a job, a nine to five. And I think a lot of people know that, but they're not willing to step out of that because there's a lot of unknowns and it requires change. And change is hard for people. Kevin. That's probably one of the biggest reasons why people are not willing to take that risk. Guys, like financial freedom is not just about escaping work. Okay. It's about becoming responsible enough to use freedom well. So the person listening, don't just ask, how do I get more freedom? And if you're talking about financial freedom, don't just ask like, how do I get financially free? Ask yourself, am I becoming the kind of person who could handle the freedom that I'm actually asking.
Speaker #1
We're in negotiations. We're investing in real estate. They're winning. They're making money.
Speaker #2
What's up, everyone? Welcome to the Real Estate Educators Podcast, where we provide the education you can build on. I am your host, Kevin Amalsh. We are back. I'm really excited about this episode because me and this guest have a little bit in common. So I think we're going to have a lot of fun on this podcast. So Mr. Tim Kelly, you've been in the business for about 10 years. But prior to that, you were in the Navy, so a military background, and you decided, you know what, the military is great, I love it, but it's not creating that financial freedom I'm looking for. So you decided to get into real estate, and now you're a real estate syndicator focused mostly on multifamily and some, I guess, I want to say trailers, but that's not really the word I'm looking for. Manufactured communities, that's the word I'm looking for. So that's what you're doing now, and I know you're helping a lot of people out there, so welcome to the show.
Speaker #0
I appreciate it, man. I've been looking forward to our conversation, man. Let's get into it.
Speaker #2
Let's do it. So take me back. Military, What took you there?
Speaker #0
Yeah, man. Honestly, I would say my life has really just been a series of identity transitions, probably like a lot of people that we're always changing and pivoting. But I went from a confused kid that grew up in the suburbs of Chicago. into the Navy because I was like put on this path like a lot of us were to go to school get you know get a degree you know and just get a job and this didn't sit well with me but I still went with it I still went to a university right out of high school one semester in dropped out I'm just like this is not for me not it's not gonna work kind of fumbled around for a year or two job to job I thought I was gonna be playing music for a while you I've been playing drums all my life, so I was in different bands. And then that didn't work. And then one of my best friends and I were like, Hey man, let's join the Marine Corps together under the buddy program. So he ended up going, but unfortunately at the time, I had a couple speeding tickets on my record, so I had to get waivers and the Marine Corps didn't accept me, so I went next door to the Navy recruiting office. And they definitely got me with, hey, man, you could be a Navy SEAL. You know, you could be a special operator. You could be on the special teams. I'm like, that sounds fun. So that's what kind of attracted me. I ended up signing up with the Navy to be contracted to special teams. That didn't work out. But I ended up becoming a rescue swimmer in the Navy where we embodied the mantra of, like, you know, so others may live. And then I got a... Ended up around my 10-year mark, realized I didn't want to do another 10 years of deploying and leaving my family just to get a pension. And that's when I got the real estate bug. And so that's where life took me from that point, man.
Speaker #2
Yeah, it's so interesting. You know, they got me. I was in the military. Also, I was in the Army. And I went to infantry. And they got me the same way, man. They're like, come on in. You can play laser tag for a living. It's great. So I went in. prior to going to school. So similar. And then I ended up going to school after getting my degree. So you stayed in quite a bit longer. I was only four years, but look, I found real estate while I was in also. And I did that by reading books like Rich Dad, Poor Dad. So how being a rescue swimmer, do you get attracted to real estate? What's the picture there? Yeah.
Speaker #0
A few years before I like, you know, I caught up a little bit, this long deployment, when I was like 10 years in and I had like a this idea. I had to figure something else out. I'm not doing another 10 years. So a few years before that. I used my VA loan for the first time to buy a home that turned out to be a house hack and a live-in flip without really knowing a whole lot about investing or not really having that investor mindset. And so that planted a seed. I really enjoyed the art of just looking at properties. And then I'm like, you know, I need to update the kitchen and these bathrooms. And I realized I'm actually creating value by forcing appreciation. And then I was able to rent out one of my bedrooms. I'm like, hey, man, we have this extra bedroom. Let's just, you know, and then so that covered like most of my mortgage. Right. So that really left a mark that planted a seed. And then I kind of went on a couple of deployments. And then because of that, that process that I went through that I really enjoyed that left like a lasting impression. When I first realized I had to do something about this, I'm not going to stay in for the next 10 years, that kind of pulled me in to start diving into the real estate world. How do people build wealth? How do people create financial freedom by owning more real estate? And that's kind of similar to you. I read the book Rich Dad, Poor Dad, and from there it kind of opened up my mind and kind of really went after it. But I was stuck for a while, man, like trying to just, you know. go from where I was, this rescue swimmer in the Navy, and I wasn't like, didn't have a ton of savings. I was kind of living paycheck to paycheck. But I wanted to buy apartment buildings. I was like, going from where I am to that, I had major imposter syndrome, Kevin. I had fears and uncertainties and doubts because I was like, who the heck do I think I am going from where I am now to my current situation to that? But until I stepped in, I invested in education and training. invested in mentorship and coaching. Then I put myself in rooms full of people who are actually doing what I was trying to do. And I was having conversations with them and saying like, look, these people have already succeeded in what I'm trying to do. And they're not much different than me. I can figure it, you know, and so that gave me hope, right? That helped me close and buy an apartment building, you know, while I was still active duty. And that really opened up the floodgates for me and helped me realize once you get into your first deal. The second deal is a lot easier. The third deal is a lot easier. And it's kind of game over from there.
Speaker #2
So the inspiration came from just people that you were surrounding yourself with. And I know you have a passion to help other people. Maybe it stems from that, right? I mean, I didn't mention this, but you're a bestselling author also. So you got some inspiration from other people. Now it's your time to give back. Is that what this is?
Speaker #0
Yeah, Matt, like the Navy has this. has this collateral duty that has to be filled. It's called a command financial specialist. And so I was always at an interest in, you know, learning more about personal finance. And then, you know, I read all the books, I started investing in real estate, and I always just had this inherent obligation to just share with other people what I'm learning. If they're trying to go through it, and they're struggling, I just have this obligation to help other people. And then I so I stepped in the role as a command financial specialist where Thank you. Service members, you know, had to have a consultation with a command financial specialist. Let's say if they wanted to apply for basic allowance for housing, BAH, right? Or if they wanted to apply for a special program, or if they were in a bad financial situation, they had to go see a command financial specialist. So I had the opportunity to like meet with service members to help them really learn more about really what we are, what we never get to learn in school, the stuff we all should know. And then I ended up like hosting web like seminars and and stuff on deployments, you know, where I taught them about the rich dad, poor dad concepts. And and I just had a lot of fun doing that. And and so when I was investing in in in commercial real estate while I was still active duty, I shared my story. I was on a couple of different podcasts. And one of those podcasts was the Bigger Pockets podcast. I was featured on that back in 2018. And the founders of what now is called active duty passive income. It's the premier military real estate investing education community. They reached out to me. I was an active chief in the Navy, buying apartment buildings, had a passion for helping other service members learn all this stuff. And so at that point in 2018, I connected with them. And that was another reason why it was easy for me just to get out at 15 and a half years. not only because I was building wealth for myself and doing these large deals. But I was also helping other past and present service members and their families create wealth and financial freedom in real estate. And so that I was way more passionate about doing that than staying in, going on a couple more deployments just to get this pension. And so but now active duty, passive income is is grown and we've able to be able to help thousands and thousands of service members and their families, you know, find freedom in real estate. And so... I think it started with me just having this inherent desire to help people. And then I became a certified high performance coach because I was like giving all these people free coaching for years and years and years. And I'm like, I want to put some, you know, some structure around that so I can maybe monetize this. Because a lot of people are asking me for help. Let me try to like get to the next level of coaching so I could really make a big impact and help them really transform. And so and then I actually really were able to help people to that next level because I got. certified as a high performance coach. And I really realized what truly holds the high performers back from, from getting to that, that next level of clarity and energy and purpose in their lives. And that's kind of what I'm focusing on now. So,
Speaker #2
Oh man, I definitely want to get into that, but let me, I want to make sure I understand the story here. So you were in, you were, you got out at 15 and a half years. So you had 15 and a half years in service of four and a half from your pension.
Speaker #0
That's right.
Speaker #2
And you decided to get out, I suspect... Real estate has done you well over that four and a half years.
Speaker #0
Yeah. I mean, honestly, I got a lot of funny looks, Kevin. I was, you know, a senior enlisted leader. I was pretty high ranking. And the higher ranking you are when you leave at that time in service, you get a lot of funny looks, right? People looked at me like I was absolutely insane. And like, to me, it's like they, a lot of people around me were calling it like free money. Like, well, you can just hang out. You can get a... you know, a bunch of free money. And I, dude, I saw the trade off differently. And I'm sure you served. Like I saw the deployments. I saw the strain on the families. Families are not supposed to be apart for nine, 10, 12 months at a time. I saw the sacrifice. People were sacrificing their health, their, their mindset, their time, right? All the years I would never get back. If I didn't get out, I would probably have gone on a couple more deployments. wouldn't have been able to really step out of the Navy to step into what I believe is God's purpose for me. And I would have been unhappy, unfulfilled. You know, and I would not have been able to impact my own financial legacy, but all the other thousands of service members that I've helped since then. And so, but yeah, during that time, I got a lot of funny, crazy looks from people. And, you know, one of the first things you mentioned early on in our conversation, Kevin, was You have to be intentional about the rooms that you put yourself in. And those people started like were making me feel like I really was crazy for wanting to get out to step into my purpose, my calling instead of just serving. Oh, it's only four and a half, five more years. You know, but I saw, you know, I saw it differently. And so I really had to remove myself from that environment and be intentional about putting myself in the rooms with people who have already. who had that growth mindset, who want to make a big impact, who did take those types of risks for greatness.
Speaker #2
Yeah. So for our listener benefit here, I mean, if you would have made the move earlier, you might be further along now. Had you made it later, maybe not as far as you are. So obviously no regrets here, but for someone on the fence, like, should I get in or should I not? Like, what's the advice?
Speaker #0
I'll just, I'll just say this, the cost of inaction is a lot more expensive than the cost of taking action and making a mistake. The cost of inaction is a lot more expensive than the cost of taking action and making a mistake. Because you're going to make mistakes. You're going to struggle. You're going to have challenges and obstacles. That's just part of the process. But a lot of people think, what is it going to cost me? What?
Speaker #2
Yeah.
Speaker #0
I don't want to. pay a mentor or pay to be in a mastermind. Those are all scams. Like that's right. Only people who are not willing to invest in themselves will say something like that. But, and so they think, why would I pay, you know, 5,000 or 10,000 to like be in this room full of, full of people who are just more successful than me. They're just, you know, they're not gonna, they're just, you know, they just come up with all these excuses. Like all of a sudden they're just going to try to like take advantage of that person. you know, the new person. But you know, what I've learned is the most successful people on the planet have gotten to that point with the use and leveraging. coaches and mentors and being in masterminds and surrounding themselves with other people, right? So the cost of doing nothing, the cost of inaction is a lot more when you think about where are you going to be at in the next 12 months going nowhere, there's usually a lot of pain and they usually want to escape something. They want to leave their nine to five because they hate their job or they want to be able to provide better for their family, or they want to be able to, you know, retire their wife or something like that. But if they do nothing, a year later, and nothing changes, that's a lot more expensive. The opportunity that you missed out on is a lot more expensive than taking action now, learning from mistakes, being around other people who've already done it and just going for it. Right? But a lot of people don't think like that. They think of it's expensive, of it god it's They think of the cost of what it would take to get started versus the cost of doing nothing.
Speaker #2
Do you think that's what it is? Or is it like a fear of making a mistake or a fear of something else? Like, is it that or maybe we could define cost? There's a lot of mindset shifts.
Speaker #0
There's a lot. As you know, there's a lot of mindset shifts that have to be taking place just to give you enough courage to even start. And like everybody has their own why. everybody has their own reason and desire for achieving an ambitious goal. Most people would never even think it's possible to go buy a multi-million dollar apartment building. Like they think they're never going to be, you know, in a position to do that. They think that they are, it's just so out of reach. Like you have to have all this experience or you have to have hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars sitting in your bank account. or you have to just know a bunch of rich people. None of that is true at all. I was literally living paycheck to paycheck as an E6, and I went as an active duty rescue swimmer, and I got into an apartment complex, right, as a partner. I had ownership in a multimillion-dollar apartment complex, and that one deal obviously completely changed everything for me. So most people just, they come up with these reasons because we're programmed to stay small. And unless they get around rooms with people who have already done it, they're going to listen to their own self-talk. And we were programmed to not take risks. And then if they think about doing these, taking these risks and think about investing in themselves to get to the next level, they're part of their brain that wants them to stay small or negotiate with them. Oh, that's too risky, man. You know how many people lost their shirt in the crash in 2008? Why would you want to take that kind of risk? And they'll start negotiating with the part of their brain that wants them to stay small. And the part of the brain that wants them to stay small will start winning the negotiation because they isolate themselves and they're trapped in their own thoughts. Which is why you have to step inside of rooms and have conversations with real people who have really achieved what you're trying to achieve so they can walk you through how it's actually possible. If you're staying in your own thoughts, you cannot succeed in isolation. Okay? Write that down if you're listening to this. You cannot succeed in isolation. Because your thoughts, your own thoughts, the way we are programmed in this school system is to stay small. It's to work for somebody else. Let somebody else take the risks. I'll just be a worker bee. I'll work for somebody else. Trade my time for dollars. You can't create freedom by working a job, a nine to five. And I think a lot of people know that. But they're not willing to step out of that. Because there's a lot of unknowns and it requires change. And change is hard for people, Kevin. That's probably one of the biggest reasons why people are not willing to take that risk. Even if they're willing to, even if they're willing to like get into that new environment, it requires change and change is hard for people. We're sitting here, Kevin, as a result of like, you know, all the things we've learned, all the education we've gotten. We're here as a result today of all the people we've spent time with up until today. And we are, or we're here as a result of all the decisions we've made up until right now. But if we want to change our future, if we want to accomplish something different, something bigger, we have to change. We have to change what we learn. We have to change the people we spend time with. We have to change our decision-making process. Because if we keep doing the same things and hanging out with the same people and making the same decisions. we're going to get the same results. If we think we're going to get a different result, that's the definition of insanity, right? So we, I think that change. changing what we learn, changing who we spend time with, changing our decision-making process is what most people are not willing to go through. They're not willing to make those changes.
Speaker #2
It's like me trying to learn AI or that's like, that changes hard, man.
Speaker #0
I'm right there with you, man. And look, change is inevitable. The only thing that is constant is change, especially right now, things are all over the place, man. You know, and that's a whole nother conversation, but there's still.
Speaker #2
Gold nuggets in there for the listener, man. You just dropped some absolute gold on us. There is one thing I want to challenge you on a little bit. Just get your opinion on it because you mentioned something in there about a nine to five and you can't reach freedom with it. I don't know that I totally agree with that, Tim, because I think as long as you are investing money that you earn, I don't know if it matters so much where you earn it. Like for me and you, we want to earn it in real estate. But if you're in the military. or you're a doctor or you're a teacher or anything, and you're taking money and investing it in assets, then I think you can reach that freedom. Now, real estate happens to be a fantastic asset to invest your money into, but anything that's going to appreciate or generate cashflow could create that freedom. Am I wrong?
Speaker #0
You are absolutely spot on. And I'm glad you brought this up to mitigate any confusion. The nine to five, what I'm talking about is you can't create freedom and abundance and everybody has their own definition of freedom. And I just had a really deep conversation with one of my accountability buddies, just like a few hours ago, about there's financial freedom. And for a lot of people, they see it differently. But for most people, it's like you have enough passive income coming in from income producing assets or some kind of passive income that replaces your expenses. Your monthly expenses are covered by your monthly passive income that you don't have to go get a job to do. Like you don't have to trade your time for that income. Like whether you wake up and go to the beach or whether you wake up, go on vacation, that income is still coming in. That's typically most people's definition of financial freedom. That's the first milestone. Like you have enough passive income coming in to replace your living expenses. Right. But there's a different level of freedom. you know um and you know i i learned not to get too vulnerable here but i learned a lot of hard lessons when i had my first when i had my first level of freedom when i had my first financial freedom when i first got out um i learned the hard way that more freedom doesn't automatically make your life better, Kevin. A higher level. a higher level of freedom requires a higher level of responsibility. Guys, financial freedom is not just about escaping work, okay? It's about becoming responsible enough to use freedom well. So to the person listening, don't just ask, how do I get more freedom? And if you're talking about financial freedom, don't just ask, how do I get financially free? Ask yourself. Am I becoming the kind of person who could handle the freedom that I'm actually asking for?
Speaker #2
That's pretty deep.
Speaker #0
Dude, I went into a dark place when I had that level of freedom because I didn't have my level of responsibility wasn't there. Because I thought it was a destination and it's not a destination. When you achieve financial freedom, this is like a new beginning, like a new chapter that also requires growth. to maintain and thrive with that freedom. So you have to step into a next level of responsibility, of discipline, and growth in order to maintain that level of freedom.
Speaker #2
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Speaker #3
Oh man. Um, this is what
Speaker #0
I hope really sticks with people. Um, Anybody who tells you that achieving any kind of level of financial freedom, it's all like, you know, butterflies and rainbows or like, you know, bright day. Like you only accomplish that through a lot of peaks and valleys and ups and downs. The line is never going to be straight. And you have to know that going in. You can't expect it to be a simple, easy. I'm going to go this way. And then you just easy stair step up. You're going to have peaks and valleys. And so there's a lot of adversity to get to that point. And then I felt like I achieved it. But the reason why I didn't really have or feel like I had the level of responsibility because I went into a dark place. I, my why was from my own selfish desires because I wanted freedom. I wanted shiny possessions. I wanted lavish vacations. I wanted. I wanted a certain status.
Speaker #3
And because of that, I literally lost it all after I got out. I also went through a really ugly and dark divorce. I was depressed. I had suicidal thoughts, Kevin.
Speaker #0
And because... A few men that I met when I was in the Navy encouraged me to build a relationship with God and give it all to Him and surrender it to Him. When I was in the darkest place, the number one thing I learned was I needed to, this is not, I'm not going to rebuild this on my own. I have to give it to God. And so I surrendered it to Him and I built a relationship with Him ever since. And during the darkest time in my life, Kevin and I, if it could anybody relate if they have gone through a dark time, because we're all going to go through ups and downs in our life. But during the darkest time for me, that's when the brightest stars shined. And I'm talking about the people who show up for you when you're when you least expect when you're down in the dumps when you're in the dark pits, those those dark valleys. Okay. There's going to be people who you expect to show up for you. And there's going to be people who actually do show up for you. And those are the brightest stars that I'm talking about.
Speaker #3
And now those are some of the best friends that I have right now and my accountability buddies. And so I was able to now reach even more abundant levels of freedom.
Speaker #0
Because I'm not building it for my own selfish desires. I rebuilt it obeying God and this is him and giving it to him and surrendering it to him. And I had to grow into that. And I also met an incredible woman who is now my bride. We got married about a year ago.
Speaker #2
Congratulations.
Speaker #0
Thanks, man. She helped me get closer to God. Um, so I'll repeat for the person listening. Don't. Don't just ask yourself, how do I get more freedom? And then once I do that, I'll be sad. But ask yourself, are you growing into the person who can handle the freedom that you're asking for? Because you're going to be in a completely different place. We're going to require next level discipline and next level growth to be able to sustain that level of freedom.
Speaker #2
This is pretty amazing. So we talk about goals. I mean, any high achiever like yourself, Tim, has goals, right? And we talk about this a lot and how we accomplish them and how important it is to set the correct goal. If you set an incorrect goal that doesn't serve you, you're going to potentially hit that goal and it could hurt you, right? We talk about that. We know that. So what you're saying is maybe a goal, and I'm not trying to put words in your mouth. So correct me if I'm not hearing this right, but A goal maybe shouldn't be a financial goal necessarily. It's what's the person you want to be. And that person might have some financial wealth. built into it, but it's more than just one piece of your life, right? There's your spirituality, your fitness, your family, all of these different pieces that go into the person you are. Focus on that as a goal, not the financials. Am I hearing this right?
Speaker #0
I mean, I'll share with you exactly what my goal setting strategy is right now. I have five areas in my life, five life arenas that I always have specific one thing each week that I need to focus on to move the needle in that specific life arena that those five life arenas, they actually create the acronym GROWS, G-R-O-W-S, because we always have to continue to grow in our life. Right. And so. I don't know. I think I thought I was raising my hand. That's funny. So yeah, if you're watching this, you saw on Zoom, I raised my hand. So the grows, my personal goals outline grows. G is my growing my relationship with God is number one, you know, becoming closer to him. reading his word every single day, having an hour long holy hour in the morning, praying, surrendering everything to him and reading his word so I can understand him more so I can discern what he's telling me to do so I could be obedient. Because again, I'm not building my future for myself, my own selfish desires is for him. So that's the number one, that's G. R is my relationship and it's also Ramya is the name of my wife. So how can I be a better husband, a better provider? and improve like our communication, improve our relationship, which, you know, one's our next date. Like what is the one thing I'm going to do this week to improve our relationship, move our relationship forward? That's the R. The O is occupation. It's my job. Like what am I actually doing right now to provide the most amount of value? And right now it's helping people invest in large commercial assets and helping professionals unlock levels of clarity, energy and purpose that they've never achieved before through adventure and challenge doing hard things and elite level coaching. So just as a high performance coach, that's kind of like the ways I'm able to add the most amount of value right now that's occupation. So it's like, what is the one thing I need to do to, to move that needle? And then W is wealth. So long-term wealth, long-term legacy, what are the things I need to do to, to move the needle? There's always something to do, whether it's trying to mitigate taxes. Right now I'm finalizing a revocable living trust for my future and my family. So I'm finalizing a trust. Like what are the things I need to do to really maintain and build my long-term financial wealth? And then S is my strength. My strength, my vitality, my fitness, and my nutrition. What is the one thing I need to do? Right now I'm looking to go from like 13% body fat below 12, but be by the 4th of July. Like that's my, that's my target. So now I'm learning, like, how do I really get more cut and more lean ready for the summer? And so those are the five life arenas that mean the most to me. And so it's not definitely not all about money, but I will say, you know, and I even wrote a book about this and about goal setting is, you know, if you're not willing to establish your goals, write them down, have some kind of tracking mechanism and put an accountability system in place, I don't think you're worthy to accomplish those goals.
Speaker #1
Yeah, the accountability, that's the hard part for people. But it sounds like you get some support with your accountability partners. So we are running up against it here, Tim. So we got to get moving. I'm going to go through some notes here with you. I want you to listen and tell me if they're missing anything. But I also, I know we're going to run a little bit long here. So I apologize to the listener. But I really want to get into a little bit about how you help people like this elite coaching, elite level coaching, and then obviously your contact information. So I'm going to go over as fast as I can here. Some of my notes that I took while... you and I were having the conversation. So you learned early on that forced appreciation and house hacking is a great way to get into real estate. And I know you also did, we did the live in flip. So that's why I wrote forced appreciation. The biggest thing that to your success that you contributed to is investing in yourself. And you did that by different groups and different rooms you're in, going to the networking meetings, finding mentors and coaches. The cost of inaction is more expensive than the cost of action and mistakes. That was great. Learn from your mistakes. Coaches and mentors are essential in your success. You talked about that a lot in this episode. So clearly that's super important and a big impact for you. We are programmed to stay small, not take risks. No success in isolation. Change is hard. We need to understand that change is hard and there's lots of changes to get to that person we want to be. But we need to do that change to get to where we want to go. Freedom takes responsibility and it creates potentially more responsibility. Is your why bigger than you? I wrote that down because if it's selfish, your why is selfish, it could potentially blow up in your face. But is it bigger than you? Is there something else you're trying to create? People you're trying to help. And your people in your life are essential. So when we're talking about the darkest time, you found your people in that time. And that's essential for your success now. You want to grow into the person that you're trying to create. And the way you do it is by your grows goals, the five arenas. I can list those off, but I don't need to do that. The one thing that's important for the listener here, I think, is that one thing in each of those areas every single week to drive that forward. That's how you get to where you want to go. How did I do, Tim?
Speaker #0
Oh, man. Yeah, that's a great summary. I'm really glad that you did that because we did kind of go over back and forth, you know, over a lot of different.
Speaker #1
things and topics and but there was definitely a lot of nuggets in there things that i've learned from other people um and so i'm glad that there's plenty of takeaways for for the listen you know i and you highlighted really the the stuff that i hope sticks with for people who are listening for sure yeah and you absolutely know what you're doing you drop some gold nuggets as i mentioned this is one of our better episodes no question about it um so we want to get more value from Tell me about elite level coaching.
Speaker #0
Yeah. I mean, like, look, I, you know, I, I just, as I was learning what I, you know, and getting to the point where I wanted to in real estate, I learned I had to grow to become that person. I couldn't just go from where I was as this E6 living paycheck to paycheck, all of a sudden, you know, a successful multifamily investor. I had to grow into that version of the person who was going to accomplish those goals. And With that, I kind of sort of became obsessed with personal professional development, you know, read all kinds of mindset and psychology books. And then I came across one called High Performance Habits by Brennan Burchard. And that took me down a path where I became then a certified high performance coach. And, you know, I took, you know, when I became certified as a high performance coach, I took this assessment. It's like a high performance assessment. And I kind of went through it. It goes through the five high performance pillars that the high performers like focus on. They move and they practice every day. And I was just like set back by the questions that went really, really deep, but were so simple. And I want to, if you're listening to this, I want. you to assess yourself in at least three areas to figure out where your gap is. And I'm going to tell you the three areas are number one, your clarity, number two, your energy, and number three, your courage. So assess yourself on a scale from one to 10, number one being clarity and ask yourself, how clear am I on who I am, what I do? how I add value to people and what I need to get to the next level on a scale from one to 10, just assess yourself in that. And if you're below an eight on, on clarity, you get, I mean, you shouldn't be doing anything until you figure out why. And that's the most important piece. And you mentioned this earlier, Kevin is figure out your why, like, why is this important to you? Why do you want to accomplish that thing and go at least five, not seven layers deep. Why is that important to me? Well, I want to achieve this for this reason. Well, why is that important? Well, I want to do this. I want to. And a lot of times it's emotional and it brings it back to helping somebody or maybe because of how they were raised. They saw one of their parents working two or three jobs, never escaping the grind. They don't want that for their family, that for their kids. They went through some trauma. They just don't want, you know, they want to break free from that. Like it's usually it's got to be deep and it's got to be emotional. Number one, clarity, assess yourself on how clear you are and who you are, what you do, what the value that you can bring to people and what you need to get your next level and then figure out your why. And that's the second thing is energy. Like how much on a scale from one to 10, how much energy do you have in moving towards your goals, like physical and, and mental energy? Like, do I have the physical and mental stamina to, you know, pursue the mission that I say matters? And then the last one is, is courage. Thank you. And some of the, this is absolutely insane, Kevin, like some of the highest performers, people who have achieved incredible success in business, they have a lot of courage with achieving, moving towards their goals and, you know, in the high stakes negotiations. But there's usually a conversation that they have not had or a hard, a conversation that takes a lot of courage that they're, that they're avoiding with someone that they love. Their spouse, their kids, their parents, their siblings, that takes courage. So assess yourself in that courage. Like, am I being courageous with the people that I love and the why that I'm doing what I want to do in business and in money and all that stuff? How courageous am I being? Or is there a conversation or decision or commitment that I'm avoiding? And I think once you kind of take those, you'll have a really good idea of where you're at and what your next level could look like and what. where those gaps might be. And I actually created a, what's called a high performance clarity assessment. That's on my website. And I could, I could direct people there if they want to take it. It's something that was really profound for me that helped me really unlock my next level. And it laid out like what steps I needed to take. So that was, that was pretty cool.
Speaker #1
Well, we're at it, man. We want to get your contact information and whatever you're willing to share with us. So yeah, I guess to the website.
Speaker #0
Yeah, for sure. I mean, Um, The thing I'm probably most excited about right now is, you know, I'm helping a lot of people invest in these large deals. But I just got back from summoning Mount Kilimanjaro with a group of people that I led and took them through this coaching journey where we do hard things together like summit Mount Kilimanjaro. And we all got to the next level of clarity and purpose and courage. by leaving something on the top of the mountain that was no longer serving us. And I have my business partner and I, we already created the next three adventures. We're going to go back to Kilimanjaro. We're going to go to Patagonia and we're going to do Machu Picchu. And we're going to take a small group of high performers who are looking for the next level to come with us. And so you can find more about that. The best way to just, if any of this resonated with you, just go to my website, The Timothy Kelly, K-E-L-L-Y. dot com. And there you could, you'll see all my socials are all the, all the handles are also at the Timothy Kelly. And if this conversation struck a chord with you and you just know you're capable of more, you could take that clarity assessment and then just book a call with me. I want to know more about you. I want you to know more about you before we get on a call so we can make the most of our time together and we'll just look at where you're stuck and wasn't this aligned and what your next courageous move actually needs to be. And we can talk about what it would look like working together if it's fit.
Speaker #1
I have to share the story with you, Tim. So we talked about different rooms to be in, and sometimes you got to pay to be in those rooms. So there's a several that I've been involved in that are north of 30 grand a year. That's a level of people I want to be around in one of those rooms. There was a smaller group created to go. climb Mount Kilimanjaro. And I try to say yes as much as I possibly can in life. I just feel like your life is better with yes than no. So I went on this trip and I climbed that mountain with a bunch of real estate investors. From that group, I got invited into a much smaller group. That's like a very small, intense mastermind group. And we meet regularly. And I got to tell you, man, It really changed my life. And now I've climbed, Rainier. And now I'm going to go do Machu Picchu. We're doing the full Inca trail. That's a family friendly one. So that's exciting. So dude, we got a lot in common.
Speaker #0
That's awesome,
Speaker #1
man. I just had to share that because you said that. I was like, wow, that is so unique. But anyway, thank you so much for being on the show. I know you're really busy. You got a lot going on and you hung out here for 45 minutes with me. So Tim, really appreciate it, man. Thank you.
Speaker #0
Yeah, no, it's been an absolute pleasure, man. Let me know if there's anything that you need or if there's anything I could do to support you on your journey. And I look forward to our next conversation, brother.
Speaker #1
All right. Well, we'll put all the contact information in the show notes. If you want to go climb a mountain with him, I think that's probably a good idea. So definitely a pretty cool opportunity there. And for the listener, you know, you have other podcasts you could be listening to and you chose the Real Estate Educators podcast. I hope you got as much value out of this episode as I did. if you did. five-star review, share it with a friend, and I hope you make this day a great one. I really hope you enjoyed this episode as much as I did. If you did, please be sure to follow and leave a five-star review. Oh yeah, and tell a friend.

Description

Everyone talks about achieving financial freedom—but almost nobody talks about what happens after you get there.

In this episode of the Real Estate Educators Podcast, Kevin Amolsch sits down with former Navy rescue swimmer, multifamily investor, bestselling author, and high-performance coach Tim Kelly.

But the conversation goes much deeper than real estate.

Whether you're just getting started in real estate or already building wealth, this episode is filled with practical investing advice and meaningful life lessons.

TIMESTAMPS

Connect with Tim Kelly:
Website: TheTimothyKelly.com

Learn more about Tim's coaching programs, commercial real estate investing, leadership development, and transformational adventure retreats.

Learn more about Pine Financial Group:
pinefinancialgroup.com

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Transcription

Speaker #0
That kind of pulled me in to start diving into the real estate world. How do people build wealth? How do people create financial freedom by owning more real estate? And that's kind of similar to you. I read the book Rich Dad, Poor Dad, and from there it kind of opened up my mind. You can't create freedom by working a job, a nine to five. And I think a lot of people know that, but they're not willing to step out of that because there's a lot of unknowns and it requires change. And change is hard for people. Kevin. That's probably one of the biggest reasons why people are not willing to take that risk. Guys, like financial freedom is not just about escaping work. Okay. It's about becoming responsible enough to use freedom well. So the person listening, don't just ask, how do I get more freedom? And if you're talking about financial freedom, don't just ask like, how do I get financially free? Ask yourself, am I becoming the kind of person who could handle the freedom that I'm actually asking.
Speaker #1
We're in negotiations. We're investing in real estate. They're winning. They're making money.
Speaker #2
What's up, everyone? Welcome to the Real Estate Educators Podcast, where we provide the education you can build on. I am your host, Kevin Amalsh. We are back. I'm really excited about this episode because me and this guest have a little bit in common. So I think we're going to have a lot of fun on this podcast. So Mr. Tim Kelly, you've been in the business for about 10 years. But prior to that, you were in the Navy, so a military background, and you decided, you know what, the military is great, I love it, but it's not creating that financial freedom I'm looking for. So you decided to get into real estate, and now you're a real estate syndicator focused mostly on multifamily and some, I guess, I want to say trailers, but that's not really the word I'm looking for. Manufactured communities, that's the word I'm looking for. So that's what you're doing now, and I know you're helping a lot of people out there, so welcome to the show.
Speaker #0
I appreciate it, man. I've been looking forward to our conversation, man. Let's get into it.
Speaker #2
Let's do it. So take me back. Military, What took you there?
Speaker #0
Yeah, man. Honestly, I would say my life has really just been a series of identity transitions, probably like a lot of people that we're always changing and pivoting. But I went from a confused kid that grew up in the suburbs of Chicago. into the Navy because I was like put on this path like a lot of us were to go to school get you know get a degree you know and just get a job and this didn't sit well with me but I still went with it I still went to a university right out of high school one semester in dropped out I'm just like this is not for me not it's not gonna work kind of fumbled around for a year or two job to job I thought I was gonna be playing music for a while you I've been playing drums all my life, so I was in different bands. And then that didn't work. And then one of my best friends and I were like, Hey man, let's join the Marine Corps together under the buddy program. So he ended up going, but unfortunately at the time, I had a couple speeding tickets on my record, so I had to get waivers and the Marine Corps didn't accept me, so I went next door to the Navy recruiting office. And they definitely got me with, hey, man, you could be a Navy SEAL. You know, you could be a special operator. You could be on the special teams. I'm like, that sounds fun. So that's what kind of attracted me. I ended up signing up with the Navy to be contracted to special teams. That didn't work out. But I ended up becoming a rescue swimmer in the Navy where we embodied the mantra of, like, you know, so others may live. And then I got a... Ended up around my 10-year mark, realized I didn't want to do another 10 years of deploying and leaving my family just to get a pension. And that's when I got the real estate bug. And so that's where life took me from that point, man.
Speaker #2
Yeah, it's so interesting. You know, they got me. I was in the military. Also, I was in the Army. And I went to infantry. And they got me the same way, man. They're like, come on in. You can play laser tag for a living. It's great. So I went in. prior to going to school. So similar. And then I ended up going to school after getting my degree. So you stayed in quite a bit longer. I was only four years, but look, I found real estate while I was in also. And I did that by reading books like Rich Dad, Poor Dad. So how being a rescue swimmer, do you get attracted to real estate? What's the picture there? Yeah.
Speaker #0
A few years before I like, you know, I caught up a little bit, this long deployment, when I was like 10 years in and I had like a this idea. I had to figure something else out. I'm not doing another 10 years. So a few years before that. I used my VA loan for the first time to buy a home that turned out to be a house hack and a live-in flip without really knowing a whole lot about investing or not really having that investor mindset. And so that planted a seed. I really enjoyed the art of just looking at properties. And then I'm like, you know, I need to update the kitchen and these bathrooms. And I realized I'm actually creating value by forcing appreciation. And then I was able to rent out one of my bedrooms. I'm like, hey, man, we have this extra bedroom. Let's just, you know, and then so that covered like most of my mortgage. Right. So that really left a mark that planted a seed. And then I kind of went on a couple of deployments. And then because of that, that process that I went through that I really enjoyed that left like a lasting impression. When I first realized I had to do something about this, I'm not going to stay in for the next 10 years, that kind of pulled me in to start diving into the real estate world. How do people build wealth? How do people create financial freedom by owning more real estate? And that's kind of similar to you. I read the book Rich Dad, Poor Dad, and from there it kind of opened up my mind and kind of really went after it. But I was stuck for a while, man, like trying to just, you know. go from where I was, this rescue swimmer in the Navy, and I wasn't like, didn't have a ton of savings. I was kind of living paycheck to paycheck. But I wanted to buy apartment buildings. I was like, going from where I am to that, I had major imposter syndrome, Kevin. I had fears and uncertainties and doubts because I was like, who the heck do I think I am going from where I am now to my current situation to that? But until I stepped in, I invested in education and training. invested in mentorship and coaching. Then I put myself in rooms full of people who are actually doing what I was trying to do. And I was having conversations with them and saying like, look, these people have already succeeded in what I'm trying to do. And they're not much different than me. I can figure it, you know, and so that gave me hope, right? That helped me close and buy an apartment building, you know, while I was still active duty. And that really opened up the floodgates for me and helped me realize once you get into your first deal. The second deal is a lot easier. The third deal is a lot easier. And it's kind of game over from there.
Speaker #2
So the inspiration came from just people that you were surrounding yourself with. And I know you have a passion to help other people. Maybe it stems from that, right? I mean, I didn't mention this, but you're a bestselling author also. So you got some inspiration from other people. Now it's your time to give back. Is that what this is?
Speaker #0
Yeah, Matt, like the Navy has this. has this collateral duty that has to be filled. It's called a command financial specialist. And so I was always at an interest in, you know, learning more about personal finance. And then, you know, I read all the books, I started investing in real estate, and I always just had this inherent obligation to just share with other people what I'm learning. If they're trying to go through it, and they're struggling, I just have this obligation to help other people. And then I so I stepped in the role as a command financial specialist where Thank you. Service members, you know, had to have a consultation with a command financial specialist. Let's say if they wanted to apply for basic allowance for housing, BAH, right? Or if they wanted to apply for a special program, or if they were in a bad financial situation, they had to go see a command financial specialist. So I had the opportunity to like meet with service members to help them really learn more about really what we are, what we never get to learn in school, the stuff we all should know. And then I ended up like hosting web like seminars and and stuff on deployments, you know, where I taught them about the rich dad, poor dad concepts. And and I just had a lot of fun doing that. And and so when I was investing in in in commercial real estate while I was still active duty, I shared my story. I was on a couple of different podcasts. And one of those podcasts was the Bigger Pockets podcast. I was featured on that back in 2018. And the founders of what now is called active duty passive income. It's the premier military real estate investing education community. They reached out to me. I was an active chief in the Navy, buying apartment buildings, had a passion for helping other service members learn all this stuff. And so at that point in 2018, I connected with them. And that was another reason why it was easy for me just to get out at 15 and a half years. not only because I was building wealth for myself and doing these large deals. But I was also helping other past and present service members and their families create wealth and financial freedom in real estate. And so that I was way more passionate about doing that than staying in, going on a couple more deployments just to get this pension. And so but now active duty, passive income is is grown and we've able to be able to help thousands and thousands of service members and their families, you know, find freedom in real estate. And so... I think it started with me just having this inherent desire to help people. And then I became a certified high performance coach because I was like giving all these people free coaching for years and years and years. And I'm like, I want to put some, you know, some structure around that so I can maybe monetize this. Because a lot of people are asking me for help. Let me try to like get to the next level of coaching so I could really make a big impact and help them really transform. And so and then I actually really were able to help people to that next level because I got. certified as a high performance coach. And I really realized what truly holds the high performers back from, from getting to that, that next level of clarity and energy and purpose in their lives. And that's kind of what I'm focusing on now. So,
Speaker #2
Oh man, I definitely want to get into that, but let me, I want to make sure I understand the story here. So you were in, you were, you got out at 15 and a half years. So you had 15 and a half years in service of four and a half from your pension.
Speaker #0
That's right.
Speaker #2
And you decided to get out, I suspect... Real estate has done you well over that four and a half years.
Speaker #0
Yeah. I mean, honestly, I got a lot of funny looks, Kevin. I was, you know, a senior enlisted leader. I was pretty high ranking. And the higher ranking you are when you leave at that time in service, you get a lot of funny looks, right? People looked at me like I was absolutely insane. And like, to me, it's like they, a lot of people around me were calling it like free money. Like, well, you can just hang out. You can get a... you know, a bunch of free money. And I, dude, I saw the trade off differently. And I'm sure you served. Like I saw the deployments. I saw the strain on the families. Families are not supposed to be apart for nine, 10, 12 months at a time. I saw the sacrifice. People were sacrificing their health, their, their mindset, their time, right? All the years I would never get back. If I didn't get out, I would probably have gone on a couple more deployments. wouldn't have been able to really step out of the Navy to step into what I believe is God's purpose for me. And I would have been unhappy, unfulfilled. You know, and I would not have been able to impact my own financial legacy, but all the other thousands of service members that I've helped since then. And so, but yeah, during that time, I got a lot of funny, crazy looks from people. And, you know, one of the first things you mentioned early on in our conversation, Kevin, was You have to be intentional about the rooms that you put yourself in. And those people started like were making me feel like I really was crazy for wanting to get out to step into my purpose, my calling instead of just serving. Oh, it's only four and a half, five more years. You know, but I saw, you know, I saw it differently. And so I really had to remove myself from that environment and be intentional about putting myself in the rooms with people who have already. who had that growth mindset, who want to make a big impact, who did take those types of risks for greatness.
Speaker #2
Yeah. So for our listener benefit here, I mean, if you would have made the move earlier, you might be further along now. Had you made it later, maybe not as far as you are. So obviously no regrets here, but for someone on the fence, like, should I get in or should I not? Like, what's the advice?
Speaker #0
I'll just, I'll just say this, the cost of inaction is a lot more expensive than the cost of taking action and making a mistake. The cost of inaction is a lot more expensive than the cost of taking action and making a mistake. Because you're going to make mistakes. You're going to struggle. You're going to have challenges and obstacles. That's just part of the process. But a lot of people think, what is it going to cost me? What?
Speaker #2
Yeah.
Speaker #0
I don't want to. pay a mentor or pay to be in a mastermind. Those are all scams. Like that's right. Only people who are not willing to invest in themselves will say something like that. But, and so they think, why would I pay, you know, 5,000 or 10,000 to like be in this room full of, full of people who are just more successful than me. They're just, you know, they're not gonna, they're just, you know, they just come up with all these excuses. Like all of a sudden they're just going to try to like take advantage of that person. you know, the new person. But you know, what I've learned is the most successful people on the planet have gotten to that point with the use and leveraging. coaches and mentors and being in masterminds and surrounding themselves with other people, right? So the cost of doing nothing, the cost of inaction is a lot more when you think about where are you going to be at in the next 12 months going nowhere, there's usually a lot of pain and they usually want to escape something. They want to leave their nine to five because they hate their job or they want to be able to provide better for their family, or they want to be able to, you know, retire their wife or something like that. But if they do nothing, a year later, and nothing changes, that's a lot more expensive. The opportunity that you missed out on is a lot more expensive than taking action now, learning from mistakes, being around other people who've already done it and just going for it. Right? But a lot of people don't think like that. They think of it's expensive, of it god it's They think of the cost of what it would take to get started versus the cost of doing nothing.
Speaker #2
Do you think that's what it is? Or is it like a fear of making a mistake or a fear of something else? Like, is it that or maybe we could define cost? There's a lot of mindset shifts.
Speaker #0
There's a lot. As you know, there's a lot of mindset shifts that have to be taking place just to give you enough courage to even start. And like everybody has their own why. everybody has their own reason and desire for achieving an ambitious goal. Most people would never even think it's possible to go buy a multi-million dollar apartment building. Like they think they're never going to be, you know, in a position to do that. They think that they are, it's just so out of reach. Like you have to have all this experience or you have to have hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars sitting in your bank account. or you have to just know a bunch of rich people. None of that is true at all. I was literally living paycheck to paycheck as an E6, and I went as an active duty rescue swimmer, and I got into an apartment complex, right, as a partner. I had ownership in a multimillion-dollar apartment complex, and that one deal obviously completely changed everything for me. So most people just, they come up with these reasons because we're programmed to stay small. And unless they get around rooms with people who have already done it, they're going to listen to their own self-talk. And we were programmed to not take risks. And then if they think about doing these, taking these risks and think about investing in themselves to get to the next level, they're part of their brain that wants them to stay small or negotiate with them. Oh, that's too risky, man. You know how many people lost their shirt in the crash in 2008? Why would you want to take that kind of risk? And they'll start negotiating with the part of their brain that wants them to stay small. And the part of the brain that wants them to stay small will start winning the negotiation because they isolate themselves and they're trapped in their own thoughts. Which is why you have to step inside of rooms and have conversations with real people who have really achieved what you're trying to achieve so they can walk you through how it's actually possible. If you're staying in your own thoughts, you cannot succeed in isolation. Okay? Write that down if you're listening to this. You cannot succeed in isolation. Because your thoughts, your own thoughts, the way we are programmed in this school system is to stay small. It's to work for somebody else. Let somebody else take the risks. I'll just be a worker bee. I'll work for somebody else. Trade my time for dollars. You can't create freedom by working a job, a nine to five. And I think a lot of people know that. But they're not willing to step out of that. Because there's a lot of unknowns and it requires change. And change is hard for people, Kevin. That's probably one of the biggest reasons why people are not willing to take that risk. Even if they're willing to, even if they're willing to like get into that new environment, it requires change and change is hard for people. We're sitting here, Kevin, as a result of like, you know, all the things we've learned, all the education we've gotten. We're here as a result today of all the people we've spent time with up until today. And we are, or we're here as a result of all the decisions we've made up until right now. But if we want to change our future, if we want to accomplish something different, something bigger, we have to change. We have to change what we learn. We have to change the people we spend time with. We have to change our decision-making process. Because if we keep doing the same things and hanging out with the same people and making the same decisions. we're going to get the same results. If we think we're going to get a different result, that's the definition of insanity, right? So we, I think that change. changing what we learn, changing who we spend time with, changing our decision-making process is what most people are not willing to go through. They're not willing to make those changes.
Speaker #2
It's like me trying to learn AI or that's like, that changes hard, man.
Speaker #0
I'm right there with you, man. And look, change is inevitable. The only thing that is constant is change, especially right now, things are all over the place, man. You know, and that's a whole nother conversation, but there's still.
Speaker #2
Gold nuggets in there for the listener, man. You just dropped some absolute gold on us. There is one thing I want to challenge you on a little bit. Just get your opinion on it because you mentioned something in there about a nine to five and you can't reach freedom with it. I don't know that I totally agree with that, Tim, because I think as long as you are investing money that you earn, I don't know if it matters so much where you earn it. Like for me and you, we want to earn it in real estate. But if you're in the military. or you're a doctor or you're a teacher or anything, and you're taking money and investing it in assets, then I think you can reach that freedom. Now, real estate happens to be a fantastic asset to invest your money into, but anything that's going to appreciate or generate cashflow could create that freedom. Am I wrong?
Speaker #0
You are absolutely spot on. And I'm glad you brought this up to mitigate any confusion. The nine to five, what I'm talking about is you can't create freedom and abundance and everybody has their own definition of freedom. And I just had a really deep conversation with one of my accountability buddies, just like a few hours ago, about there's financial freedom. And for a lot of people, they see it differently. But for most people, it's like you have enough passive income coming in from income producing assets or some kind of passive income that replaces your expenses. Your monthly expenses are covered by your monthly passive income that you don't have to go get a job to do. Like you don't have to trade your time for that income. Like whether you wake up and go to the beach or whether you wake up, go on vacation, that income is still coming in. That's typically most people's definition of financial freedom. That's the first milestone. Like you have enough passive income coming in to replace your living expenses. Right. But there's a different level of freedom. you know um and you know i i learned not to get too vulnerable here but i learned a lot of hard lessons when i had my first when i had my first level of freedom when i had my first financial freedom when i first got out um i learned the hard way that more freedom doesn't automatically make your life better, Kevin. A higher level. a higher level of freedom requires a higher level of responsibility. Guys, financial freedom is not just about escaping work, okay? It's about becoming responsible enough to use freedom well. So to the person listening, don't just ask, how do I get more freedom? And if you're talking about financial freedom, don't just ask, how do I get financially free? Ask yourself. Am I becoming the kind of person who could handle the freedom that I'm actually asking for?
Speaker #2
That's pretty deep.
Speaker #0
Dude, I went into a dark place when I had that level of freedom because I didn't have my level of responsibility wasn't there. Because I thought it was a destination and it's not a destination. When you achieve financial freedom, this is like a new beginning, like a new chapter that also requires growth. to maintain and thrive with that freedom. So you have to step into a next level of responsibility, of discipline, and growth in order to maintain that level of freedom.
Speaker #2
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Speaker #3
Oh man. Um, this is what
Speaker #0
I hope really sticks with people. Um, Anybody who tells you that achieving any kind of level of financial freedom, it's all like, you know, butterflies and rainbows or like, you know, bright day. Like you only accomplish that through a lot of peaks and valleys and ups and downs. The line is never going to be straight. And you have to know that going in. You can't expect it to be a simple, easy. I'm going to go this way. And then you just easy stair step up. You're going to have peaks and valleys. And so there's a lot of adversity to get to that point. And then I felt like I achieved it. But the reason why I didn't really have or feel like I had the level of responsibility because I went into a dark place. I, my why was from my own selfish desires because I wanted freedom. I wanted shiny possessions. I wanted lavish vacations. I wanted. I wanted a certain status.
Speaker #3
And because of that, I literally lost it all after I got out. I also went through a really ugly and dark divorce. I was depressed. I had suicidal thoughts, Kevin.
Speaker #0
And because... A few men that I met when I was in the Navy encouraged me to build a relationship with God and give it all to Him and surrender it to Him. When I was in the darkest place, the number one thing I learned was I needed to, this is not, I'm not going to rebuild this on my own. I have to give it to God. And so I surrendered it to Him and I built a relationship with Him ever since. And during the darkest time in my life, Kevin and I, if it could anybody relate if they have gone through a dark time, because we're all going to go through ups and downs in our life. But during the darkest time for me, that's when the brightest stars shined. And I'm talking about the people who show up for you when you're when you least expect when you're down in the dumps when you're in the dark pits, those those dark valleys. Okay. There's going to be people who you expect to show up for you. And there's going to be people who actually do show up for you. And those are the brightest stars that I'm talking about.
Speaker #3
And now those are some of the best friends that I have right now and my accountability buddies. And so I was able to now reach even more abundant levels of freedom.
Speaker #0
Because I'm not building it for my own selfish desires. I rebuilt it obeying God and this is him and giving it to him and surrendering it to him. And I had to grow into that. And I also met an incredible woman who is now my bride. We got married about a year ago.
Speaker #2
Congratulations.
Speaker #0
Thanks, man. She helped me get closer to God. Um, so I'll repeat for the person listening. Don't. Don't just ask yourself, how do I get more freedom? And then once I do that, I'll be sad. But ask yourself, are you growing into the person who can handle the freedom that you're asking for? Because you're going to be in a completely different place. We're going to require next level discipline and next level growth to be able to sustain that level of freedom.
Speaker #2
This is pretty amazing. So we talk about goals. I mean, any high achiever like yourself, Tim, has goals, right? And we talk about this a lot and how we accomplish them and how important it is to set the correct goal. If you set an incorrect goal that doesn't serve you, you're going to potentially hit that goal and it could hurt you, right? We talk about that. We know that. So what you're saying is maybe a goal, and I'm not trying to put words in your mouth. So correct me if I'm not hearing this right, but A goal maybe shouldn't be a financial goal necessarily. It's what's the person you want to be. And that person might have some financial wealth. built into it, but it's more than just one piece of your life, right? There's your spirituality, your fitness, your family, all of these different pieces that go into the person you are. Focus on that as a goal, not the financials. Am I hearing this right?
Speaker #0
I mean, I'll share with you exactly what my goal setting strategy is right now. I have five areas in my life, five life arenas that I always have specific one thing each week that I need to focus on to move the needle in that specific life arena that those five life arenas, they actually create the acronym GROWS, G-R-O-W-S, because we always have to continue to grow in our life. Right. And so. I don't know. I think I thought I was raising my hand. That's funny. So yeah, if you're watching this, you saw on Zoom, I raised my hand. So the grows, my personal goals outline grows. G is my growing my relationship with God is number one, you know, becoming closer to him. reading his word every single day, having an hour long holy hour in the morning, praying, surrendering everything to him and reading his word so I can understand him more so I can discern what he's telling me to do so I could be obedient. Because again, I'm not building my future for myself, my own selfish desires is for him. So that's the number one, that's G. R is my relationship and it's also Ramya is the name of my wife. So how can I be a better husband, a better provider? and improve like our communication, improve our relationship, which, you know, one's our next date. Like what is the one thing I'm going to do this week to improve our relationship, move our relationship forward? That's the R. The O is occupation. It's my job. Like what am I actually doing right now to provide the most amount of value? And right now it's helping people invest in large commercial assets and helping professionals unlock levels of clarity, energy and purpose that they've never achieved before through adventure and challenge doing hard things and elite level coaching. So just as a high performance coach, that's kind of like the ways I'm able to add the most amount of value right now that's occupation. So it's like, what is the one thing I need to do to, to move that needle? And then W is wealth. So long-term wealth, long-term legacy, what are the things I need to do to, to move the needle? There's always something to do, whether it's trying to mitigate taxes. Right now I'm finalizing a revocable living trust for my future and my family. So I'm finalizing a trust. Like what are the things I need to do to really maintain and build my long-term financial wealth? And then S is my strength. My strength, my vitality, my fitness, and my nutrition. What is the one thing I need to do? Right now I'm looking to go from like 13% body fat below 12, but be by the 4th of July. Like that's my, that's my target. So now I'm learning, like, how do I really get more cut and more lean ready for the summer? And so those are the five life arenas that mean the most to me. And so it's not definitely not all about money, but I will say, you know, and I even wrote a book about this and about goal setting is, you know, if you're not willing to establish your goals, write them down, have some kind of tracking mechanism and put an accountability system in place, I don't think you're worthy to accomplish those goals.
Speaker #1
Yeah, the accountability, that's the hard part for people. But it sounds like you get some support with your accountability partners. So we are running up against it here, Tim. So we got to get moving. I'm going to go through some notes here with you. I want you to listen and tell me if they're missing anything. But I also, I know we're going to run a little bit long here. So I apologize to the listener. But I really want to get into a little bit about how you help people like this elite coaching, elite level coaching, and then obviously your contact information. So I'm going to go over as fast as I can here. Some of my notes that I took while... you and I were having the conversation. So you learned early on that forced appreciation and house hacking is a great way to get into real estate. And I know you also did, we did the live in flip. So that's why I wrote forced appreciation. The biggest thing that to your success that you contributed to is investing in yourself. And you did that by different groups and different rooms you're in, going to the networking meetings, finding mentors and coaches. The cost of inaction is more expensive than the cost of action and mistakes. That was great. Learn from your mistakes. Coaches and mentors are essential in your success. You talked about that a lot in this episode. So clearly that's super important and a big impact for you. We are programmed to stay small, not take risks. No success in isolation. Change is hard. We need to understand that change is hard and there's lots of changes to get to that person we want to be. But we need to do that change to get to where we want to go. Freedom takes responsibility and it creates potentially more responsibility. Is your why bigger than you? I wrote that down because if it's selfish, your why is selfish, it could potentially blow up in your face. But is it bigger than you? Is there something else you're trying to create? People you're trying to help. And your people in your life are essential. So when we're talking about the darkest time, you found your people in that time. And that's essential for your success now. You want to grow into the person that you're trying to create. And the way you do it is by your grows goals, the five arenas. I can list those off, but I don't need to do that. The one thing that's important for the listener here, I think, is that one thing in each of those areas every single week to drive that forward. That's how you get to where you want to go. How did I do, Tim?
Speaker #0
Oh, man. Yeah, that's a great summary. I'm really glad that you did that because we did kind of go over back and forth, you know, over a lot of different.
Speaker #1
things and topics and but there was definitely a lot of nuggets in there things that i've learned from other people um and so i'm glad that there's plenty of takeaways for for the listen you know i and you highlighted really the the stuff that i hope sticks with for people who are listening for sure yeah and you absolutely know what you're doing you drop some gold nuggets as i mentioned this is one of our better episodes no question about it um so we want to get more value from Tell me about elite level coaching.
Speaker #0
Yeah. I mean, like, look, I, you know, I, I just, as I was learning what I, you know, and getting to the point where I wanted to in real estate, I learned I had to grow to become that person. I couldn't just go from where I was as this E6 living paycheck to paycheck, all of a sudden, you know, a successful multifamily investor. I had to grow into that version of the person who was going to accomplish those goals. And With that, I kind of sort of became obsessed with personal professional development, you know, read all kinds of mindset and psychology books. And then I came across one called High Performance Habits by Brennan Burchard. And that took me down a path where I became then a certified high performance coach. And, you know, I took, you know, when I became certified as a high performance coach, I took this assessment. It's like a high performance assessment. And I kind of went through it. It goes through the five high performance pillars that the high performers like focus on. They move and they practice every day. And I was just like set back by the questions that went really, really deep, but were so simple. And I want to, if you're listening to this, I want. you to assess yourself in at least three areas to figure out where your gap is. And I'm going to tell you the three areas are number one, your clarity, number two, your energy, and number three, your courage. So assess yourself on a scale from one to 10, number one being clarity and ask yourself, how clear am I on who I am, what I do? how I add value to people and what I need to get to the next level on a scale from one to 10, just assess yourself in that. And if you're below an eight on, on clarity, you get, I mean, you shouldn't be doing anything until you figure out why. And that's the most important piece. And you mentioned this earlier, Kevin is figure out your why, like, why is this important to you? Why do you want to accomplish that thing and go at least five, not seven layers deep. Why is that important to me? Well, I want to achieve this for this reason. Well, why is that important? Well, I want to do this. I want to. And a lot of times it's emotional and it brings it back to helping somebody or maybe because of how they were raised. They saw one of their parents working two or three jobs, never escaping the grind. They don't want that for their family, that for their kids. They went through some trauma. They just don't want, you know, they want to break free from that. Like it's usually it's got to be deep and it's got to be emotional. Number one, clarity, assess yourself on how clear you are and who you are, what you do, what the value that you can bring to people and what you need to get your next level and then figure out your why. And that's the second thing is energy. Like how much on a scale from one to 10, how much energy do you have in moving towards your goals, like physical and, and mental energy? Like, do I have the physical and mental stamina to, you know, pursue the mission that I say matters? And then the last one is, is courage. Thank you. And some of the, this is absolutely insane, Kevin, like some of the highest performers, people who have achieved incredible success in business, they have a lot of courage with achieving, moving towards their goals and, you know, in the high stakes negotiations. But there's usually a conversation that they have not had or a hard, a conversation that takes a lot of courage that they're, that they're avoiding with someone that they love. Their spouse, their kids, their parents, their siblings, that takes courage. So assess yourself in that courage. Like, am I being courageous with the people that I love and the why that I'm doing what I want to do in business and in money and all that stuff? How courageous am I being? Or is there a conversation or decision or commitment that I'm avoiding? And I think once you kind of take those, you'll have a really good idea of where you're at and what your next level could look like and what. where those gaps might be. And I actually created a, what's called a high performance clarity assessment. That's on my website. And I could, I could direct people there if they want to take it. It's something that was really profound for me that helped me really unlock my next level. And it laid out like what steps I needed to take. So that was, that was pretty cool.
Speaker #1
Well, we're at it, man. We want to get your contact information and whatever you're willing to share with us. So yeah, I guess to the website.
Speaker #0
Yeah, for sure. I mean, Um, The thing I'm probably most excited about right now is, you know, I'm helping a lot of people invest in these large deals. But I just got back from summoning Mount Kilimanjaro with a group of people that I led and took them through this coaching journey where we do hard things together like summit Mount Kilimanjaro. And we all got to the next level of clarity and purpose and courage. by leaving something on the top of the mountain that was no longer serving us. And I have my business partner and I, we already created the next three adventures. We're going to go back to Kilimanjaro. We're going to go to Patagonia and we're going to do Machu Picchu. And we're going to take a small group of high performers who are looking for the next level to come with us. And so you can find more about that. The best way to just, if any of this resonated with you, just go to my website, The Timothy Kelly, K-E-L-L-Y. dot com. And there you could, you'll see all my socials are all the, all the handles are also at the Timothy Kelly. And if this conversation struck a chord with you and you just know you're capable of more, you could take that clarity assessment and then just book a call with me. I want to know more about you. I want you to know more about you before we get on a call so we can make the most of our time together and we'll just look at where you're stuck and wasn't this aligned and what your next courageous move actually needs to be. And we can talk about what it would look like working together if it's fit.
Speaker #1
I have to share the story with you, Tim. So we talked about different rooms to be in, and sometimes you got to pay to be in those rooms. So there's a several that I've been involved in that are north of 30 grand a year. That's a level of people I want to be around in one of those rooms. There was a smaller group created to go. climb Mount Kilimanjaro. And I try to say yes as much as I possibly can in life. I just feel like your life is better with yes than no. So I went on this trip and I climbed that mountain with a bunch of real estate investors. From that group, I got invited into a much smaller group. That's like a very small, intense mastermind group. And we meet regularly. And I got to tell you, man, It really changed my life. And now I've climbed, Rainier. And now I'm going to go do Machu Picchu. We're doing the full Inca trail. That's a family friendly one. So that's exciting. So dude, we got a lot in common.
Speaker #0
That's awesome,
Speaker #1
man. I just had to share that because you said that. I was like, wow, that is so unique. But anyway, thank you so much for being on the show. I know you're really busy. You got a lot going on and you hung out here for 45 minutes with me. So Tim, really appreciate it, man. Thank you.
Speaker #0
Yeah, no, it's been an absolute pleasure, man. Let me know if there's anything that you need or if there's anything I could do to support you on your journey. And I look forward to our next conversation, brother.
Speaker #1
All right. Well, we'll put all the contact information in the show notes. If you want to go climb a mountain with him, I think that's probably a good idea. So definitely a pretty cool opportunity there. And for the listener, you know, you have other podcasts you could be listening to and you chose the Real Estate Educators podcast. I hope you got as much value out of this episode as I did. if you did. five-star review, share it with a friend, and I hope you make this day a great one. I really hope you enjoyed this episode as much as I did. If you did, please be sure to follow and leave a five-star review. Oh yeah, and tell a friend.

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