The books that changed our lives

0:00Rob D:If you already own a property or two and it felt like a lot more work than it should have been, then you are not alone. We've seen a lot of portfolios over the years and what we've noticed is what separates the ones that work from the ones that don't isn't the amount of effort that someone puts in. It's the core approach that they take. The people who end up doing best in property have just got a few things right from the start and they've stuck with them. We've written all of this up into a free guide. It's basically our complete investment philosophy, and you can grab it for free at propertyhub.net slash strategy.

0:31Rob D:That's propertyhub.net slash strategy.

0:36Rob B:Hey everyone, Rob B here with Rob D, and you are listening to The Property Podcast. I have just finished recording this episode with Rob, and I've absolutely loved it. I truly believe that if you start buying and reading these books that we talk about today, your life is going to change for the better. I do not think I'm reaching with that statement. After reflecting on this episode, I think this is going to be absolute gold for people who want to achieve more in life.

1:10Rob D:Yes, welcome to a very exciting episode of the Property Podcast. Thank you for joining us. In case you don't know, we run a business that buys more than£100 million worth of property for our investors every year. You can find out more about that at propertyhub.net slash invest. these books will make you a better investor they'll help you make better decisions but they're not property books i've written some property books and they have their place they are useful but the books we're going to share today go so much further they will help you in property but they

1:35Rob B:will help you far far beyond that as well so stick around it's time for our new story of the week and this week it comes courtesy of the green party and the green party or the leader of the green party I should say more accurately, Zach Polanski has slammed landlords in one of his first major speeches. So in one of his first major speeches, he's gone directly after landlords. This is interesting because his attack is at the fact that rents have risen. And he said that if we had frozen rents in autumn of 2022, households in Britain would be saving over£3 ,300 on average per year and he goes on to give a solution to this as well and he says a green government would bring in rent controls we would stop the chokehold of rip-off rents and breathe life back into our communities now what's clearly not happened here is them looking at scotland and seeing how disastrous rent controls have been there even in the short period of time it's been in place and also zach seems to believe that landlords are deciding rents and they are having these rip-off rents by choice.

2:45Rob B:Now, landlords don't decide rents, the market does. The market dictates. I could try and rent a property out in Liverpool for£20 ,000 a week, but no one's going to rent it because the market won't allow it. And that's the point that SAC is missing here. It's a supply and demand issue. And in fact, because sentiment has been so poor, because of the tax changes that started with the last government and been continued with this government, those legacy landlords are leaving, which means there's less stock on the market. Yes, new landlords investors are coming in, but not at the rate of the legacy landlords that are exiting, which means we have a supply and demand challenge.

3:29Rob B:So what you actually want is more stock coming to the market. You don't want to frighten off the investors that are coming into the market and exist investors who have portfolios. So it sounds great, right? It sounds like a wonderful headline, we're going to cap rents. And unfortunately, at the headline, that will appeal to a lot of people and they won't do the extra thinking to realise that this is a terrible idea. And in fact, if they want to get rents under control, they need to be focusing on bringing more stock into the market and investment, if you like. But that's a challenge that we have right now with our political landscape.

4:06Rob B:It seems that so many of the parties try and solve their challenges, the issues that this country is facing, by different types of tax or different types of control, when what we need is investment and the country being reinvigorated and some bold vision that's really lacking. And this from the Green Party, in my humble opinion, smacks of laziness, it's not thought through, and for me, it's embarrassing. As Rob has already said, this is not a property episode, but I think this is far more important than any subject we can cover about yield or capital growth or best places to invest. Because if you get you right and you get you wired in the right way, you can become unstoppable.

4:52Rob B:You can become a force of nature. And I'm not exaggerating because some of these books that we're going to talk about today absolutely changed my life. But it's not dramatic to say that. They truly did. I said that before we started recording, when I just quickly reflected on what was on the list. I said to Rob, I was like, these books truly have changed my life because I found them at the right time. And hopefully they find you at the right time. But even if you feel you've kind of got life nailed, you're certainly in a minority. But if you do feel like that, then this can be a gift of an episode for someone else, because there's going to be people out there who need this stuff, who are frustrated with where they are right now, who don't feel like they've achieved what they've wanted to achieve so far in life, that they may have done okay, but they haven't done excellence.

5:38Rob B:But I really do believe that if you go and buy these books and truly absorb the lessons, and it's the right point in time for you, your life will be changed as well. There are some books in here that we may have mentioned before, but there's definitely some books on this list that we have not talked about before. rob you kick off give us your first book i know this is a book that you love because you talk about it off air quite frequently and so does producer dan yeah this is a book that i've

6:02Rob D:directly heard from people who've read it has made them made real positive changes in their life and we're talking broadly about self-help books here right and for me a self-help book is meant to help you help yourself and so you can read a book and get like really hyped for a couple of weeks but if nothing comes from it then it hasn't really worked if a book actually prompts you to make positive changes to your life, then it succeeded. And by that metric, Die With Zero by Bill Perkins has definitely been successful. There's a friend of mine who listens to the show, so he might be listening now, who actually read the book and realised, damn, I should have stopped building accumulating mode 10 years ago.

6:35Rob D:But then as a result of having that insight a little bit later than he would have liked, instantly stopped and completely changed what he spends his time doing. And that is one of the core points of Die With Zero. It's know when you've got enough. the core point is that in order to earn money you need to give up life energy so if you end up dying with loads and loads of money in the bank what it means is like yeah sure you've been successful that's great but you've also invested too much energy generating money that you ended up not needing then you go well what about inheritance i want to leave something for my kids well the book has a really provocative view on that as well which is the complete opposite of what most people do which is they get to the end and whatever is left whenever that happens to be their kids get it but because we're all living longer these days which is a great thing it means that your kids might be inheriting a load of money in their 50s or even their 60s when they don't particularly need it anymore so what the book says is don't do that think about specific amounts of money that you want to give to specific people at a time for a reason that'll be the most useful to them and then you can safely die with zero now you might think that i've just told you the punch line of the book and therefore you don't have to read it but i really do think this is one of those books that makes its case so persuasively a bit like rich dad poor dad in that regard even if someone tells you oh yeah you want to invest in assets and get out of the right race you still get value from reading the book and i think it's the same with die with zero i mean what's really

7:52Rob B:interesting from that book rob is the concept of time buckets and categorizing your life into different stages this thing just dawned on me but i'm actually implementing that as well so maybe reading this book subconsciously it's planted that in my head but now in my early very very early 40s I want to stress very early it's dawned on me that I have this time to still do like active stuff like sporty stuff like real physical stuff but maybe in 10 20 years I might still be able to do it but not to the level I certainly can do it now and I'm focusing a lot of my time and energy on developing that part of my life because I've realized wow this time bucket where I still have good energy and I still do have the ability to do exciting, adventurous stuff that require me to be physically strong and fit.

8:42Rob B:That's a time bucket that I'm in right now. So it's not just the core lessons that you've given there. It's like so much more. It's like thinking about your life in stages and what you want to do and when. I'm allocating time, resource, financial resource to doing these exciting things in my life right now. I'm not waiting until I've got a bit more money in the bank before I retire and then I'll go and do all the exciting things because the stuff I want to do now is probably not stuff I want to do in my 60s and 70s and beyond. So it's really interesting. I said to you, I feel like I've got a lot of this book down pat already, but it's nice to have the reassurance of that, that it's just dawned on me, that it has influenced me and I've not recognised that straight away.

9:18Rob B:But I certainly am using some of the lessons that it talks about in that book. So highly recommended.

9:23Rob D:Yeah, I put it in the must read category. And there aren't that many modern books that are in that category. Quite a few of the books we're covering are classics. They have endured and that's how you know the lessons are valuable. And this next pick of yours, Rob, might be the ultimate example of that.

9:36Rob B:Absolutely. Like I said, these books changed my life. And in my early 20s, I was lucky enough to find this book. Something clicked in me at that age that I wanted to change myself and grow as a person. So luckily, that curiosity to learn was diverted into self-improvement. I can't remember the trigger, but it doesn't matter. The trigger happened and I'm glad it did. because I read this book, How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie, and I changed. I turned from a selfish boy to not instantly a young man who was suddenly kind and had it all figured out, but it was the trigger to realize I wasn't the person I wanted to be yet, and I knew there was a better version of me to come out, and that book really did deliver that for me.

10:23Rob B:If you know any young adult, I would give them this as a present. The title kind of froze you a bit because I don't feel it is about influencing people or even winning friends. I just think it's a great book on communication and interacting with other people. And that's what we're going to do all life. And actually, a lot of young people today, it's often put that they struggle with social interactions because of all the tech now. And people say that they've lost that skill. Well, this book will really help them. If you're not ready, it's a really easy read. It's not one that's going to be hard to get through it's really enjoyable even though it's a complete classic and it's a very old book i'd recommend if you've not read it whatever your age to read it but then gift it to someone gift it to a young person because if they're curious if they're the type of person that likes to learn then this book will be transformational yeah it is a great one

11:16Rob D:and because it is a classic some of the examples and the phrasing and everything else are quite outdated but in like in a charming way i really enjoyed reading it because it's almost like it was written for a different world but because people are the same the advice is timeless and still works every bit as well today okay the next one on my list is a newer one and this is a book that will essentially kill your desire to multitask because it introduces something it calls the focusing question and that question is what is the one thing that i can do such that by doing it everything else will be easier or unnecessary and at the title of the book was in there it's called the one thing and it's by gary keller and this is one of those rare books that i do pick up again every so often.

11:55Rob D:There aren't many books I come back to. I don't come back and read it in full, but I'll just go back and read parts of it. Because even after you know for sure what it's saying incorrect and you try to implement it every day, you still need reminding. Or I do, at least. Because the world is set up for distractions, right? And there are so many different opportunities. There are so many different things you could be doing. And technology and AI, it all just helps us do more things faster. But the point of the focusing question in the book is, well, what is the one thing? Where should I be focusing?

12:19Rob D:Where should I be investing my energy so everything else goes away? So you could absolutely use this in a business context. So you could imagine, oh, well, there's all these things we could be doing, but ultimately what we've got is a sales problem. And if we fix that, then that downstream would fix this, this, this, this, and I wouldn't even have to think about it. Or you could easily think of examples in your personal life as well. But for me, this is such an important concept and it's something I try to guide people through in our business when I'm coaching. It's like, okay, you could do all these things, but what's the one thing?

12:46Rob D:What would make the biggest impact? And it's something I use with friends as well when they're describing a problem or a challenge or something they want to do to try to lift them up a few levels and it normally gets you to an answer that answer is often embarrassingly simple and obvious when you strip everything away but that's okay so this is maybe a bit more tactical than the books we've mentioned so far but for me really powerful i feel like we

13:06Rob B:could do a whole podcast on the power of focus because it has been transformational for our business and it's definitely been transformational for me in my personal life over the last few years because I've got really focused on what I want to do each year instead of the long lists of goals that I used to write down and I'll keep it really concise so do let us know if you'd like us to cover that subject of focus and how we apply it into all areas of our lives because it's something that we absolutely implement but starting with that book but if it is of interest to you before we get to podcasting start with that book because you will really benefit from it another life-changing book for me and it's one that may make a few people cringe when i give the title but it's awaken the giant within by tony robbins now a lot of people have a perception of tony robbins and i do understand why people do cringe when they look at some of the stuff that he does and how he operates but once again in my early 20s i was lucky enough to read this book and go on his what i think was called upw unleash the power within course in london in the excel many many years ago and i have to say once again it was transformational and it's easy just to throw that out right but what happened to me after i read that book and went on that course over that weekend well i moved to London.

14:33Rob B:I was living in the north of England. I moved to London. I quit my job. Within 12 months, I put Drupal by wage. A few years later, I'd started a business. And I do not think it would have happened certainly as fast as it did without me consuming the content that Tony Robbins put out. Because as a young, impressionable person, it enhanced my belief that I can control my state and that I can achieve these big things. I really do believe that if you can get over the cringey parts of what he does the lessons in there and the powerful stuff he teaches can be for you life-changing again if you feel like you've got life down pat share this book i would seriously consider once my children are of a certain age or young adults on sending them on one of his weekends if they're still running then because it meant so much to me at that time and i didn't have a lot of money at that time so go to london and go on that weekend that was a big investment for for me back then but it was really really worth it and i think at the very least picking up this book and giving it a try if i'm giving you if you listen to the property podcast and you like what we do and i'm giving you such a strong recommendation then i think you should give it the benefit of the doubt and give it a go because i really do think that when you control your state your mind and you channel it in the right way you really can become an unstoppable force yeah i

15:55Rob D:I think there's a risk that if there's one book that people might skip over from this list, almost based on preconceptions, it could be that book. And I think that is a risk. It's not at all inconsistent to go, yeah, it's cheesy. Yeah, I think whatever I think about him as a person, whatever, but still find tons of value in the concepts and the message. And he said you'd consider sending your kids on that course. I actually met someone quite recently who said that her dad sent her on a Tony Robbins course when she was 10, I think, and it set her on this incredible trajectory so i'd say probably an impressionable age is the best age to be absorbing ideas that are fundamentally positive and empowering okay let's move on to my

16:31Rob B:next one which is a wild card but but i have again genuinely had my life changed by this book and

16:36Rob D:it's called how i found freedom in an unfree world it's by someone called harry brown and what i found so valuable about this book is it basically tells you that it's okay to be selfish but it does it in a far better way than i did just then but what it's saying is when you try to live up to other people's expectations and you try to meet their needs and do what you think that they would want you to do well for a start you probably won't be able to do that anyway but also it can make you very unhappy and in fact if you strip away all the layers of guilt and obligation and shoulds then you have far more freedom over your life than you think you do so many people are waiting for someone to come and bestow freedom upon them whether that's family your government or boss or whatever else or they oh if only i had that freedom but actually you have that freedom already that's the key point.

17:19Rob D:And another really core idea linked to that is that everything has a price. You can get yourself out of any situation that you don't like. There'll be a price to pay for doing that, but you just have to assess, is that a price I'm willing to pay? Now, fair warning, this book is quite old. It is quite American. It does go a bit far at points. I seem to recall there's a bit about giving your children away in there if it's not working out with them.

17:41Rob B:It definitely takes you to an extreme, but I like to think it's doing it to be provocative

17:44Rob D:rather than setting out prescriptive advice. But I think that the core ideas in there, for me as someone who's had people-pleasing tendencies,

17:53Rob B:I found super powerful. This is the first book on the list that I have never read. And because it's made this shortlist, Rob, I've already opened Amazon and that has been purchased before I even finished recording this episode. You recommend it that highly. If you've put it in this list, it's going to be a read for me. the last one on this list is the real og of self-development he was been around i think before tony robbins his stuff is absolutely brilliant absolutely cheesy old school but it works and he's a bit more business focused this guy than tony robbins so there is personal development stuff in there but it's about achieving more delivering more getting on with your life and it's called Maximum Achievement by Brian Tracy.

18:39Rob B:I'd already read a few of his books by the time this one came out but I think this book makes the list for me because it captures a lot of the lessons in all his other books. So if you're only going to read one Brian Tracy book, I'd pick this one. And his focus is really about being successful but the title kind of gives it away, right? Maximum Achievement. Like a lot of other books in this list, it is old and reading it today may come across a little cheesy at times but I don't care. Just get over that. Let your ego get over the parts where you're all like, why is he saying that? Oh, that's a bit funny.

19:12Rob B:Like the lessons are gold. So for those who listening who want to achieve more, who feel like there's more that they can be delivering, this is just perfect. Like you must read this book. It's absolutely brilliant. So Maximum Achievement by Brian Tracy. A lot of his books are great. If you'll enjoy that one, go on a splurge and read his other stuff as well. But if you're only going to read one,

19:32Rob D:as I've said this is the book to read so there you go six books that have changed our lives and have the potential to change yours or the life of someone you care about as well normally at this point in the show we'd give you something a little bit more but I think that's plenty rather than trying to give you too many things just take that list and consider picking one and take it further consider picking the one that makes you feel a bit uncomfortable whichever one that is because that can sometimes be where the biggest opportunities lie so we find something in there that makes you a better investor a more happy and successful person by whatever metrics you judge those and we'd love you to let us know.

20:02Rob D:We'll put all of these on our social media channels. We're on Instagram. We're on LinkedIn. I'm told that we're on TikTok, but I can't verify this. But we'll put it on there. We'd love to know what you think. Have any of these books changed your life? And are there any others that you'd highly recommend to us? Because we love getting recommendations. But that is us done for this week. Thank you for listening and we'll see you to do it all again next Thursday. Bye-bye. Bye-bye.