Episode 74: Using Intuition To Lead In A Crisis

Hi. I’m Michelle Bosch, real estate investor, mom, wife, and host of the “InFLOW” podcast. And I’m passionate about helping women invest in land and apartments. Join me each and every week for real estate investing strategies and interviews with thought leaders that will leave you inspired and ready to step into flow, for inflows of cash, inflows of ease, and inflows of grace in your life. Now, here on YouTube are the video versions of my podcast. And in order for you to get my latest information, please go ahead and subscribe. And now, let’s go.

 

Welcome to the “InFLOW” podcast. I’m your host, Michelle Bosch. I’m super excited to be back recording and spending some time with you guys. At the time of this recording, I had just returned from a 12-day vacation. I know that the world is a very scary, crazy place for some, but, you know, we have decided to live our life with… Not that we don’t experience fear, but not having that as a reality on an everyday basis. Our family needed this vacation tremendously. You know, our bodies needed it, our mental bodies needed it, our emotions needed it, and it gave me some time for actual reflection.

And just, you know, look at what had happened in the first half of year 2020 which, you know, for many of us, 2020 is not what we expected. And as a matter of fact, we continue being in a global health crisis, you know, across the world. And in order to navigate such a fluid, you know, situation and a fluid crisis, as I looked back over the last several months, there was a few things that I wanted to talk to you guys about in this episode. And one of them is, of course, leading in a crisis and the role that intuition has when you have to lead in a crisis. And now I feel like I can better talk about this. If I would have tried to record this episode before taking this time off to rejuvenate, to really restore, renew, recalibrate, I don’t think I would have had the distance from it to talk about it.

So, what happened? So, January started and, you know, the world started to pay attention to something that was happening, you know, somewhere overseas in China. And by the time February came around, you know, we were looking at what was happening actually on the other side of the world in Europe, you know, with Italy now facing the pandemic and the coronavirus crisis. And by the time March came around, you know, it hit the U.S., you know. Sports events were canceled. Well, we already know, you know, all the things that have happened. It’s been one crazy thing after the other, you know, every month since March of this year here in the U.S.

And so, one thing that has…you know, that I have come to the realization is the fact that if you tried to lead in such a crisis using exclusively data, and my background is in finance, so I’m all about measurements, about metrics, about measuring everything, about every decision being data-driven. And what I found myself in was a situation where none of that was of any good to me because any data that I had, whether it was to help me run my land business or to help me sell, you know, or to help me in anything that had marketing and sales related in my land business, or in our coaching business with Jack, that none of the data that I had from the past really applied.

Yes, we have navigated successfully a recession back in 2008. And I believe that that is, in part, part of what has allowed us to really, you know, take things, at least within our industry, with a little bit more calm because we can rest in the strength of that experience and knowing that in 2008, we had an amazing run when it came to sales our land flipping business. But nothing could really prepare us for what we had here. We didn’t have just an economy in shambles, but we also, right now, in 2020, find ourselves, like I said, in a health crisis worldwide where the world has come to a complete halt and stopped for several months. And nobody knows at this point now, you know, however many, eight months into it, how long this is going to last and what are going to be the things that are going to be coming up for us.

So, because there’s all of this uncertainty, that’s why I thought, you know, “It’s a great time to talk about what I’ve learned and what has helped me really navigate, you know, these last few months.” And like I said, it has not been necessarily data. Most of the decisions, you know, I have made, or have jointly made with Jack, or with our team have been really decisions that have been driven in a big, big way for me from intuition. And why intuition? Like I said, because the metrics that I had, there’s no way that I can use the metrics and the data that I have from the past to really predict, you know, what is going to happen in the future. Because us as business owners and entrepreneurs, you know, part of our job is to always be with one eye on the ball and another eye with what is happening in the surrounding…in our marketplace, what’s happening in our economy, you know, not just locally, but macro-wise.

And so, when you don’t have really good reference points, except for that one experience in 2008 which is one of the biggest recessions that the U.S. has seen, and knowing that we could continue to sell properties and that we could pivot to higher-priced properties that that was, you know, what was successful for us in the past, and that’s what…you know, we even went into our community and made a State of the Union address saying to everyone that is in the land flipping community, you know, within our land flipping community, that that is where we need to pivot. And everyone continued selling without a problem, you know.

All of a sudden, you had people captive, you know, at home not being able to travel. And now what we have seen is an increased demand, much, much, much higher than what we saw back in 2008 when it comes to the appetite for the masses there for land because now the land that we focus on, and as you guys know, we focus on three types of land, either infill lots, or lots in the path of growth, which are, you know, maybe 45 minutes outside of a major city, or recreational property that is at least two hours outside of a major city that that has…I mean that the demand is just crazy. It’s been selling like hotcakes.

And so, we knew, you know, like I said, from resting in the strength of 2008 experience that we would be selling, that we would be pivoting, you know, to a higher-priced property. Our entire community has been pivoting, has had amazing success. I mean, we see the success daily inside of our Land Profit Generator group, which, by the way, if you have not joined that group, you definitely have to join that group. It’s free. So, there’s, you know, no strings attached. It is one of the most amazing, generous giving positive part of my French kickass communities right now on Facebook and really a sanctuary from all the madness that is going, you know, where everyone’s world is crumbling.

You know, lines are being built right now on land flipping inside of this community because of the asset, you know. We’re in an asset class that has proven right now in 2008 to be recession-resistant and really recession-proof and pandemic-proof right now, you know, so far in the last eight months of 2020. Like I said, so there was no data. There were no real markers to navigate in both our land business and in both our educational business, you know, Jack and I found ourselves having to do some really drastic changes.

And those changes came, like I said, not from data, but from relying on intuition, on faith, on what we thought, you know, in our hearts from a deep inner knowing could possibly be the next several months as it’s proven right now, probably the next 12 to 18 months, you know, within our industry. And, you know, what I did is I…and this was something that I think was a little bit difficult, you know, for my business partner, Jack, to embrace was to really, like I said, rely and tap on that inner knowing, on that inner trust because we were all really operating blind in a situation and in a crisis that is constantly fluid, that was constantly fluid back in March and April.

We were basically, you know, leading blind and therefore, no amount of numbers, or financials, or metrics, or milestones that, you know, we have used in the past to help us navigate and anticipate the future were going to be any good. And one of the steps, just to make this very, very actionable, one of the steps we took was, “Okay, what do we need to do right now in both of our businesses to really trim the fat and make sure that there’s nothing that is unnecessary, you know, weighing us down?” And I went, you know, through services that you sign up for, you know, and that are charging you maybe, I don’t know, 40 bucks a month, another 30 bucks here, another 300 bucks there, and so on and so forth. And I got rid of, you know, unnecessary weight when it came to conserving cash flow. And that is an offensive. I didn’t spend a whole lot of time there, but it’s definitely a place, you know, where you want to go with your leading in a crisis.

And the second step that I took was, “Okay, how can we overwhelm ourselves with revenue in both, you know, our businesses, not just revenue, but also profits?” Because it’s immature to think of, you know, just top-line because you may be making a lot, but if you have incredibly amounts of overhead, you know, what you actually end up taking home may not be a whole lot. And for us, you know, in the land flipping space, it was, you know, pivoting to the higher-priced properties because we saw in 2008 that pretty much the bottom of the market fell off. And what I mean by the bottom of the market is any property that was under $10,000, there was just not a whole lot of appetite.

And because that kind of land is usually your exit strategy or, you know, the buyer that is interested is usually a buyer that is really, really dependent on a strong economy, and now if they lose their jobs due to the high rates of unemployment like you see in any recessionary environment, you know, companies laying off and so on and so forth, those people are the ones that buy those types of property, and if they don’t have any jobs, they can’t buy your land. And so, on that end, that was our pivot right there. We were like, “Okay, let’s dump any inventory that is under $10K. Let’s dump it as quick as we can. And on the purchasing side, let’s continue to focus on only higher-priced property.”

And in our coaching business, you know, in our educational business, it was a matter of really transitioning from, you know, I know most of you guys know that we do live events. We used to do live events, in-person events. You know, we can no longer continue to do those, or at least not for the foreseeable future here in the state of Arizona where we usually, you know, host at least two out of the three that we used to have. You know, we are not allowed to congregate in numbers of 50 or more, and those events are usually, you know, 100, 150 plus people. So we had to figure out a way to pivot and continue basically having, you know, and touching and getting people into our community without the use of being an in-person type of, you know, relationship. But we had to create that connection, that intimacy, that ability to really reach out to people that are outside of our sphere and bring those people into our sphere in a different way.

Many of you guys know that we have been doing, you know, live lessons, live masterclasses, live labs inside of our Facebook group, and that has been really one of the most significant pivots that we’ve done, you know. There was a workshop that we teach called Maximizer Workshop. There’s one actually coming up right now in August. So if you are interested in that, you can go ahead and send me a direct message, you know, or email me at michelle@orbitinvestments.com if you’re interested in that. And it’s coming up right now at the…I’m just looking at the calendar, August 31st and September 1st.

And it’s basically a class where we teach everyone how to use our program, our methodology, the Land Profit Generator methodology, but also teach them how to do…and how to use our CRM really in conjunction. It’s like a mini boot camp. It’s a two-day workshop taught by two of our master coaches. It’s in a small intimate environment and we surround you with 360-degree support. It includes plugging in, you know, for four or five calls, I believe four calls, into our group coaching as well so that we can really not just instruct you and educate you and train you and actually help you implement during those two days, but continue to support you during the course of getting you to a first deal.

You know, plus we have access as well. You know, everyone that is part of that has access to our Land Profit Generator Facebook community where, you know, our coaches and myself and Jack are constantly in there teaching and supporting and answering any questions for anyone. But anyways, this is…I kind of went on a tangent there.

So, we had to basically restructure that from being an in-person event to a virtual event and figure out a way to not just deliver. Because I’m all about ongoing improvement, not just delivering the same that we delivered in-person, but how can we actually supersede, you know, over-deliver, actually even make it even better, you know, to anyone that participated in those workshops? And that’s exactly what my team and I were able to do. And that’s, I think part of the reason that has allowed us on both the land flipping and the educational side to really excel and thrive, you know, during a crisis.

And so, team is so, so, so important. So important that part of my intuition was to also back then when we were doing that shift really go through my team. This is going to sound a little crazy and farfetched. In my dream, you know, just envision, you know, do a visualization exercise and envision, you know, who in my team is really aligned with this new vision that we have for the future in terms of both of our businesses based on the crisis that we’re living, and who is probably not in alignment?

And, you know, as I went through each and every person, I remember landing on a few where I was like, “You know what? I don’t know if where we’re going really matches up, you know, with these few individuals.” And so Jack and I went ahead and mustered the courage to have difficult conversations with part of our team that just completely resisted the change, the change in the dynamics, the change in the landscape of our environment, you know, in both the land flipping and educational.

And part of those difficult conversations which, like I said, required quite a bit of courage to have, the result of that was that there were, in fact, team members that were part of our team that had been an amazing addition and contribution to our team and for which we’re, you know, always grateful for what we were able to accomplish together, but that, you know, from both sides, both parties recognized kind of that we couldn’t really be in alignment in the new vision where we were going.

And so, part of those difficult decisions were to part ways with some of that team in both businesses. And it didn’t come, like I said, from having a measurement, you know, to back us up in terms of making a decision. It was not necessarily a data-driven decision. It was yes, in part, looking at the data to see, you know, what has been the contribution of that person or those group of individuals, but also looking at, “Okay, this is what I’m faced with right now. I’m faced with a completely different landscape with a completely different picture, and this doesn’t account, and this is how we need to now adjust, and these are the new ways to adjust.” And if those individuals do not kind of align with that new path that you kind of set out for yourself to navigate the crisis, you have to make changes.

And so, for many of you right now, you probably had to go through the exact same situation having difficult conversations perhaps in all kinds of relationships, either with your spouse, maybe with your employer, maybe with customers, maybe with a boss, maybe just, in general. Maybe it was even difficult conversations with yourself about the state of affairs of where you’re at in your life and whether the income source that you are relying on up until this moment is the right way, if that is the one that is going to really help you have and dream the big dreams that you have and help you make them a reality. Because it’s not just about dreaming, you know. It’s about actually making them a reality as well.

So, let me see if… I know I had a few more notes of things that I wanted to talk. So, yeah. So, it’s so incredibly important to recognize that sometimes, you know, really trust that whisper in your heart. It has now turned out to be in both our businesses, you know, the best decisions ever made in terms of the new path, the new vision, the new what, the new set of whos that were going to help us really implement that new path and that new vision. And it was to an 80% really guided by intuition, by setting… This is another actionable step, by really setting intentions before going to sleep.

Like I said, I know that this sounds a little bit farfetched, but you would be surprised what your unconscious or your consciousness can come up with if you direct and set an intention before you go to sleep, you know, to whatever problem. And intention is the same as doing a prayer of being in a crossroads. I’m sure many of you may have been in a crossroads and you kind of, you know, go to sleep and you pray on it and you ask God to help you either muster the courage, if it’s a difficult decision, or to help you decide to show you a sign, to show you the way, and a lot of that is part of what setting an intention is.

And for me, it was, you know, a lot of the things that I then took action on and that I led my team on, were part of setting that intention at night before going to sleep, you know, asking for help, of asking a higher power, of tapping into a higher level of awareness, our consciousness in order to find the answers. And I didn’t necessarily find them all, you know, instantly. It may have taken maybe a couple of days, but I was able to see the connections between things, between relationships, between maybe something somebody said, and I’m like, “Oh, I have an idea based on that. I think we should do this,” you know, or just, you know, in some situations, even complete revelation as to what to do, or who to hire, or who not to include as part of the vision during a dream, you know.

So, like I said, I hope you guys are still with me here and that I’m not totally scaring you. This is actually a new world for me as well, but I acknowledge it and I acknowledge the importance of it, the seriousness of it. I cannot necessarily tell you, you know, that you should go out and do this as well, set an intention, go to sleep, and based on what you sleep to go and run your business. No, I’m not saying that. What I’m saying is that you have to take into account also deep inner knowings, you know, that come from really other worlds, you know, from the universe, from God, from others outside, from other energies forces outside of yourself that want to really support you and help you and are making and conspiring in your favor, let’s put it that way, to make your goals and your deep yearnings of the heart a reality and a success.

And for us, you know, part of that deep yearning is being able to help, you know. We’re in a mission to transform the lives of 1,000 people. We want to create 1,000 millionaires over the next two years using land flipping, specifically using our Land Profit Generator method. And, you know, God was supporting us all along. I want to continue to flip land. I want to continue to build passive cash flow for my family to be able to continue to transfer some of those profits, you know, from cash flips and cash flow into other assets within real estate. You guys know that we also invest in larger apartments.

And that I know that, in that end, I am, you know, providing an avenue for our investors to make good returns no matter what’s happening in the economy, and that they have entrusted me with their funds, and that I need to be an amazing store to those funds and produce returns for them and their families so they can actually enjoy the freedoms that we all start our businesses for, you know. And also it allows us to provide not just housing, but provide a home to families, to workforce families in America that make the fabric of this country. And not just think of them as a stat, you know, as an occupancy rate, as a…you know, but as actual people that I can provide a home and help develop as well by knowing that they can have a clean, safe space to go to, especially if they’re single mothers renting for them and their families or just families in general, you know.

Yeah, so do recognize that there is space for both your left brain and your right brain to make decisions when leading in a crisis. And we need to be very careful to not…when we’re in a crisis or in a situation that is incredibly fluid, where we’re uncomfortable, where we’re out of our comfort zone because we don’t necessarily have, you know, experience to rest on the strengths of that experience that we need to be conscious of knowing the difference between thoughts, thinking, and awareness. And just so that you guys know, you know, thoughts are really ceaseless uncontrolled thoughts, and usually, you know, with a big flavor of fear that when you’re making a decision could really turn into noise.

So, we don’t want to be in that space. And in order to get out of that space, I think it’s important to know that distinction between thoughts and thinking. Thinking is you’re actually applying, in a focused manner, and deciding, “Okay, you know, these are all the pros. These are all the cons.” And there’s also this inner knowing that I’m tapping into, you know, this higher level of awareness that I’m tapping into that knows for a fact or doesn’t know for a fact at all, but just knows that maybe the course of action to take is step one, two, three, and four, you know.

Part of that, you know, tapping into that higher awareness for me was also, you know, hiring yet another coach. And I already have been working for the last two years with an amazing mentor, but I hired one more mentor to help us specifically in the sales department. We knew that we needed to become amazing in sales, you know, in our land flipping business, and in our coaching business as well, you know, that we needed to sell in a different way. And I don’t want to say sell because people have such a bad connotation to selling, but it’s really showing the value in the marketplace of what you bring to the table.

That really is what sales is, and really having there be an exchange, you know, of equal value because money, at the end of the day, has in it stored all the best of you, all of your successes, your triumphs, your lessons, your experiences, you know, everything that you did wrong, all your mistakes, everything. And you’re exchanging the best of, you know, someone for the best…you’re exchanging the best of you for the best of someone else. And that in creating this value and in showing people value, that we needed to be amazing at doing that especially at higher-priced properties, that our negotiation skills, that our ability to really craft a deal and structure a deal when it came to talking to buyers that we needed to really improve on that end, as well as in bringing our message on our educational business so that we can actually make this a reality.

Because yes, it’s great to think that you want to transform and change the lives of 1,000 people and create 1,000 millionaires, but all of that takes money. And why does it take money? Because it requires team. And why does it require team? Because whoever is selling you out there just a course so that it can become self help is doing you a disservice, you know. That is not meant for a beginning investor. A beginning investor needs 360-degree support. And so we know that in order for us to become peerless in our industry and actually create the success stories that we see everyday inside of our Land Profit Generator group that we need to have team.

And in order to have team, you know, they need salaries. They need compensation. And so that is how we reinvest anything that comes from our educational business. We reinvest right back into team because that is what’s going to, you know, allowed us to make that vision, that mission that we have of 1,000 millionaires a reality, you know. And so we knew. So I went ahead and tapped into a network of amazing women and I found an amazing lady, you know, to keep on coaching us and build upon what we already know from a sales standpoint especially within our real estate industry in terms of developing our skills for negotiation when talking to buyers on the land flipping side. And we’ve been able to apply a lot of those same things that we’ve been learning there, you know, to the educational side as well.

And so, know that sometimes it is counter-intuitive to go and say, “Oh, my gosh, we are in a pandemic. I need to hold on to everything I can.” Like, I said earlier in how I started this podcast, there is a valid point of cutting unnecessary expenses. But anything that has to do with sales, anything that has to do with marketing, you know, marketing campaigns, doubling down on your neutral letters, on offers, on listing your properties everywhere, even if it includes some paid advertisement in order for you to build a buyers list and continue building your buyers list in the areas in which you’re working, that tapping into and getting coached by someone is not a place where you need to cut.

That’s just my experience right now, and right now during this crisis, you know, it was proven 100%. That was one of the best decisions we could have ever made and that also came from praying, from, you know, setting an intention before going to sleep. And then the next morning waking up and, you know, checking in, taking a moment to be silent and being grateful for the opportunity of a new life and asking for a path, asking for what is the path? And I never second-guessed it. The very first thing that came to mind was usually the right decision, the right way to go.

And so, yeah. And I hope this episode is of help if you find yourself right now in a crisis. If you ever find yourself in a crisis, again, these are just my humble reflections that I wanted to share, that I wanted to express, that I feel would be valuable for others. It’s not something that you’re going to find sometimes, you know, to make a decision on a book written down, “Okay, this is what I have to do.” Sometimes it’s tapping into your intuition. Sometimes it’s also tapping into the intuition and awareness of someone else because that someone else may also be navigating a crisis, but may be navigating a crisis from a higher awareness, you know, from a higher perspective.

And so, trust, have the courage to trust your gut, like they say, because that gut is nothing but intuition, nothing but whispers from God, nothing but the Holy Ghost when we pray at night. And they sometimes show up in the forms of conversations with people, the answers in dreams, in immediate thought that just kind of seems to pop out of nowhere from your reality and it jumps into your head and you have a brilliant idea.

And those things are not yours. I want you to always be humble and recognize, you know, that that is grace touching you, and that that is something incredibly magical that we also need to bring into account into our daily life, that we don’t live a spiritual life and a worldly life. We only live one life, and that it’s important to tap into not just the left brain, the data-driven one, but also into the right brain, that creationary…you know, more creative expanding aspect of us, and in my opinion, our direct connection to a source, to a divine being that is an awareness and consciousness that is bigger than us than we can possibly imagine.

So, with that, thank you so much for tuning in. I have incredibly enjoyed, you know, just sharing my reflections over the last several months of 2020 and how I’ve navigated and helped my team navigate a very difficult, I think for all of us, period. And I want to leave you with knowing, you know, that you sometimes have the answers, that it’s just a matter of making sure that we’re not being led by uncontrolled thoughts but more by the level of thinking and the level of awareness, or I should say awareness thinking, and at the bottom, you know, control noisy, fearful thoughts, and to put those away.

And I know it’s hard to just say put them away, but there are so many techniques to put them away, you know, praying, going for a workout, meditation, breathing exercises, chanting, singing, dancing. There are so many ways to really find integration and kind of block those out so that you can really have your thinking be focused and allow you to really tap into those higher levels of awareness and consciousness.

So, if you are interested in the Land Profit Maximizer workshop that is coming up, you can go to landprofitmax.com. You can also send me an email at michelle@orbitinvestments.com, or reach out to our team if you’re part of our Land Profit Generator community. You know, we have five community managers there that are there to help you, to support you along the way and to help you with free resources to really figure out how can we adapt, you know, to your particular business, to your particular situation? You know, our method, how can we make use of it?

And, of course, if you are interested in joining any of our events that we now have online such as the Land Profit Maximizer workshop, it’s coming up August 31st and September 1st. It’s two days, two-day boot camp, that that is available, and, you know, we’d be happy to help you and to help engineer the next level of success, you know. And if you know of anyone that is continuing to look or that, for any reason, you know, right now with what is happening in the environment has lost their job, we’re actually looking to continue adding to our team. We’re continuing to add what I like to call the 1%, and you might be asking who are the 1%?

Well, the 1% are those people that, you know, are all about, “Yes we can do it,” that are all in, that are not thinking about the next 10 minutes but have much more of a long-term thinking towards their goals and their dreams, and that are looking at the next 10 years, not the next 10 minutes. That dream big but are willing to also be grounded in gratitude, that are hungry, that are humble. And, you know, that are really interested in not just reaching their own personal goals, but helping others also reach their personal goals because there’s absolutely nothing that says that it’s mutually exclusive to do well while doing well, you know.

And so, we want people that are willing to help us, you know, not just meet our goals, but also can meet…as we’re helping others, you know, and experiencing high levels of success that we can do that while, you know, meeting personal goals but also with that higher vision, with that higher, in my opinion, vibration and frequency in mind of why you’re doing what you’re doing, you know, that your why is bigger than yourself. And the 1% are also allergic to excuses, allergic to mediocrity, allergic to, “Okay, you know, I’m not doing so well because, you know, it doesn’t exist or I’m not being supported in this way.” The 1% are those people that if they see that something is missing, they go out and create it, you know.

And so, if you’re looking for a job, our accountability division is still looking for accountability coaches. These are coaches that are supporting our master coaches. Our master coaches are usually actual investors that, you know, that walk during a one-year program, you know, our students, and turn them from a beginning investor to an actual CEO in four stages, you know, for each stage, pretty much a quarter of the year, and really transform not just your business but your entire life, changing family trees. We are, you know, well into doing that.

And so, if you are interested at all in helping engineer the next level of growth for others while meeting your personal goals in an environment that is collaborative, highly supportive, and that has, you know, that outlook that our worldly and spiritual worlds are not two different things but that they’re one and you want to help others and you want to experience success while helping others, also please, of course, reach out. So, with that, thank you so much. If you have enjoyed today, go ahead and head on over to iTunes. Leave me a five-star review because that helps me, you know, reach many more people, and yeah. I’ll see you guys in the next episode of “InFLOW.” Thank you so much. Bye-bye.

I hope this episode left you feeling inspired and ready to get inflows of cash, inflows of light, and inflows of faith in your life. I welcome your reviews on iTunes. Please leave me a review and help me create an amazing community of women in flow. Thank you as always for sharing your voice by going to michellebosch.com and joining the conversation about this show. And while you’re there, grab a copy of my “Ten Commandments to Living a Life Inflow.” You can also follow me on Facebook @MichelleBosch and on Instagram @MichelleBoschOfficial. Thank you very much, and until the next one.