🔴 Don't Go Against Your Gut To Make Money

I’m writing this newsletter only hours after a deal fell through that would make me $9,000 per year for less than 10 hours of work in total.

That’s about $900 per hour.

And honestly, I’m happy that it fell through because I was ignoring my gut until the final hour.

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Last week, I talked about how many Americans live paycheck to paycheck. I am in that category.

For context, I own a house in Michigan that I’ve been wanting to fully rent out. I currently have two tenants living there, but there’s room for one more. Without the third tenant, I’m paying the rest of my paycheck for a house back in Michigan that I’m not even living in.

I’ve been dragging my feet on getting another tenant in there for a long time, mainly because I want to make sure they’re a good fit for the other two tenants.

Around the end of last year, I got a lead that someone was interested in moving in. Perfect. I was super motivated because I’ve known the other person for a long time and I knew they would be a good fit. Also, the extra $9,000 was a good incentive.

All I had to do was make sure it was a good fit for the current tenants, and my financial situation would change instantly.

After the first phone call, it became clear that I was forcing the situation. The potential tenant would be moving into a good neighborhood with good roommates for an unbeatable price, but something was off.

I had a gut feeling that this would be more trouble than it was worth for all parties involved.

Even so, I thought it would only be 12 months. I sent the contract over and waited.

One day went by. Then two. Then three. Then four.

I was actually losing sleep over it.

I was losing sleep because I knew deep down that I was going against my gut to make some extra money.

After many days of being ghosted, I decided to give them a call and let them know I would be taking back the offer.

When I called the potential tenant intending to take the offer back, they didn’t answer which was unfortunate because I was going looking forward to practicing having a difficult conversation.

A few minutes later, they texted me saying they wouldn’t be signing, as they had found another option.

It ended up working out.

Overall, I’m happy with how the situation ended.

Content Creators: Listen To Your Gut

This story doesn’t just apply to landlords. This applies to creators exploring brand deals, job offers, requests from connections you’ve made online… If you feel in your gut that something is off, just listen to it.

It’s not worth the trouble to compromise your instincts and morals for some quick cash. Your brand is your reputation. Your reputation is earned based on the honesty of your actions. Just don’t compromise them.

Take the long approach.