Being good, creative and skillful in the real estate business doesn’t mean that you have to possess high level of intelligence, an undergraduate or master’s degree. It is an edge to possess this kind of intellect, but not exactly always. Sometimes, all it takes is gut and a lot of curiosity.
Curiosity is as Important as Intelligence, a Harvard Business Journal by Thomas Chamorro-Premuzic which was published in 2014, talks about how we are living in this era of complexity. Swift changes in technology nowadays coming from vast sources effect the wide array of information that we constantly receive. A brain such as ours can only take so much information. Even great philosophers from the 17th and 18th century already have concepts about information overload as early as their time. But, curiosity is as important as intelligence.
So, the question that comes to mind is that, in this age of complexity, how do we cope up with the load of information we’re receiving and more importantly, how do we use all that knowledge to our advantage, say for example in our own fields of interests, occupations and in our everyday lives?
According to Premuzic, “Although complexity is context-dependent, it is also determined by a person’s disposition.” There are three particular key psychological qualities that we can measure to help us with complexity. And more importantly how can this help us to be a damn good real estate investor, or even with just our everyday lives? We can measure this by looking at our IQ, EQ an CQ.
IQ, or Intellectual Quotient measures the mental ability a person has. The higher your IQ means you have faster capabilities in solving mathematical and abstract problems. Your brain can carry more cognitive load, meaning you can memorize and process more information. In layman’s terms, IQ practically is your brain power. It practically stands for the amount of brain power that you have. It’s God-given. You can’t really increase your IQ, your IQ is your IQ. It’s something that you really don’t normally change. Usually, people with high IQs, it’s like having a lot of RAM. You don’t slow down when you get a lot of information. You just process through it.
EQ or your Emotional Quotient is actually how you can deal with complexity. It’s your thinking, how you manage complexity. Does it stress you out? Does it overwhelm you? A higher EQ means you have a higher ability to perceive, handle and express emotions. You are more resistant, less susceptible to anxiety and stress. Usually, people who have higher EQ’s tend to be more comprehensive organizationally, more skilled in leadership and managerial professions, highly creative and more innovative in materializing plans and risks. If you can have a higher EQ, it’s kind of buffering all that stress. It allows you to emotionally deal with the stress of complexity.
CQ or curiosity quotient means that you have a hungry, inquisitive and questioning mind. With CQ, you tend to possess original ideas more. Although among the three, CQ has not yet been deeply studied, but there are a lot of evidence that show how CQ is as important as IQ and EQ in facing complex situations. This complex style of thinking, leads to higher, longer term of accumulation of information and intelligence. Accumulation of knowledge in a sense that they treat it much like as an experience, done through learning by being curious, creating simple solutions and using it as great tool for solving complex problems. You actually can increase, not your IQ, but your actual learning and internally being able to recall it. Internalizing processes, if you’re curious, you’ll ingrain those processes in your brain and create memory.
Now, as a kid, I hated taking tests. I could never commit. It takes a lot of work to commit that to memory. For me, the way I do it, I had to get through a repetitiveness, I have to keep doing it. Actually, visually, so I can see it, look at it, and then I can maybe kind of commit it to memory. It’s a very hard process. But then I look at in my business life as I’ve been curious of different things, I’ve had to figure things out. I internalize the process and because I had to do it myself and figure it out, I actually learned the process. I find that’s a very powerful gift.
So my goal today is to share with you that you need to be curious. You need to be solving problems. 95% of what I do in the apartment industry is fixing problems and solving problems.
I think I’ve been a problem solver pretty much all my life because I’ve always forced to. When you don’t have lots of money and lots of credit, and you want to do this thing called real estate, you immediately have to start solving some of your problems. It’s come very natural to me, and by doing that, I’ve learned a lot.
The other thing is I’ve always been curious. How does that work? Tell me more. How does insurance work? How does loans work? How do operations work? When I come in contact with people that are really good at it, honestly, I’m just curious. I want to know how they do what they do. I don’t just ask high-level stuff. I start going into, “Tell me more. I really want to understand that process.” I just find that it’s interesting. What’s crazy, people that know me really well know this about me, is when we’re having those conversations and people are telling me the way they do things and stuff, when I go out and I talk with other people, I recall some of their certain phrases and terminology and I’ve adapted it as if it’s my own. It’s crazy, spooky, scary, how good I am at it. But that’s a gift.
Go out there today and be curious as hell. Do not stop being curious. Take your CQ, your Curiosity Quotient, and drive it to the max. This game of real estate is a fun game. Be super curious about multifamily and cashflow. Keep following me. Learn from me. Let me teach you, guide you, coach you. I want to share with you all that I know.
