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Show Summary
In this episode of the Real Estate Pros podcast, host Michelle Kesil interviews Jason Wojo, a real estate investor. They discuss the importance of balancing life and business success, creating a vision for one’s life, and the Freedom Formula that includes vision, business structuring, and passive income through investments. Jason shares insights on choosing the right investment assets, common mistakes in vision setting, and overcoming hurdles in life and business. The conversation emphasizes the significance of community and support in achieving a fulfilling life and business.
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Investor Fuel Show Transcript:
Jason Wojo (00:00)
You went into business to have a better life, like nobody goes into business to have a worse life. And yet, so many entrepreneurs find themselves working all the time. And so that’s what they have. So if business isAnd if business has the goal and has a singular focus of giving you a better life, you need to know what that looks like. You’ve really got to quantify it. You’ve got to make it tangible.
Michelle Kesil (01:52)
Hey everybody, welcome to the Real Estate Pros podcast. I’m your host, Michelle Kesil and today I’m joined by someone that I’m looking forward to chatting with, Jason Wojo who is a real estate investor, private lender, and founder of Lifeonaire coaching program. So excited to have you here today, Jason.Jason Wojo (02:12)
Hey, thanks, Michelle. I’m super excited. And just a small clarification, I’m actually not the founder, but I was involved very, very early with the founder. His name is Steve Cook. But yeah, been involved in Lifeonaire since 2009.Michelle Kesil (02:26)
Okay, amazing, thank you for that. Awesome, so yeah, let’s dive in on everything that you’re up to. So first off, for those not familiar with you and your world, can you share what your main focus is these days?Jason Wojo (02:41)
Yeah, so I love real estate and it is part of my passive income strategy where you you mentioned lending and I love that and I think that’s it’s an evolution of how a lot of investors go because they go from like boots on the ground to one to step back from the business. So I’ve kind of taken that to an extreme where the company that I spend most of my time now is Lifeonaire and our entire MO, our model and our mission is to help overworked entrepreneurs, business owners, investors.learn how to really step back from their business and do it in a way that doesn’t sacrifice business success because, you know, we’ll talk about, you know, A, putting life first and, you know, making time for the things that are most important, but automatically a lot of business owners think that means we’re saying like, oh no, stop working, stop making money. And that is not true. We want you to have both. We want you to have a life and a business you love. And so that’s kind of the focus of Lifeonaire is like, how do you actually do that? And how do you have both?
the life that you think is amazing and you have free time for the things that are important, but also that you’re kicking butt in business too.
Michelle Kesil (03:45)
Yeah, amazing. think that’s an important balance to maintain. How do you kind of create that journey for the people that join to differentiate and to create that balance?Jason Wojo (03:59)
Yeah, so for us, we kind of use a three pronged approach. ⁓ So the first thing we do, and some people kick back on this and say like, I don’t need to, I need to worry about this other thing. And we’ll push back and we’ve because we’ve seen it work so many times is you got to create a vision for the life you want to live. Because here’s the reality is this.You went into business to have a better life, like nobody goes into business to have a worse life. And yet, so many entrepreneurs find themselves working all the time. And so that’s what they have. So if business is
And if business has the goal and has a singular focus of giving you a better life, you need to know what that looks like. You’ve really got to quantify it. You’ve got to make it tangible.
So many people think that like, you know, living a good life is just like, you know, having a having a two story home in a gated community with a couple of SUVs in the driveway. And like, there’s so much more to life. So you really got to get very clear on what that is. And then the second step.
is now we orient and structure or redesign your business to give you that life. So now that you have kind of what winning looks like, you’ve defined that with your vision,
now how do you actually create a business to do this? And one of the techniques we do this in your business is we use a process called SEAD, S-E-A-D. It stands for strategize, eliminate, automate, and delegate. And so this is just a stepwise process. We actually got a book coming out in the spring on this.
And it’s essentially a framework for removing yourself from being the bottleneck in your business because most business owners, whether they’ve realized or not, have created jobs for themselves really. It’s not really a business. that’s not to criticize anybody because I was certainly there. But if you stop working, the business stops working. And so that’s where this process really helps you step back.
and free up that time. And then the third stage of this process is really to take those process, sorry, those proceeds from the business, the profits that are left over after you’ve taken home your paycheck and everything else, taking those and putting them into real estate in particular. ⁓ And we encourage people to consider assets that are cash flowing, ideally that are debt free. And we can get into that if you want to, but you know, so it’s really that vision.
then the active business income, then the passive income through ⁓ assets providing that income for you. And that’s kind of the freedom formula as we like to call it and helps people really have that life and business.
Michelle Kesil (07:12)
Yeah, amazing. think that’s so valuable. And so yeah, can you expand on those assets? mean, I’m sure real estate is a big portion, but are there any other modalities that you are supporting people through?Jason Wojo (07:25)
Yeah, so real estate is the most common, I’d say, with our folks. And the reason is, ⁓ well, there’s a few reasons. And there’s also, let me also say this. When I say real estate, I mean, you we have people, some people that are doing storage, some people that are doing, ⁓ they’ll be in long-term rentals, some people are doing apartments and multifamily. And so it is across the board. your vision, so one thing that, a couple things there.your vision really should dictate which asset you are choosing to invest in and which one is most aligned with what you’re looking to get out of it, as well as which one are you most passionate about. We have a guy, Josh, in our program who has 850 units out in Madison, Wisconsin. And when I asked him about, what is it about, was it the numbers, would you look at your metrics and the spreadsheets? And he’s like, no, I just love providing quality, affordable housing to people.
And I’m like, okay. And then I’d ask somebody else who has storage facilities. I’m like, so what is it about storage facilities? like, well, I love it that it’s so hands off. It’s super low maintenance for us. so in that case, those were the determining factors that influenced their decision to get into storage. And so you gotta choose that for yourself. Now, we do have other people that are doing other things. And the key here though is at that stage,
You can have an active real estate business, but now you’re back in that second step we talked about like for instance Like a wholesaler a flipper if you’re managing rentals like those are active businesses there. They’re not passive So you have to if you’re looking if we’re strictly talking about those assets in that third step ⁓ That are providing, know, ideally as least amount of active involvement as possible. You got to look at things either
that are not going to take up a lot of your time or that you can have somebody else manage for you because the whole point is like not starting another business, which we can get into that as well. It’s a huge mistake a lot of investors make, but it’s like, what are the things that can be ideally as hands off as possible, but yet still provide a steady stream of income for you? Aside from that, we do have people that are simply like, and they have enough money, they’re just like, hey, I’m just going to invest in in dividend providing exchange traded funds ETFs.
or stocks, some people are just literally putting stuff in high yield savings account, which these days isn’t quite as good as it was a year two ago. You’re only gonna get three and a half, maybe four on a good account. Depends on how much money you have and how much extra you have to invest. ⁓ We’re also big fans of people collaborating on deals
so that if you don’t have…
⁓ enough money for an asset by yourself, you can come alongside other people and then you guys can share in some of that rather than have some of the risks associated with a mortgage, but we’re kind of going off on a rabbit trail there.
Michelle Kesil (10:54)
Yeah, amazing. think that it is so important for people to find the strategy that suits their lifestyle like you were mentioning.Jason Wojo (11:03)
It is, know, the challenge I see that happens is like, know, especially when we’re talking about real estate, people don’t give a lot of consideration as to what they want their life to look like, and they’re gonna choose a path that may not align, and it could even get them further away from the life they want. Like, so I remember when I first started in real estate, when I started researching real estate, my first, I went full-time in 2011, but I had started.research in real estate, 2008-ish, maybe 2007. And I went to the Locoria and it was constantly being pitched another angle on, and by the way, nothing wrong with that, that’s the model. But one month I’d hear about storage, next month I’d hear about apartments, next month I’d hear about sub two investing or some advanced creative finance and then
All of sudden I’m like, I don’t even know what I need anymore. What is the one I should pick? And so it can be very confusing if you’re just listening to someone speak to you about it, because if they’re a good salesperson, which is, again, that’s awesome, it just can be really confusing because they all sound good. Should I do notes? Should I do Airbnbs? Should I do midterm rental? And all of a sudden you don’t know what to do. And so you got to really look at that’s why the vision is so important, because this will pull you back to really understand like which of these is the most aligned with what I’m.
eventually trying to accomplish.
Michelle Kesil (12:33)
Yeah, absolutely. Is that something that you walk people through in your program?Jason Wojo (12:39)
Yeah, Lifeonaire has a program, membership program, but we also, the entry point for most people is we have a Lifeonaire book that came out, gosh, over a decade now. And that really helped, it’s not a how-to book, but it’s kind of like a belief-shifting book that people will kind of start to maybe question whether they’ve been pursuing the things that are most important to them. And then we have an event called the Get a Life Getaway.which is us really walking you through for three days. Like how do you really create a vision? How do you discern between what you want and what you’ve been told to want? How do you overcome, you know, the beliefs of feeling guilty if you’re not working all the time? You’d be amazed at how many people, you know, really have a mental hang up with working less because, you know, we do glorify busy and we kind of like wear it like a badge of honor. And so we cover all of that stuff at the Get a Life Getaway. that’s, and that’s, and people can come to the event, you know, people,
People ask me all the time, like, hey, do I need to join your program to get this, to learn how to do this? I’m like, no, of course not. We’ve just been doing it for a while, and so we’d be glad to help you, but you can do it on your own as well. But it really does start with that vision. It’s so, I know it’s, when we started talking about this stuff, like back 2007, 2008, nobody was talking about this. And now there are a lot of people, hear the word vision way more frequently, and that’s amazing. I’m glad.
Even if Lifeonaire is not the one to reach you with this importance and somebody else does, then I’m super excited because that still means that you’re gonna have a higher likelihood of really prioritizing your life in a way that is gonna make most sense for you and minimize regrets and make sure that every day is something you’re excited to wake up for.
Michelle Kesil (14:25)
Yeah, definitely, I think that is the most important vision is how you go about your life. So I love that. What do you feel are some main keys that made the biggest difference ⁓ in your life and your vision?Jason Wojo (14:34)
Yeah.Yeah, so the biggest thing for me was really, and this sounds, this may sound simplistic, but like my first version of my vision ⁓ was really small. And it was quite frankly influenced a lot by what I thought I was supposed to say. And so,
and these are two mistakes that I see, you know, the most, most frequently made to other people as well as like some people have had limited success.
And they failed a lot. And so they’re reluctant to put a lot of things down on paper because now, like, if you don’t put it down on paper, you don’t really fail because like there’s nothing staring you back in the face of like, hey, you said you you’re going to do this. You said you wanted this and you’re not doing it. And so a lot of people will resist putting that stuff down on paper. like the the thing that I see happen more than not, and I can’t fully explain it. By the way, let me just for myself, I’m not like this big.
manifestation kind of person and like the universe, whatever. But I do think there’s something very tangible about like having something written in front of you that keeps you accountable and reminds you of the things that are important. And so putting down the things you in your heart really, really want. Now, on the other side of that, I’ll see people put things down that are, you know, like the beachfront house in Malibu and the Lamborghini and that stuff and
If people really want that stuff, I’m your biggest cheerleader. ⁓ Let’s do it, I’ll help you get it. But so many times when people take the time to really figure out what they value most, it’s just stuff and it doesn’t make a tangible difference in their life and they really just thought they were supposed to say those things and they’re supposed to want a plane and supposed to want all these things and it’s just not what they really thought when they really take the time to consider it for themselves.
And so I guess on one hand, I see people, and I’ve done this too, where I put things that are too small in my vision because I didn’t want to fail, but also I’ve seen people put really big things that really didn’t come from them. Society rewarded them and so they put those things down there as well. ⁓ And the other mistake I’d say I see a lot and that I did as well is putting a number on your vision. Like, hey, I make 10 grand a month.
passive cash flow, or I make 20 grand a month, or I have 100 grand in the bank, or a million, whatever it is. And what I found is like, the best visions really don’t have a dollar value. Because as soon as you put that dollar value on there, like not only is your life becoming about money, which we’re trying to avoid, but you really could be also, know, capping yourself. And so instead, if someone wants to say something about money, I’d say like, you know, something better would be,
I’m financially free. don’t stress. ⁓ I no longer have stress about money or I have abundance. Just something more than just a dollar value are the mistakes that I’ve made ⁓ as well when I first started. And so these are ones I see over and over again that I like to recommend people kind of avoid.
Michelle Kesil (18:38)
Yeah, absolutely, because I think like those material things can shift very easily versus the longer term vision.Jason Wojo (18:48)
totally.like, look, this ever happened to you, Michelle, like where you, you, you, you, you get something, you achieve a goal or you, you, you make, you know, this money. And then all of sudden you’re like, what’s next? Like this, like, okay, I, this, I did this and now, now I feel like what’s the next thing. Like it’s very, very fleeting. And so that’s why the vision really, it’s not a goals list. It’s not a, it’s not a checklist of things to like knock off, but it’s, it’s a, it’s kind of a.
a guiding document for how you want to spend your time and what you find most important. And it’s a good reminder. it’s just a good reminder. Because you know, here’s the other thing too, is like the more successful you get, the more opportunities come your way and your name gets out there and people are like, Hey, will you do this deal with me? Or Hey, what do think about this? Or all these things start clouding your plate and people are trying to bring you out to lunch all the time and pick your brain and all this other stuff. And that’s great, except
it could very easily pull you off track for what you have identified yourself as being most important. so having that vision just really keeps you focused and it minimizes those shiny objects and the squirrels and the things that can pull you away from what you really want most.
Michelle Kesil (20:03)
Yeah, absolutely. And what is kind of the biggest maybe hurdle that people overcome once they join Lifeonaire?Jason Wojo (20:14)
I think the biggest hurdle is recognizing that most people aren’t living this way. ⁓ And it ⁓ can be a very strange sensation when you feel, and this is probably one thing that really bonds Lifeonaire is together, is that not only, I spend more time with my Lifeonaire friends, oftentimes that are across the country, than my local friends because they’re too busy working or they can’t afford to go on trips or they’re just stuck in the grind. And so Lifeonaire has reallybecome very strong as a community because that way of living isn’t common. Most people are stuck in the grind. If you look at the average person’s calendar, it’s filled with work. And this is not to say that Lifeonaire are against work. And some of the Lifeonaire I know are some of the hardest-working people I know, but they do it within the confines of life being scheduled first. And so one of the things we do at the Get a Life Getaway, in fact, is
you know, pull out a calendar and put down everything you want to do first. And then let’s see how much time you have left for work. And when you do that, now you’re forced to get the work done within those narrow boundaries and those bookends. And so it’s not about working less. Sorry, it is about working less, but it’s not about working, you know, not as hard. And so that can be a hard thing for people to kind of understand and make that change into, you know, I think of it as like, ⁓ you know,
Like the 80, we talk a lot about in life about the 80-20 rule and you know, what’s the 20 % of the time that you’re putting in that’s giving you 80 % of the results? We talked about, you know, Parkinson’s law, which says, you know, work expands given the amount of time that you allow it to expand to. And you know, if you’ve had a W-2 job, you know this. If you have to be there from nine to five, you’re gonna spread your workout over, you know, from nine to five. And so there’s a mindset issue of how to work more effectively.
And sometimes there can be a little bit of sadness as well when when people you care about are Living a life short of what they could be and you and you maybe try to share this life in your message with them And they’re just not ready yet You know, I spoke at a high school recently and it was really interesting because like, you know I have some people leaning in and I have some people like, you know giggle into themselves and I have other kids that are taking no like is is interesting and I realized like
not everybody’s ready for the message. you, you know, when the teacher’s ready, sorry, when the student is ready, the teacher appears kinds of things. ⁓ But it’s, you just want to bring, you want to bring everyone you know, when you care about along with the journey, because you want them to have an awesome life too.
Michelle Kesil (22:56)
Yeah, I love that. I think that’s super valuable. So before we wrap up here, if somebody wants to reach out, connect, learn more about what you’re up to, where can people find you and connect with you?Jason Wojo (23:09)
Yeah, so the two best places I’d say are if you go to lifeonaire.com ⁓ you will see our contact us form and you know, I get to see those. And so if you want to reach out to me specifically, you could just address me. Again, my name is just Jason Wojo, real simple. ⁓ Or, you the other place you can get us is businessforlife.com, which is where the new book coming out in the spring will be published from. that’s really, that book is to dive into this seed process.that we spoke about for your active business owners who are looking to get out of their business. But I’m available on both of those or find me on social. I always love to connect with anybody who’s trying to pursue a better life or better business.
Michelle Kesil (23:49)
Perfect, appreciate your time and your story. Thank you for coming on here. Of course, for those listeners tuning in, if you got value, make sure you have subscribed. We have more conversations with operators like Jason who are building real businesses and we will see you on our next episode.Jason Wojo (23:53)
Thanks, Michelle
