I will be eternally grateful to my dad for bringing my mother and me to the United States. Dad was an enlisted serviceman who was stationed in South Korea after his tour in Vietnam. He fell in love with a beautiful Korean woman, got married, and had me shortly after. He received orders to report to Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas, when I was 4 years old.

I spent my early years on a military base playing with other children like me, so little did I know a biracial child in South Korea would suffer strong prejudices. Some of those prejudices followed me to Texas.

Life in San Antonio was filled with new adventures because I arrived in America without speaking English. I understood English just fine, but refused to speak it because I thought of myself as 100% Korean. I began kindergarten at age 6, which meant I was a little bigger than the other kids. My brown skin, almond-shaped eyes, and hair braided in two tight braids down my back made me stand out amongst my peers. I was neither Black, White, Hispanic, nor Asian.

My mother made a significant personal sacrifice to make sure we stayed a family. A soldier doesn't earn much money, but it was important for my mother to own her own home. So that was the first thing she insisted on buying after a few months in America. The money my dad earned was steady yet barely covered monthly expenses.

My mother insisted on having savings, so, like many immigrant women, my mother ended up working various low-level jobs to earn extra money. When she came home from her job as a waitress, we would count her tips and wrap the coins in sleeves to take to the bank and exchange them for bills.

My dad was deployed a lot in my early years, so mom and I often found ourselves alone. Since I spoke English with no accent, I took the role of spokesperson for the family whenever a need to communicate arose. I learned to write checks and balance a checkbook at age 10 because it was easier for me to write in English. I learned about money, the hard work it takes to earn it, and what it means to not have enough of it. And I learned to save for emergencies.

Being poor is a state of mind I never had. There was always food in the refrigerator with enough to share with others. Happily, all of the adverse situations provided me a very positive platform for earning money, saving money, and investing money. Adversity plants the seed of an equivalent or more significant benefit.

I learned hard work and discipline from my mother, who motivated me to study my way through school. I graduated from the University of Texas with an undergraduate degree in Psychology. I went on to get my law degree at the University of Texas and then on to a degree in Clinical Psychology while attending night school at Barry University in Miami, Florida. I worked during the day selling real estate, which gave me insight into the psyche of real estate professionals. I used real estate to create my master's thesis on motivation for real estate salespeople.

To be successful in real estate sales and gain Financial Freedom, you have to have a money-conscious attitude.

Why do we put so much emphasis on money? Because we have witnessed so many well-meaning people come into the real estate business and leave it shortly after, financially worse off than when they came aboard. Their enthusiasm waned, so they didn't earn enough money to stay in the business long enough to learn the skills required!

No, money isn't everything, and "finance" is just one of the Eight Realms of your life. However, it is the one Realm that makes achieving the other seven Realms easier.

Your Takeaway: 

To earn way above average money, you need five things:

1. Attitude (don't be average)

2. Commitment to the idea of being comfortable being uncomfortable

3. A system that develops your organizational and selling skills

4. A good sales manager, coach, mentor, or accountability partner

5. Hunger - the need to be hungry for Financial Freedom is imperative

At this moment, if you are not concerned about how your life is going to end up or the legacy you leave, I suggest you should be while there’s still time!