Things are getting difficult as we all know.  In a big picture sense this is brought on by the conversion of the 20-ish year time period of falling interest rates to a period of rising interest rates. 
 
Instead of it being easy to basically create found money with cap-rate-compression, we now find it the other way around.  It is hard going and likely will get harder.  These are trying times.  Some will succumb and others will find a way to turn difficult times to their advantage.
 
I have written various article about ideas and angles and I will certainly do that going forward, but sometimes just some good inspiration is what we all could use a dose of.  Especially as Thanksgiving is coming around.
 
My colleague Caitlin Velez circulated this speech to my law firm only a few weeks ago to inspire us and I am taking the liberty of passing it on to you.
 
The speech is from Naval Admiral William H. McRaven, Ninth Commander of the U.S. Special Operations Command at the University Wide Commencement of the University of Texas at Austin on May 17, 2014.
 
I (almost always) hate it when someone sends me something like this and I admit I usually delete those kinds of things.  This one is 19 minutes and 26 seconds long.  I included a link with the transcript if you would prefer to read it, but it is a lot better to listen to Admiral McRaven.  He is an excellent speaker and he doesn’t waste any time telling you exactly how to change the world: 
 
Adm. McRaven Urges Graduates to Find Courage to Change the World - UT News (utexas.edu)
 
Before I heard this speech I thought that the two best speeches I had ever heard were:
 
            Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address
            Martin Luther King’s I Have a Dream Speech
 
Now I think that the three best speeches I had ever heard are:
 
            Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address
            Martin Luther King’s I Have a Dream Speech
            Admiral McRaven’s commencement address
 
I don’t know if this will change your life, but I am confident it will give you a dose of fire-power to succeed during these turbulent times – to make lemonade out of lemons – to be that Second Mouse – and to kick (your own) ass when a good ass-kicking is needed.
 
Thank you so much Caitlin for sharing and best of success to everyone in the real estate industry.
  
Bruce Stachenfeld aka The Real Estate Philosopher™