My father was once a top salesman for World Book Encyclopedia, and that meant I always got a new set of encyclopedias. Before the internet, books served as a valuable source of information for me to explore the world, and my passion has always been real estate.

I would flip through countless pages of information, paying close attention to the skyscrapers, and dreaming that one day I would visit the “trophy” properties seen around the globe. As I got older, my passion for real estate grew, and I wanted to soak up everything I could to become successful as a real estate investor.

In college, I majored in business, eager to carve a niche in real estate investing. I took every course I could – in the subjects of finance, economics, and real estate, always pushing myself to learn the secrets of compounding and wealth creation.

My first job out of college was in commercial leasing, and I learned very quickly that the way to build wealth in real estate was by owning it. But I needed to learn all the tricks of the trade. So I spent a few years in the trenches, learning how to buy, sell, lease, finance, and most importantly, suffer a few bruising losses.

If I had to sum up the definition of “investing” in a few words, it would be “learning from your mistakes.” As I’ve encountered the roadblocks to get to my current destination, the true secret has been to always learn from the mistakes, and of course, not repeat them again.

Life is a journey, and there are many second-level thinkers who have inspired me to win the race. As one of my mentors, Benjamin Graham said, “the most durable education is self-education.” In real estate, the most important words are location, location, location – and one of the best ways to become an expert in any field, is to always, learn, learn, learn.