The Networking Dumbass

In a post I did last year called The Art of Conversation, I talked about the importance of at least pretending to be social. For business purposes, I have to be able to socialize with people and befriend them… but this applies only to the people that can help me further my business. See, I’m dumb. Dumb people need… wait.

I call myself dumb a lot and I feel the need to define it. I’ll define it through an allegory. Let’s use myself and my former dim-witted tenant Nicky as an example. Now let’s say we are both running towards a brick wall as fast as we can. We know what’s going to happen when we get too close but we run faster and faster. We both hit the wall. We say “Ow!!” We rub our heads then get back up. That’s where our stupidity differs. While I get up to find a way around that wall, Nicky will get up and run into the wall again and again and again until she gets numb to it and it becomes routine for her. Most intelligent people would see the problem then find a way to avoid it altogether, but unfortunately I don’t work that way. I see a problem, feel the consequences of going through it, then find a way to solve the problem so it never happens again. And that’s my allegory for my “dumbassness”.

So as I was saying before, I’m dumb. Dumb people need smart people around them as fail-safes so that when they’re about to make a mistake, they have smart people to show them how to avoid it. I know common sense, but I don’t know much about the mechanics of business. Taxes, payrolls, budgets, insurance, mortgages, or whatever, I have only basic knowledge when it comes to these business terms. Because of that, I have to start surrounding myself with intelligent and successful people, even befriending them (or at least pretend to befriend them). Robert Kiyosaki talked about the same subject in his Rich Dad, Poor Dad series. Most successful people in real estate usually have accountants, real estate brokers, and agents that they know for years who help them get rich with inside knowledge and short cuts that can make the most money for all parties involved. Yes, I’m anti-social and a sociopath, but I understand that sometimes I have to pretend to be something I’m not in order to get what I want.

I plan to befriend my tax guy Ross first. Once I buy property Charlie, I’ll start inviting him out to lunch once every two weeks. He’s a smart guy and can help me structure my business the way I want it. Depending on how the purchase of property Charlie goes, I’ll keep contact with the ones I feel will help me get the kind of deals I want. In a country of C+ presidents and million-dollar reality star sluts, it’s okay to be a dumbass. But I must have smart people around me to make sure that my stupidity doesn’t go unchecked. Not to mention that surrounding myself with intelligent people will make me smarter so that one day I will no longer be Dumbass Roger.