1. I am currently 40 years old – (2018) Believe it or not, I sometimes still get carded. Maybe some people are terrible age guessers or I still look under 35 to some people. I’ll choose to use it to my advantage and hey, I do take good care of myself so I’ll take it as a compliment!
2. I have a brother who is 10 and a half years older that me and we are the exact same height – Ok, maybe I look a little taller in this picture but we’ve measured. Ironically, besides the fact that his hair is thinning, my brother might still look as young as me (Without the goatee) . He’s always had a bit more of that baby face look. Many people do not realize I have a brother because he lives in Canada.
3. I’ve been divorced but am now married to the most amazing woman! – Divorce is never an easy thing to go through. Especially when you have kids and especially when you work in the same office as your soon to be ex spouse. There were moments in the beginning when I thought no one could possibly want me, a middle aged man with 2 children. At this low point I could not see how I would ever be redeemed. I am happy to say God did just that and brought a woman into my life that was the answer to every prayer I had prayed for and I was the answer to hers. I am now married again and there is not a day that goes by that I don’t thank God for her and the path He guided me through to find her.
4. I was once made into a cartoon caveman for a video game – The game is designed to help people learn the basics about flipping houses. One of my business partners loved the idea and connected us with the opportunity to get involved. I think it’s pretty funny!
5. I am a Christian – If you could not tell from #3, I have a strong faith in Christ and pray that my actions, attitudes, mindset and the way that I treat others and run my businesses be a reflection of that fact. I was very lucky to have great parents who showed me the way early on and I made my own original commitment at a middle school winter camp with my youth group at the time.
6. I have 3 great kids – I have 2 beautiful daughters from my first marriage, 9 & 12 now, and a great stepson, 19 now. I have to admit, since we are being transparent and all, I am not a huge “kid” person. I am really not the type of guy who loves having a bunch of kids around regularly for any particular reason. That being said, I am completely, absolutely and madly IN LOVE with my two daughters and if I am not careful, I would most certainly smother them with my love. I always knew I wanted to be a Dad and I also knew I would be partial to my own children. That’s ok, right?
7. My parents were married for over 47 years & there’s a 21-year age difference between them – My Dad was from Hungary and my Mom is from Guadalajara, Mexico. They met in Puerto Vallarta while they were both on vacation. My Mom was with her family and my Dad was traveling solo. My grandmother protested for a long time, even years into their marriage as a matter of fact. Thankfully she relented after seeing how great he treated my Mom and that he was not going anywhere, no matter how many times she put on her angry face!
8. I am the youngest of 3 – We were all pretty active and physical and I have the scars to prove it! My brother was out of the house early so we really only grew up in the same house up until I was in second grade but he still left me with a few scars. My older sister on the other had is responsible for many more on her own. Like the time she came up behind me when I was hanging from a pull up bar my Dad had in one of the door jams, pulled back on my ankles and did not let go until my grip slipped and I came crashing chin first onto the tile floor below… Yeah, that required a bunch of stitches. All in all, we love each other and have had good relationships together.
9. I am not a big sports guy – I like sports, don’t get me wrong but I don’t really watch cable television and have never had the interest to follow any particular sports teams and be a loyal follower of any of them. I prefer to play sports and be outdoors but do enjoy watching the Super Bowl, championship basketball games and the final games in the World Series. Over the years I have made more of an effort to catch UFC fights actually. I have been a fan of martial arts most of my life and the only sport that interested me in high school was wrestling. I do love the excuse a good game gives us to get together though. I enjoy the fellowship with my friends more than anything else.
10. Camping is one of my favorite pass times – I have always loved the outdoors! There is nothing quite like being in nature! That is if you don’t mind getting nature on you! I love the bonding, the exercise, the fresh air, the ability to unplug, the fire, the sun, the connection with nature and of course the ability to share it all with my beautiful daughters, bride and friends and family.
11. I’ve always prided myself in being a good money manager – Early on I read a scripture calling us to be good stewards of our blessings. I really took that to heart and always wanted to be smart about my finances. I knew credit would be important so when I was 17 I decided that as soon as I turned 18 I would go to a bank and get a secured Visa card to start building my credit. I put down $300 of my own money and then basically let them charge me interests on my own money for 15 months for the privilege. I used it faithfully and responsibly and after that time the gave me my $300 back, unsecured my credit line and increased my limit to $500. I was on my way to the mid-high 700’s in the next few years and soon I could get just about any loan I wanted. It has not always been easy but having good credit has not only opened many doors, it has saved my butt many times too.
12. The key to my Speaking, Coaching and Real Estate Investing business success has come from the 1 main question: How can I add value to other people first – I have been asked many times by clients and investors, “How did you get started?” or “How did you get your business off the ground?” or “How did you go from an employee to an entrepreneur to get to where you are today?” The basic first part of my answer is always the same. I decided that in order to be successful I had to figure out how to add value to others, I asked myself the question, “How can I add value to others” and then I worked to develop those answer and put them into practice. Remember, a leader always touches a heart first, before he asks for a hand.
Many years later, this continues to drive my business and we are creating more and more profitable opportunities for our investors and adding more value to the organizations I speak to.
13. I want to be accepted and still care too much what people think, even though I know I shouldn’t – Without getting attention we could not have a business because nobody would know who we are to take advantage of our services. The flip side to that is once you get attention; you can’t help but to get negative attention sometimes. Not everyone will agree with our message, what we say or our mission in life. It has only happened a few times but when someone says something negative, it’s a challenge not to take it personally because I am passionate about what I do and adding value to the world!
14. I want to see a lot more of the world and have a destination bucket list – I love traveling with my wife and we have put together a list of 40 places we want to go in our lifetime. Some we’ve already been to but love them so much I keep them on there. Most of them are outside of the U.S. There is actually a good list of places I want to visit within the U.S. as well but for some reason foreign travel has always called to me more, especially when it involves tropical destinations!
15. I still get nervous before delivering a speech – One of my mentors, Brian Tracy, says that anything worth doing is worth doing poorly at first. Every great speaker or artist or musician or (enter your own title) was not great at first. We all start at the bottom and improve with dedication, persistence and time. I decided I needed to step out of my comfort zone and put in the time and work to develop my speaking skills once I realized it would allow me to make a great positive impact in the lives or others and that it would help me grow my businesses. Speaking is a business skill and just like every other business skill, it can be developed and improved. So think about what business skill, if you focused on improving it, would make the greatest impact in your life and business.
16. I love watching movies – Watching a great movie with my wife, kids or friends is something I have always enjoyed. Action movies are probably my favorite and for the longest time my favorites were Gladiator, Braveheart, The Matrix, Rocky series, Alien series and the Star Wars series.
17. Politics are fairly uninteresting to me – I vote for important things but generally I find politics to be so negative and I work daily to stay on my “negativity diet” so I don’t pay a lot of attention to it. I also don’t watch the news for the same reason.
18. I am a Mac convert – I was always a PC guy. Some of my high school friends were really into computers and in my early 20’s I decided I needed a computer. Rather than going to buy one I decided that if I was going to own one, it would be a good idea if I knew how to build it. So with the help of some friends, I ordered all of the necessary components and built my first computer. I built a few more after that. Then around 2011 I stared my Real Estate Investing business. I took on a partner in 2012 and he was a huge Apple guy and insisted we had to have the top of the line Mac Book Air’s. I agreed and after a short learning curve, I became a believer.
19. I don’t have a lot of patience with people that are poor listeners – I believe it is very important to give a person your attention during a conversation. Doing otherwise shows a lack of respect and without respect there can be no real trust and without trust, there’s no connection or relationship.
20. I can be an adrenaline junkie sometimes – I’ve been bungee jumping, skydiving, cliff diving, and scuba diving, raced dirt bikes, jet skiing, off roading, took martial arts, zip lining, etc. I just love the outdoors and physical activity! I must admit though, after I started having kids, I did become a bit more cautious and as I’ve gotten older, I also take less risks because it takes me longer to heal and I don’t like being out of the gym or unable to participate in an activity because I am injured.
21. I am highly allergic to cats and somewhat allergic to dogs – I really don’t know what happened. I had dogs growing up and I even had a cat in my 20’s. Then all of a sudden, bam! It was almost like I woke up one day with adult onset allergies. It’s really a drag sometimes because I really like animals but can’t get too close or spend time with the furry ones anymore. I do like reptiles though and we have a Red Tail Boa and have also had Bearded Dragons. It works out really well though. Since I travel for business and also love to travel for pleasure, it helps to be able to leave your reptile for days on end or even over a week without having to worry about a pet sitter.
22. I’ve started several business ventures that did not work out – As an entrepreneur I’ve tried my hand at various things that did not necessarily work out the way I would have hoped. I think that is part of the journey and so long as you learn something valuable and even come away with new and/or better relationships and perspective, you can still find the “win” in the “loss.”
23. I know I will be successful – I have not come anywhere close to the level of success I envision for my life and not reaching that vision is out of the question. It is NOT an option. My family, friends, colleagues, clients, followers and community deserve the positive impact I will have on them through my success. It is also my mission to be able to take care of my Mom and now my mother in law in their later years. I don’t want them to have to worry about anything and that can’t happen unless I am hugely successful. Success is my obligation, duty and responsibility! And it’s yours too! J
24. I am a bit of a health and fitness enthusiast – There was a time in my mid twenties that I let myself go. For about 5 years I got lazy and did not make it to the gym or really any productive physical activity. I was always active in high school and it did not take a lot to remain in relatively good shape. Not so much after 25. One day I saw a picture of myself and wondered what happened. I had enough and began educating myself on proper nutrition and a suitable workout routine and got to work. It took me two years to undo 5 years of damage and then get to a level I had never reached before.
25. I unashamedly feed my wife’s desire for purses and shoes – I gotta say, I have a pretty good eye for women’s shoes and purses and it’s a great “go-to” gift. Sharon tells me that it’s her favorite purse each time I get her a new one so I either do better each time or she just wants to make me feel good so I’ll keep doing it. I am good with either truth. Haha!
26. I am somewhat of a homebody – I love fellowshipping with my friends and family and meeting new people but so many times I would be perfectly content to just be home alone with Sharon doing whatever or nothing together.
27. I love Daddy/Daughter dates – Here I am with my oldest daughter Nevaeh at Magic Mountain and with my youngest daughter Eden at the ice skating rink.
28. It is my goal to read at least one book per month – Just like I was not a “natural born speaker” I was not a reader. A similar shift happened when I started my entrepreneurial journey and realized how important personal development is and the very fact that “leaders are readers.” I don’t read fiction books. I only read things that will help me grow or develop or come up with new ideas of how I can improve and grow myself or an area of my life and/or business.
29. I cannot stand having an even mildly dirty toilet in my house OR having the toiled lid up – Yep. I am THAT guy. I like to keep the seat AND lid down on my toilets at home and I like to make sure they are cleaned weekly or more often if needed. I’m not necessarily a germaphobe but I like having things clean. I have also seen some funny things in in public rest rooms throughout my travels. Check out this “privacy” design gem! 
30. I want a huge pond and stream running through my backyard – I built my own pond in my backyard a few years ago and I love it. When we move from our current house to what will be our idea home with a bit of land and a granny flat for my Mom’s I want to build a bit of a Zen garden which will include a huge pond and circulating stream that goes through the garden.
31. I love hiking and any outdoor activity having to do with nature – I love the combination of exercise, vitamin D, getting to unplug and taking in some breathtaking views.
Alright, that’s enough confessions for now. Maybe you can identify with some of these and it will serve to bring us closer together.
So that’s me. What about you? I’d love to hear a fun, random fact about you. Leave it in the comments below or email me at ivan@ivanoberon.com. I’d love to hear from you.
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~ Ivan