What 2025 Revealed About Risk, Decisions, and Building Wealth the Right Way | Ep 106

James: Big breath. We made it to the end of 2025. Whew. Good job everyone. You did it. Excellent. Woo. Though some people like to point out that it is just a random point in the sand. It's not actually like a timeframe. It's good to have like checkpoints though. I, and this is one of them. And so in this episode, we're gonna take the time to do a checkpoint to.

Look back on 20 25, 20 25, and talk about what we've learned and then look forward to 2026. So it'll be a good episode. And my recommendation is that while we're asking the questions, you ask yourself these same questions and also dive into it. Mm-hmm. On the Furlo Capital Real Estate Podcast where we dive into the intricacies of passive real estate investing and how we did and how we're going to do.

So that, uh, what is it? So that we can equip people to invest wisely in both property and people so that together we can build wealth while improving housing. I'm James. This is my wife, Jessi.

Jessi: I am still here. We, what does that mean? I know we've been decluttering and it just is like, I'm gonna talk about it in some of our, like looking back, looking forward things.

Okay. But it's, it's just exhausting. It's exhausting to get rid of things, which sounds so dumb. That's like when I say it out loud, I'm like. That's just really dumb. I, I wouldn't

James: say it was a mistake but one of the things we did this year was we went to a lot of Christmas parties yes, a lot.

I think, I think I personally kind of most, I think I went to six.

Jessi: Uh huh

James: And which was a lot, which I, yeah. And it turns out like everyone's got really nice houses. It's, uh, shall we say, we'll, we'll put it in a positive light. It's inspiring. It's inspiring to see their homes and how they're set up, and it makes us go, wow, we have a lot of stuff.

And it's not nearly as. Put together. Nice. So, so it's logged in. Yeah. It just makes you a reevaluate, which is good.

Jessi: Yeah. That's a, so speaking of reevaluating thing,

James: that's what you gotta do. Yeah. First thing you gotta do is look back at the year to help you look forward to the next year. Yeah. So that's what we're, so we've got 11 questions.

Buckle up. The original document that I, we, I was trying to look at the day, I think the first time you and I walked through something like this. I think it was in like 2014. No, it might have been like 2008. Eight. It had to be, it's been a while.

Jessi: It had to be a while ago. 'cause it was

James: because we got it from somebody else.

We got it from some somebody else.

Jessi: And it was in our like network marketing days. Dude, that was the days, the good old days. Ah, yes. We were, were those people were freshly married and

James: uh Yeah.

Jessi: Selling stuff.

James: Yeah, buying

Jessi: stuff. Yeah. It was good. Get those, pedaling

James: those supplements, baby.

Jessi: But it was good. This practice was actually.

Quite helpful. Yes. That we gained from them. We kept even, we kept doing though we don't do

James: that stuff anymore. Yeah. Yeah. So that's what we're gonna do in front of all of you. And, um, like I said in our intro play along. Mm. You know, so yeah. Can you link to the question

Jessi: somewhere?

James: I guess a, um, document or something?

Probably just play along. It's fine. Don't overthink it. Yeah.

Jessi: Okay. I, I would like to download the document that's blank and then write my own answers in. That's, that's fair.

James: That's fair. But

Jessi: I get it. Not, not everybody who listens to the podcast is like me.

James: That is also true. That's actually by design, actually.

Yeah. Most of you are

Jessi: not like me, so I get it. Just play along, I guess.

James: So number one, uh, if you had to describe 2025 in one word, what would it be and how did that show up in your decisions?

Jessi: Mm-hmm. I'll let you go first. Um, I am terrible at choosing one word. Okay. So I got one word. That's, that's why you have so

James: much written that I don't, right.

Anyways, keep going. I know. You're

Jessi: like, say this briefly and I'm like, here's my paragraph. Trust, but trust in parentheses, but verify the team.

James: Trust the team. Okay. Because it's not just tell me more

Jessi: trust. It's just, it was like trusting my team. So

James: it's like trusting me with our investments in businesses,

Jessi: right?

Yes. Or trusting other people to run with things. Yeah. At my job. Or trusting the kids to take care of their own stuff. There you go. Trusting the

James: dog not to chew our socks and shoes. Come on. No trust while we're sitting there. No trust. Yep. He has no trust. There's a high potential that he's doing that. At this very moment, this guy is a Yep,

Jessi: yep.

Even though he has plenty of other things to chew,

James: he's regressed. He's trying to, I don't know, whatever. Yeah,

Jessi: it's okay. Anyways, so my word was trust. Trust my team. Trust, that's a good word. Because my capacity and bandwidth changed a lot this last year and I, I realized I couldn't do all the things that I used to be able to do.

Mm-hmm. And I, I had to trust people would help and step in. Yeah. And they did. And it was often better than, yeah. Alone,

James: which started last year in 2025. Yeah. But continued in the

Jessi: 24. Yeah. It started in 24. I feel like I've Yeah. It's just been a 24 Wow. Continued adjustment in 25. Yeah. Which is, I fight it.

'cause I'm I like to have control and I like to be in charge. Yeah. And it's hard to trust somebody else with decisions and, and finishing projects that you've started and it's like, okay, I can, well. I can do this.

James: Interesting. Oddly, mine is kind of related. Hmm. It's a, documentation is my word, because I did a lot of what I would call handshake deals this year.

Not a lot. Yeah. Okay. I did two of them. Yeah. And they both ended up being very messy at the end. Yeah. Because there's different assumptions about what was going on and that's one of the, that was one of my learnings is, mm-hmm. I mean, I love the idea of a handshake, the idea of a very simple mm-hmm.

Like sales, uh. Agreement. Yeah, agreement. Thank you. I love the idea of that, but one of the things I've, I learned this last year again, the hard way was Yeah. It just doesn't, yeah. You need to write out some of the details. There's a few things you need to write out. And I've even had conversations now where I'm in, where I've, we've had the conversation and then I've now sent an email saying, Hey, here's what we talked about.

I'm intentionally trying to, like, we're agreeing to do this and so, um, not just leave it at a verbal thing. Yeah. Even if it's a verbal thing. That's my. That was some learnings that just made it hard. Things turned out okay in the end. Mm-hmm. But it just made it a lot harder than I think it needed to be.

Sure. 'cause it turns out our memories aren't great.

Jessi: Yeah. On

James: the property management side, like I, I figured that one out really early on. Mm-hmm. And so, so we're good there. But yeah, on the sales side specifically and on like the syndications that I not set up, I've, I've, I know the documentation that's been drilled into me enough not to do anything.

Mm-hmm. Handshake there. But yeah. So that was a big, that was a big one for me.

Jessi: Yeah.

James: You wanna read number two?

Jessi: Number two, what surprised you most about how you showed up as an investor in 2025? Yeah, I was like, I bent my answer on this. I was like.

Am I an investor? I was like, yeah,

yeah. I totally am an investor.

It's just not as like day to day in my face Yeah. As it is with you. But

James: yeah, that's fair. So yeah, gimme your answer first. Uh, so for me, honestly, it was, uh, just building a team mm-hmm. Requires a totally different skill and knowledge set. Like I've true joked around so much about, I'm like, I spend so much time on Gusto just trying to figure out stinking payroll.

Right. It doesn't seem like it should be hard and it's, I don for whatever reason, my brain's like, I don't think this way. Like how they it's hard. And there's been people who are like, yeah, I pay twice as much just to have someone else totally take care of it. And I'm like. You know what that might be worth.

That actually might be a pretty good deal now that I've gone through this a little bit. Of course now it's all set up, so it's fine, but Sure. But I think for me, that was just one of those that was a surprise thing. Mm-hmm. As you invest and you grow, you can't and shouldn't do everything on your own.

Mm-hmm. So you gotta build a team and just managing that team and leading them. Yeah. But then there's just all of the. Compliance side of the world, that honestly is a surprise to me. Yeah. Super interesting

Jessi: that you gotta follow the law when you have Yes. You do other people's lives underneath your control and Yeah.

James: If you're just a solopreneur just going at it, it's actually like, it's super straightforward. Instead of an LLC, you're off rock and roll go for, but yeah, the second you get someone else, you have to have A-B-I-N-A business identification number. Mm-hmm And then you have to have, again, you gotta. Submit for taxes, insurance, but then there's also requirements for retirement.

Yeah. Labor laws and labor laws. You gotta follow and different disclosures. You gotta give forms. You gotta have everyone fill out.

Jessi: Yeah.

James: And, um, and I've, and for years I played the contractor game.

But now it's like, no, these people, they're working for me full time. Right. So they're not contractors anymore.

Yeah. But anyways, that was not really related to investing. It's more like running a business. Mm-hmm. But it's an investment business anyways. Yeah. You're investing in your business. That was, that was definitely when I was like, oh, this is a thing. Okay, cool.

Jessi: Yeah.

James: How about you?

Jessi: Um, I said. I support you in our investments.

What a surprise. And, uh, I do this podcast.

James: Yeah.

Jessi: That is, um, how I show up an so what surprised you the most? An investor surpris the most.

James: Is there any surprises in there? We're just gonna let that go. Um, I You were surprised by how much fun you had on this podcast.

Jessi: Yeah. I mean, I surprised you made

James: it to a hundred.

Jessi: I certainly, I am on some level because I was not a believer at the beginning. Oh man. I'll be honest about that. So it's like, okay. Uh, yeah. This is like supporting my helping. We're doing this. We're, this is a thing. It's good. That is good. People listening, they're learning. That would keep the dog as, that's a good thing.

So much better. It's so much better. Oh my gosh. He was annoying.

James: Yes. I agree. That's a good one. What decision felt small at the time? I struggled with this question. Mm-hmm. What decision felt small at the time, but ended up shaping your year financially or strategically more than you expected?

Jessi: This has nothing to do with real estate.

That's fine. It doesn't have to because it's, it's, I reflected on me that's allowed, and I, yeah. That's not my day to day. But I, so I went back and forth on releasing this new memory verse and face statement program that I, that I drafted. I, I wrote this curriculum out because I had this passion, wanted it to be seen.

But I sat on it for so long.

Yeah.

And I made the decision to just, to just roll it out. To just start it, start trying it with, with actual kids and try it out. Yeah. And get some clarity around whether it's good, whether it's not, like we can go from there. Yeah. And it seemed, I mean, it was a big decision. It seemed small at the time to be like, just take that.

Okay. I like, all I have to do is just, just start it. Just hand out the verse, the first layer of this thing. But it brought so much encouragement and clarity and like movement forward and I'm like, oh, this could be a big thing. Like I'm testing it out. It's working really well. Mm-hmm. But when I pitch it to people also, they're like, can we have that?

And I'm like, oh. Yeah, I could package this, make it look real nice, have a designer kind of redesign things so it flows really well and sell the curriculum. 'cause it, it's a package deal, you know? And I, and I didn't really. I hadn't really opened my mind that big yet. Interesting. To be like, oh, this is like a sellable curriculum.

Yeah, I could, that's cool. I could do this. That's,

James: that's cool. That's huge. Yeah. I love it. Um, for me, like I said, I struggled to answer this one, so I felt like there were times when I was just potentially too flexible Hmm. On the buy side. Okay. Which was more of a, I was intentionally trying not to push hard.

And do the hard, the hard sales thing. But I think I was too flexible. So like, we had one deal, uh, that we did this year. It was of in independence, and it was this guy he wanted to sell, and it was actually awesome. He saw a Facebook ad and responded, and we kinda went through the whole process, but like we had it under contract and then he just kept, just kept waiting, kept waiting.

Mm. We kept being like, oh, we're just gonna wait. We're just gonna like, try to be flexible. Yeah. And I, I think in retrospect, like I was too. Too accommodating on that. And then we had another one where there was, um, we talked about this on a, on a podcast earlier this year that the whole scammer thing.

Jessi: Mm-hmm.

James: Right. And that was another one where I don't, they ended up selling to somebody else.

Jessi: Mm.

James: And I don't think we were, I'm gonna use the word pushy enough. We didn't pursue them. Yeah.

Jessi: Maybe not decisive enough or, yeah, yeah.

James: So, but, but it was an intentional decision Sure. To like, Hey, we wanna be cautious.

We don't wanna push, we want to be, we wanna help. And I think there's. Like, there's half a step more that I would like to see us take on that sales side of like just really making that ask. And part of it's, I've been reading some sales books recently, and I just like learning no, you can make the ask is you can make the ask tens of times.

Mm-hmm. And as long as you're not overly pushy and they feel like they're being heard, like you can keep doing it. Yeah. Uh, that's just a, I think that's a place where, again, I, I, I think we're just, the decision was just to be too. Well, I don't wanna push. Yeah. And I should have pushed more. Yeah. And I think it hurt me financially.

Sure. It

Jessi: had, yeah. It had bigger consequences than you thought.

James: Yeah. Yeah.

Jessi: All right. Well, what risk did you take in 2025? Financial, relational, or strategic that still makes you uncomfortable to talk about? Yeah, this question is uncomfortable.

James: I'm gonna go back to my first, the thing related to my ear, my word, which just letting handshakes persist.

That was just, that was uncomfortable.

Jessi: Yeah. Which, and which is ironic 'cause it's like, it seems like that's more comfortable 'cause you're like, we're accommodating everybody. We're just being chill. Yeah. It's easy, it's simplified and it's like, we're all friends here. No, that's actually, it's actually worse.

Like

James: Yeah. In retrospect it was a risk. And I just, and and it's funny, there was a point in time in this year where I recognized, mm-hmm. I was like, oh. There's a misalignment here, or there's, or I was like, I could see it coming down the line where I was like, ah, there's a problem coming. And the risk was I decided not to ruffle feathers early on.

Mm-hmm. And see if it would work out in the end. It didn't snowball, so it was fine. Sure. But. That was a risk. Yeah. I knew it still, and it needed to be, and it just didn't, it didn't auto resolve itself. And so I was like, ah, come on. Um, and so it definitely hit financially. I'm still, the jury's still out on the relational side of it for one person.

Mm-hmm. Um, and yeah, so I'm still, like, I, I'm it's pretty fresh, so I'm still not like loving to talk about it. Sure. I I'll talk about the lessons, yeah. But yeah. Yeah,

Jessi: I feel that, uh, for me, it, you're gonna laugh. It was hiring help to clean our house. Cut. That's still I love it. It is so nice to come home to a clean house and I still feel like weak or guilty for having to really like, do this.

Yeah. It's weird for having to get help, huh? Yeah. For having to get help or for like, almost like. Man, I love it. I should be able to clean my own house. Yeah. We're waking up. How you stack? Why can't I clean my own house? You know, like, I don't know. I just feel inadequate. Although I dropped, I did the carpool run today and dropped off kids at other people's houses.

Yeah. And there was a cleaning service in front of my friend's house and I was like, Hey, like people do this. There you go. This is like when we're moms and we have full-time jobs's, like it's a thing that it's good. Like we can spend more time with our kids or our husband's doing podcasts because we're not.

Cleaning everything.

James: What was I was listening to something. Oh my gosh, I can't, I'm not gonna remember it now. I can't remember if it's a Dan Martel or an Alex or Moey or you know, one of those guys. Mm. Or they were talking about, or they were talking about like one of the VC incubator types of places.

Anyways. It's like a venture capitalist. Were they for companies

Jessi: vc?

James: Yes. What'd you think? I said? I thought you

Jessi: said feces.

James: Oh,

Jessi: feces incubator. I was like, that's gross. We're not talking about cleaning. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Where is he going?

James: No, no, no. Oh man. No. Whew.

Jessi: VC incubator. Yes. Much better. Yes. Yes, I understand.

And. Good

James: cl to clarify that. Sorry,

Jessi: everybody.

James: And, um,

Jessi: in fact, I, I wanna Google feces incubator because I don't think you do. I don't think

James: you do. I

Jessi: don't want to, but I do. 'cause I'm pretty sure that exists. Make sure you put that mode before you

James: get it done.

Jessi: Anyways. Okay. Yeah.

James: So they, um, they require their founders to hire housekeepers to be a part of their program.

Jessi: Really?

James: Yeah.

Jessi: Because it just, it frees up a certain portion of time.

James: Yeah. They're like the amount of time that they get per then the cost to get it, like the value just, it's so high. It's super awesome. Like you almost like they go it's a requirement. Yeah. 'cause they're like, we don't want you cleaning, we want you coating or doing whatever they're doing.

Jessi: Yeah.

James: Yeah. No, totally get true.

Jessi: Totally true. I should not feel uncomfortable about that.

James: No, you shouldn't.

Jessi: All right. Oh, I asked, that is my turn. I asked number four. It's your turn.

James: Yeah. Okay. What did you answer the question? Yeah.

Jessi: Yeah. House cleaning. Yeah. Hiring the house. Cleaning.

James: I'm following really.

Okay. What's something you didn't finish in 2025 that you're still carrying with you? Oh,

Jessi: I feel like this is. The perpetual answer, um, emails and computer files. I like, I did a push to get things like organized and like clear out the inbox and I'm like, oh my gosh, I'm not gonna make it like I, I'm not gonna make it by the new year.

I can just see like I clear out a few and 10 more show up.

James: I'm not even trying right now. The inbox

Jessi: is, is bad. It's fair. And then I like, okay, so I got into this like snowball habit, which I know is really bad. Like I create files, snowball habit. Okay. Yeah. So I create files and I have like newsletters and like ongoing things.

Okay. And typically there's a bunch of like documents and or images or, or things like that that I just. Store. Okay. And I put on a hard drive so I can reference later if I need them. And then I, I save the lessons and I, and I refer them so I don't have to rewrite them all the things.

James: So far so good.

So I have

Jessi: a bunch of stuff. Typically, I had been having my external drive and just putting it where it belongs right after I used it or got it or downloaded it. Okay. And I got into a bad habit of just like sticking it in a file this later folder. Oh. And so I opened that and like tried to put some things away and was like, oh wow, this was bad.

Why did I, damn, why did I start doing this? It's like the kid who shoves things into their bed was gonna say, I wonder where our kids get the whole,

James: we're just gonna stuff things in our rooms. I'm not worry about it. Do this

Jessi: later. That's fine.

It's

fine. Let just deal with

James: it later. I know, I know the, I know the closed basket's right there, but I just, I'm just gonna drop it.

Jessi: Yeah.

James: Yeah. Okay. Well,

Jessi: I'm, I'm dealing with that and I'm, that's fair. Carrying it.

James: Mm. Uh, for me that's, yeah, that's

Jessi: real.

James: For me it's getting my CCB license.

Jessi: Oh, yeah.

James: I've,

Jessi: I kind of forgot you were doing that. Right.

James: So I've done the class, passed the test, submitted all the paperwork. Mm-hmm. Over it's, it's one, it's definitely over a month and a half ago now,

Jessi: Uhhuh

James: and I remember, I.

At the month mark, I actually called them up and was like, dude, what's the deal? Don't on here. And the lady was like, oh, we haven't even looked at it. Like, it takes like six weeks for us to process it.

Jessi: Okay. There's nothing

James: I have to do. Huh? At least not that I'm aware of, but

Jessi: yeah, that's a little weird.

I mean, okay. I get it. Like it's something you didn't finish, but it, it's just unfinished. Correct. Something unfinished.

James: It's still, there's still regularly I'm like hanging out. Yeah. Unlike, it was weird, man. When I got my property management license, I submitted all the paperwork and it was like the next day, right.

Here you go. You're good. Fast. That's

Jessi: strange. What is happening? They must just not have as many people processing

James: things, I guess. I don't know. Maybe now's the time of the year that people are applying. Wow. But it's, yeah, it's this thing that's out there that I was, yeah. I was like, wow, glad I did this.

Now that's funny. I had forgotten, but yeah. I haven't, I'm carrying it with me.

Jessi: Did you ask that? I did. Okay. My turn. We're really keeping track here. You do even

James: numbers. I'll do what? Okay.

Jessi: Which relationship required the most intentional effort this year? How did it influence your work or decision making?

James: Dude, you're gonna love this one.

Chuck?

Jessi: Yes.

James: Uhhuh, that's our dog. Absolutely. You have to be

Jessi: super

intentional with that guy and still,

James: because I work from home and so he's with me

Jessi: that yes, that affects your day to day all time.

James: Yep. When I'm working and I, there's often times I'll start out in my office area and then in the afternoon I like to just change it up and I'll like go sit on the couch or something and he's like, perfect, I will sit on you.

And I have disregard for the computer and so I have to lift it up and move it outta the way. And then he doesn't really get the hint, but yeah. And I'll take him with me on, on some errands. Not all errands, but mm-hmm. You know, he'll go with me and, yeah. I don't know. It's, that's like, it's been great having a dog.

Yeah. 'cause I work from home, so he's definitely, um, it requires intentional effort. 'cause it stinker likes to chew stuff.

Jessi: Yeah. It's annoying. He's, I, I keep telling myself he's still a puppy who will go away. Like, gosh, I hope so. Ben used to chew stuff. I remember our previous dog, he used to chew stuff.

And he stopped at some point. I don't remember when that was. I know, but I don't know. This dog, this dog is different. He is a chewer.

James: How about you? What's your relationship?

Jessi: Um, I went a little, a little deeper. I don't know. Um, I said it, it's probably extended family. Oh. Just 'cause it's like, it's challenging not being in the same state as extended family.

So I, I do have to be intentional about we, we do a family call and I, I need to be on it. And then just reaching out and it's, it's hard, like this phase of life is just hard. You're pulled in both directions. That's, you know, it's like, that's fair's, like you've got kids and you're in the busy and you're doing it.

Mm-hmm. But.

Like you, you have your extended family too that you want to reach out to and support. Yeah. And encourage. And so I, I felt that tension of like, ah, I need to be, I need to be really intentional about this. Otherwise it's just forgotten.

James: Yeah. That's good.

Jessi: And there were, there probably were phases where it was just like, ah, yeah, I haven't been given that enough attention.

I had I need to re, I need to add that back in or, okay. Anyways. Yeah, that's

James: good. Alright, we're gonna switch gears here. Talking about creating. 2026. Yes. How to make it awesome. So, again, continue to play along here that's answer these question ahead questions for yourself. And if you wanna leave a comment about, Ooh yeah.

You know, a thought you had so many goals you have, like, feel free to share. Mm-hmm. That'd be sweet. Alright. What are you intentionally choosing to leave behind from 2025 to free up capital time or energy?

Jessi: So this was my, oh, I wish. Just delete all, move on. Just that email address. Done. Just start a new, start a new one.

New. Here we go. I a zero inbox. I lot answer.

James: That's what they do. I'm just like, that's so wild. Like new emails, new phone numbers. I'm like, how?

Jessi: Like, how does that make any

James: sense?

Jessi: Huh? I mean, it does reset, I guess, I guess. And then you just ignore the other one.

James: Well, I think, like, I think for the phone number specifically is like they'll run into financial troubles and they won't, they'll stop paying and then when they're ready, oh, when they're ready to pay again, they've lost the line, and so they just have to get a new one.

I think that's what happens there. Wow. I didn't realize that. The emails not to me outside, like they just forgot their password and they gotta move on.

Jessi: I understand that one,

James: but I'm, I don't, I don't actually know. Anyways. Anyways, anyways. Um,

Jessi: no it's more this goes back to. Initially what I talked about with like actual stuff, getting rid of stuff.

So like we're in the process of re reevaluating some, some of our house spaces. Yeah. And rearranging, it's like we're literally getting rid of stuff like boxes of toys that's like, okay, yeah. Our kids have outgrown these or this space is no longer functional. 'cause they're getting into more music stuff.

Yeah. And less Barbie, you know, building stuff. So it's. That's what I'm leaving behind them, which is hard. That's hard for me. Like, especially books. Oh my gosh. I hate to get rid of books, but I'm like, I'm letting some things go. It's a good 'cause I, we talked about

that comparison game and how our house is really cluttered and we have so much stuff and Yeah.

I was

like, oh yeah, I can't have both. Like I can't have a really nice house and not get rid of anything, like a really nice uncluttered house and not get rid of anything. You just have a, it doesn't house. You just have a cluttered house, so yeah. Anyways, get rid of some stuff.

James: Last year I started doing some coaching and got some clients.

Jessi: Yeah.

James: And I'm gonna continue with the current ones I have, but I'm not. Pursuing, getting more.

Jessi: Yeah.

James: It's fun. I enjoy it. But I don't think that's the highest and best use of my time at this point. All right. And so outside of like, I'll do some free stuff maybe Sure. And like do short term types of, Hey, let's have a couple conversations Yeah.

As friends but not ongoing. Yeah. Get outta like that official coaching game. Mm-hmm. I think it's just. It's just not where I'm at right now. Yeah. And maybe someday, who knows? But

Jessi: yeah, maybe you'll bring

James: it back in. Yeah. I glad I did it. Conversations were great. But, or if I did it, I think I would change it up instead of it being this, hey, this ongoing, let's check in every other week.

Being it more like a, Hey, what do you wanna accomplish in the next six months? Mm. Let's, let's get after it. Yeah. This is what it is. Yeah. Targeted and then growth. You know, just be very specific about that. Sure. I think. All right.

Jessi: I like that it's

James: ing.

Jessi: What advice do you already know you'll need in 2026 and will probably resist

James: just counting calories and working out, man, duh.

Yes. And then I have another one. But yeah, I know I need to, it's good for me. Good things happen when I do it. Resist it. Um, I think the other one is I, I think I wanna find another place to work. I, I like my office.

Jessi: I just feel like, oh, okay. I heard that. What did you hear? And I was pull the e-brake.

I, in my brain was like, you're gonna go work at a pizzeria. You need a side hustle. Oh, oh. Like another place to work. Like job. I talk to lady

James: who has a commercial fishing boat and I was like, that'd be sweet. But I was like, you do

Jessi: not need another job.

James: No, no, no, no. Another, no another physical location.

You want a new office? I think so, yeah. For like, for afternoon stuff. So maybe instead of picking the couch, like. Going somewhere else. Poor Chuck. Poor Chuck. That's part of my, that's part of the reason. Get away from that guy. Abso makes the heart grow fonder or something. Yeah.

Jessi: I He's a little distracting.

No, it's fine. Especially when he's sitting on top of you.

James: If he was better behaved, if I trained him to be better behaved, he could potentially come with me whenever that is. Sure. But I'm, I'm, I'm debating on like going like a coworking space versus getting an office. Yeah. I like the idea of coworking just to be near other people.

Mm-hmm. I don't like the idea of a coffee shop, 'cause that's, that's too much of the wrong type of movement. Sure. And so, though I remember I once spent an afternoon over the red barn that was the right amount of movement. Mm-hmm. 'cause I was outside on the bench. So there were people walking by, but I had my headphones in music and it was just kind of outside and it wasn't, it wasn't.

I don't know. It just felt different. Yeah. And I was there kind of afternoon. It wasn't during the, it wasn't super busy lunch rush hour, but coffee shops, I don't know. I've tried it multiple times and I just can't do it. Yeah. But that, and I don't wanna drink the calories, so that also makes it hard.

Jessi: Yes. The red bar though was like yummy food everywhere, right?

James: Yeah. But they don't care if you don't order anything. Oh, because it, you just sit, sit down at the table. Yeah.

Jessi: I'd just be tempted. Nope. Anyways, how about you? Um, whatcha are you gonna resist? I already know that probably people are gonna advise that I take some things off my plate and, or get rid of things.

Maybe actual stuff. Okay. Or, and that's hard for me.

James: I

Jessi: don't like that.

James: That's right.

Jessi: I don't like to say No, that's

James: fair.

Jessi: I probably should.

James: What skill, habit or way of thinking feels unavoidable? If you want to become better? No. If you want better outcomes in 2026. So what skill, habit or way of thinking feels unavoidable if you want better outcomes in 2026?

Jessi: Yeah, this, this one was hard for me, but honestly I think it's, I think it's just I need a more contented mindset about things. Okay. And like I, it's, I like perfection. I like making things better.

James: I like that about you too.

Jessi: But it also can be very discouraging because you never arrive. It's always like, this could be better, this could be better.

And it's like, okay, finding that right balance of saying, I'm gonna push to make something better, but I'm also gonna be content. Yeah. With where we're at. I, that second part is like, I rarely Yeah. Get to that point. There's kind of always this, just this nagging like, ah, this could be better. It's like, hey, I can have both.

Like there can be striving and pushing and doing better, and also saying I'm happy with what we accomplished and where we're at and the movement that we're making, and so I'm working on that. Yeah. Okay. Like would, it would just change. It's me changing. It's not necessarily the outcomes changing, but I'd feel a lot better about it.

Yeah,

James: that's fair. For me, it's generating leads. I think that's a skill that I want to get better at, especially on the property management side. Mm-hmm. Because I grew all last year, just, it was all word of mouth. Right. Referral, organic. I didn't do anything right. And I would like to grow more and yeah. I want to be intentional about that growth.

And so, so I think that's a skill that I need to mm-hmm. Work on it and I've got plans. That's a good one. Which would be good. And even on the investment side, like getting leads for buying places. Sure. I, it felt like it slowed, it was weird. It was a slower year than I thought it was gonna be. Lead wise and deal wise. Hmm. Deal flow wise. I mean, it was fine because I still ended up buying what, 1, 2, 3, 4 places, but I don't know. I thought it was gonna be closer to like six to 12. Yeah. So yeah, so that was definitely. Maybe it was five this year anyways, thought it would be more. So anyways, that's a skill that I wanna improve on.

Jessi: That's awesome. If December 20, 26 feels deeply satisfying, what will have changed between now and then?

James: Ah,

Jessi: yes.

James: Yes. I think I was, I was processing this today. I think it's being able to hire an operations manager Ooh. For my property management business. Interesting. Because it implies that I've done the things that needed to happen.

Like I've been able to generate leads, bring in clients. Mm-hmm. Grow the business to a scale where I can actually afford Yeah. Somebody Yes. And not just a, Hey, I am paying you slightly above minimum wage. Yeah. Type of thing. Mm-hmm. But like some significant dollars towards, yeah. Actually a running,

Jessi: running a.

Decently sized company that yeah.

James: Something where they're actually getting six figures a year to manage it. And you know, there's bonuses and all that fun stuff in there. But that I think is that to me would be a successful year, which at the end of the day, if I hit, if I hit my growth goal, which I think I, I'll do 'cause.

I'm already gonna be in a couple weeks, be 18% of the way there. So if I hit my growth goal, uh, I, it should enable me to do that. There's gonna be a balance between Yeah. It, it should enable me to do that.

It's a balance between making sure everyone on my current team is being compensated well. Yeah.

And I, I actually have a hunch though, there's gonna be some, some chairs that have to shift or some seats that have to shift in chairs. Like I, I potentially have the right people on the bus. I feel. Anyways,

Jessi: some role shifts. Yeah, I

James: think that'll happen. And that, that will be a big role.

Um. Don't, I don't actually know if I'll get them hired by the end of the year, but maybe it's to be in a position where I'm starting to look for that person towards that, it's, it's gonna be a specific role. 'cause they won't have to be licensed at first. Mm-hmm. But they're gonna have to very quickly be able to ramp up and understand.

What's,

Jessi: I mean, ideally you, what's required ideally, like someone with a little bit of experience maybe? I think

James: so. Yeah. I am. It's hard. I, I've got someone on my team right now who. Could potentially be fantastic at that role. Mm. There's just some reasons why they won't be. Mm-hmm. They can't have that role.

Yeah. And so that, which is a bummer other than like, they're gonna be an amazing support person Sure. For whoever that new person is 'cause I think for me, that would be a huge win. 'cause it would mean, yes I've figured out how to regularly grow, do it, and I've got systems in place to be able to handle the increased demand.

So that's mine. How about yours?

Jessi: Mine will be that I will be able to feel content with unfinished projects or messiness. So it's again that mind shift Yeah. Of like, yeah, I am working towards clearing this out, or Okay. Making this a clean space, but I'm okay. Yeah. Through the process. Okay. So I like it.

Yeah. Okay. Last and finally, last one.

James: What one word do you want? 2026 to force you to live into?

Jessi: I didn't choose one. It's surprise. Surprise, shocker. I actually have three, but there's some alliteration. Okay. And they go together.

James: Okay. I'll allow it.

Jessi: So my three they're mine, so I get to do what I want.

James: I can cut you off after the first one, man.

Here we go. Thanks. You listening to this.

Jessi: That would be rude. So here are my words. They are anchored, abiding assurance.

James: Anchored. Abiding assurance. Yes. Okay. And here's

Jessi: why I want to live into these words, because anchored has me realize there's stability outside myself. So that's a continued trust in my team.

Okay. Trust in my family, but. I tend to trust in the knot and trust in the knot. So the abiding is like, I'm gonna stay in that. I'm gonna rest in it. I'm gonna trust it and have this assurance that I'm held and cared for. Like it's not just the stability and this trust that I have in a team that's doing things actually genuinely like love me and care for me and like I have a God who loves and cares for me even more than that, and Gen generously provides, but I rarely.

Accept that or recognize it. And so it's like, okay I want to be anchored in a biting assurance.

James: Gotcha. Yeah. Nice. Nice. That's mine.

Jessi: Aaa.

James: Mine's not touchy feely like that. Nah, it's okay. Um, it's follow up.

Jessi: Oh my gosh. I like that's, that's like the definition of you. The definition of me.

That was good.

NICE's. Follow up. Follow up. Easy peasy. Call back Uhhuh. That

was awesome.

Yeah, that's a good

one. It goes with several of your other goals and, and. The commitment that you have to make to the growth and yeah, realizing some of. The responsibility and everything like,

James: yep.

Jessi: Yep. You have to show up.

James: Yep. There you go. That's mine.

Jessi: All right.

James: There you go. So those are our questions. Hopefully you're able to play along and answer some of them for yourself. Mm-hmm. And, and they help you bring a little bit of clarity in planning to your next year. I, again, I, it's always it a good practice to, it really is.

Yeah. Yeah. With that. Thanks for listening. If you wanna learn more about what we're doing next year, check us out at furlo.com. You can learn all about our investing thesis and the projects that we're working on. And with that happy New Year and our, or how's, what's the dad joke? I'll see you next year.

Uh, yeah. Again, thanks for listening. Bye.