The Blueprint for Flipping Properties Is A Blueprint for Flipping Your Life To The One You Want
Restore and reimagine it into something spectacular
There are some deep and meaningful reasons why house-flipping shows are so popular.
It’s fun and fascinating to watch people transform a property in desperate need of restoration and updating to turn it into something appealing and ideal for the times and the needs of buyers.
It’s also interesting and instructive to see how they take on challenges and the unexpected to achieve success.
Restoring, reimagining, repurposing, rejuvenating, reenergizing and reviving are fulfilling and reaffirming.
Hmmmmm.
What if you could flip your life with the same why and how you would apply to flipping a property?
You can.
In fact, it’s one helluva a great idea.
Flipping a property or your life share the same goals. In either case, it’s making them:
· Appealing
· Useful
· Relevant in a purposeful and fulfilling way
· Aligned with modern times and this phase of life
· Fulfilling and joyous.
Except with flipping your life, you’re not doing it for a buyer. You’re doing it for YOU.
Sign me up!
The Perfect Case Study
This all hit me when Ford Motor Company flipped the old Michigan Central Station into the new “Michigan Central” in Detroit.
The old train station and office tower went through the ups and downs of time just as many of us do in life.
From great to not so great to awful and finally to great again.
In the beginning, it’s great
In the early 20th Century, Michigan Central Station was an icon for a city that was iconic.
Detroit was regarded the world over as the symbol and destination for prosperity, growth, innovation and industry.
This is where the middle class first came into being. People viewed Detroit the way we now view Silicon Valley.
Like in younger days, it represented potential, opportunity and an exciting future.
Things change, but we don’t
But nothing stays the same in life or in the world.
If we fail to note the change and reimagine ourselves and our place in it, we can go into stagnation, decline and decay.
The Michigan Central Station went from being an icon of prosperity to an icon of urban decay. A major destination for “ruin porn photography”.
So, what do you do to save your life or a place like the station?
Do you try to recapture what was lost?
Do you tear it all down and build up something else?
Do you put lipstick on the pig?
It’s none of the above because there is a better option.
Reimage. Reapply. Renovate. Update.
You take what is there (the true you) and reimagine, reapply and make the necessary renovations and updates to you and your life.
Ford and its partners reimagined the Michigan Central and remade it into an icon again.
They turned it into a new innovation hub for future mobility.
It is now a Silicon Valley-like ecosystem of companies, startups and real-world mobility testing areas that enables collaboration, innovation and investment.
They renovated, repaired and restored what was needed and desirable to keep.
It is stunning and spectacular the beauty and artistry they restored to perfection.
They reimagined and reapplied its purpose, which required making major updates to utilize the latest technology, provide modern day work areas and turn the surrounding area into an “open platform” ecosystem.
Michigan Central is once again an icon. It is a working symbol of rebirth and transformation for a city that is going through a rebirth and transformation.
Flip your life
You can flip your life just as they flipped Michigan Central.
You reimagine and reapply who you are to adapt and thrive today.
You identify your core beliefs, values, standards, attributes, offerings and talents and then restore and update them as needed.
You celebrate your uniqueness and quality and then reimagine how to apply it today and in the future in a way that fits your needs, wants and the times.
You follow the same blueprint.
1. Understand why it needs to be flipped.
2. Reimagine the purpose and intent of it.
3. Develop a vision. Challenge that vision to make it stronger and better.
4. Take the good and the best from what’s there and restore it.
5. Bring in new things and updates to meet today’s needs and desires.
6. Be prepared for problems and surprises. Adapt and overcome.
7. Seek out help, expertise and support.
8. Invest the time, effort and (maybe) the money. You’ll get a return on investment.
9. Put your butt on the line and focus on the outcome. Failure is not an option.
It’s all right there for you
In a recent conversation, my friend and colleague Marc Michaelson said, “I hate the term reinvent your life. It’s not about reinvention; it’s about reimagining and reapplying yourself.”
There’s a lot to unpack in that statement and I kept unpacking it for weeks.
When for unveiled the completed transformation of the old train station, it all clicked.
How they did it, you can do too in order to make a major change in your life smartly and successfully.
It’s about embracing the best of your past and core self and reimaging and reapplying it to today, just as Ford Executive Chairman Bill Ford Jr. and Detroit Mayor Micheal Duggan did with Michigan Central Station.
Then there’s the payoff.
Ford gets a place and ecosystem to foster breakthroughs in mobility while Detroit, the surrounding Corktown neighborhood and the metro area reap the benefits.
You can get the life and situation you want and need, and your family, friends and community will all benefit.
That’s one helluva flip.
One worthy of its own reality show.
WAIT A SECOND!!! THAT’S A GREAT IDEA!!!
A Life Flipping show.
Want to be the star?
Work up a treatment. Have yours call mine and we’ll do lunch.