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Own It! Ben Reinberg On Creating A Life You Can Be Proud Of
Ben Reinberg (@therealbenreinberg) is an entrepreneur, real estate mogul and podcaster. He started building his commercial real estate empire at 24 years old with nothing but shoe leather and a lot of hustle. Today he owns over $500 million dollars in assets across the country and shares his wealth building, commercial real estate investing, self-improvement and leadership insights and knowledge with his audience around the world. He joins Chris Van Vliet to talk about what "Owning it" means to him, how he built his business from the ground up, the lessons he wished he knew when he was starting out, what he has learned from his podcast, the important of fitness, his morning routine and much more!
Visit Ben Reinberg's website here: https://benreinberg.com/
“Well, I've been in commercial real estate for under 30 years as a principal, which means to your audience, I am an owner, like a landlord, not a broker. And I've owned commercial real estate, pretty good [for] over half of my life. And when we were creating the show, we said what really creates success in our industry in business? And it was really looking at your inner self and being responsible for everything in your life and your actions. And it was something that I had to learn at a young age. And as I aged, I'm now 53 years old, I spent the last five years working on myself. And I realised for a long time I didn't own it, I wasn't responsible, I couldn't keep my word at times, and I looked at myself and I didn't like the version of myself. So I transformed myself, and the meaning behind the show is owning it, owning every aspect of your life. Now through our life, Chris, we don't own everything. We're not responsible. We don't have the knowledge. And as you get older and you develop you really start realising what it means to own it. And so when I bring guests on my show, like yourself, it's people that own it. It's people that are responsible for lives, they make their decisions, they own their decisions, and they own their behaviour. And it's such a key aspect in your personal and business life that I found, I said well, we want to create content and knowledge to help people so they can own it too. So it's not about commercial real estate, my podcast, it's about, really, it's bringing on celebrities, it's bringing on icons and commercial real estate, it's bringing on ultra ultra high net worth people that are in my circles, and we bring them on and we talk about success to significance. It's about them owning their entire world. And so these people come on, and I'm just so grateful, because I learned tremendously from my guests, and I take great notes, and they provide me a lot of knowledge. And it really has taught me a lot having a podcast. So the people you meet can share a tremendous amount of knowledge with you. And when I seek the truth, and when, when I meet people, I see how they contribute to my life. And so what I want to do is I'm on a mission to help people and give back in my industry. And so the I Own It podcast is just the genesis of where I'm going for the rest of my career.”
“As you get older, you evolve and you learn and you gain more knowledge, you interact with different people. But by the way, as you're going through your life process, people are dumping things into your brain and your thoughts, and that's what ends up happening. And you have a couple of paths in life you want to go, you could stay the same or you can continue to grow. And I always felt for years, I want to grow. I want to become the best version of Ben Reinberg that I can. Why? Well, it impacts my family, impacts my personal life, impacts my interaction with you, impacts my employees. When I show up as the best version of myself, I create a lot of value for others, and it fulfils me. It's something that I love to do. And so I took a step back and I realised that I could become a better version of myself. I could become a better listener. I could love people more. I'm in a ruthless cutthroat business and commercial real estate. And it Jade you when I started this when I was 23 years old, you know People are beating on Yeah, you know, we're in a no business. No, no, no, no, yes, you got the deal. Or you get a loan or hey, Chris, you want to invest in our fund? No, you go through a lot of no’s and a lot of failure being in commercial real estate, you have to have thick skin. Well, as you go through this for a period of time, it changes you, it creates things in your mind that aren't really reality. So you start taking a step back and start breaking things down and taking care of your limited beliefs. And you start looking at yourself and say, who is really Ben Reinberg. And I started looking at myself and five years ago, I looked at myself in the mirror, and I didn't like what I was looking at. I said, I don't really like, well, I need to learn how to love myself, so I can love other people. And that's what started I've hired great mentors, I've spent, I'm not going to tell you the money that I've spent on incredible mentors, I have some of the best top minds in the world that I work with. And so I've learned to work on myself every day, Chris. I meditate every day, I do a sun salutation I do it morning and night. Before I came on the show, I meditated, because I want to make sure I was in the best state to make sure I can be on point and provide the best knowledge and content I can for you. And that's how I carry my life. I work at a high integrity level, and personal development and being able to control my mind and emotions are critical to how I show up in life, because I want to show up as the best version. And that's what personal development, that was the journey I went on five years ago. And I'm extremely grateful for all the people who have helped me, because now I'm in an incredible place in my life. And by doing personal development and becoming the best version of yourself, it attracts money, it attracts opportunities, it brings new relationships into your life, it allows you to provide a lot of value, you learn and you grow faster. And all these things have culminated into just a fulfilling life for me, that has really showed me. People always ask me like, what happened if you knew about this 20 years ago, and really did it, I would be an incredible version of myself. So just happy and grateful for where I'm at, and I owe my gratitude to a lot of people that believed in me and help support me.”
"Well, I'll tell you, I'll tell you my morning routine. You’ll think I'm crazy. I'm a huge health nut and I love to work out. And so I wake up at about 4:45 in the morning, every morning, and I meditate for 36 minutes. [why 36 minutes?] That's just what I was ingrained in my head through all my mentors. I don't [question it] I'm just surrendering. I don't question it, okay, all right, I'm not the expert, I'm just listening, right. So then I do a 36 minute sun salutation that he walked me through, then I get ready. And I drive and I train with a trainer five days a week. And I get in there, and I warm up, and I'm 53 years old, so I got a warm up, I always encourage people to do like eight to 10 minutes of just walking on a treadmill or do the gauntlet, the stairs and get your body warm. I stretch. I'm very into stretching now, as I've aged to keep me loose, because I don't want to get injured. And I've worked out with some of the best trainers in the world, I found a great trainer here in California and I really have a good vibe with, because that's important, you got to really connect with your trainer. And we go at it and he trains me like I'm in my 20s. And we go at it, and there's nothing better. I mean, when you can wake up and challenge yourself and really go through a grinding workout, you're ready for the day. So that's my routine. And so I realized that where I struggle is if I don't get to work out and do my routine in the morning, like it agitates me a little bit because I'm like, I'm not living in that world that I'm normally used to. So I enjoy it. And then that's part of my routine. So we do different body parts, we challenge each other. When I get to fly back to Chicago, see my headquarters there. I have one of the best workout facilities in the world in the north suburbs called BPC, and I work out with my boy Josh Ellis. And I was working out with him for years before I moved to California. And I just bring it every day. I just bring it, I changed my mindset, I focus, and it's a routine for me. And that's the way I do it. Because I figured in my business to grow this business to where I've been, and the success I've had. I need to work on my health and fitness, I needed to understand what it takes to get through a day. When you're in commercial real estate, you do a tremendous amount of travelling in your career, and it wears on you. And if you're not in good health or good shape, you’re just you're doing a detriment to yourself. So I do that for working out and then I eat healthy. I'm big into intermittent fasting. I've been doing that a while I do change it up a little bit. One of the doctor's good friends said you should change it up a little bit so I changed it up a little bit. But generally speaking, I intermittent fast ate a tremendous amount of fish and chicken. I'm a Chicago kid, so I do eat my steak once in a while, and I'm a huge foodie. And I collect wine too, so once in a while, I'll have a glass of wine. I love wine, I love learning about it, but I don't really drink alcohol anymore. I mean, when you're out to dinner with me, Chris, you'll see I don't really drink, and I drink sparkling water. And I do that because again, it goes back to how do I show up in life? How do I become the best version of myself? How do I connect with people on a deeper level? And I realise if I'm drinking, or I'm not my authentic self, I'm not doing myself justice, and I'm really not helping the other person that I'm interacting with.”
“I think the first thing is you write down your insecurities. Look at yourself, and you say where am I insecure? Where am I struggling? Do I have trouble showing up in a room and might be having challenges networking? Am I having challenges listening? When I was younger, I had to learn how to listen. But I would listen, but I really wouldn't understand because I wasn't seeking the truth and what someone was telling me. So what I would suggest to a young person that is just getting started is write down your insecurities and look at yourself and become a good listener. And find a mentor that has whatever industry you're in, or whatever you want to accomplish in life, whatever your mission is. And you look at yourself, you say well, who do I know, that's high in the learning curve that can help me get there, that's already had tremendous amount of success. And by talking to those folks, they'll help you figure out where your deficiencies are and how to get better. Because we've all been there, when you're a successful businessman or woman or an entrepreneur, a lot of us go through these experiences, we go through ups and downs, we go through challenges, it's a good way to start to pick someone's brain. And that's what I always encourage is hire a mentor that's been there, done that, shorten that learning curve. When I was younger Chris, I didn't know that. Like, you know, it was all this green ledger paper and stamps and envelopes and cheques, and it wasn't the internet. So there wasn't the knowledge and the content that you have. Now, what's beautiful about being a young person, I could, and I look at my kids, and I'm jealous is they can go on and go on Google and Instagram and all these different technology platforms and social media platforms, and really gain knowledge on items and topics that I didn't have an opportunity when I was a kid. And so using the internet and Instagram and following people and see what they do, you can hire or go to a mastermind and put yourself in a room to really learn how to empower yourself to become a better version. So I always encourage, if I'm a young man or woman out there and you're listening to this show or you're watching it, just look at yourself, write down where you struggle, write down what you want to achieve. And on the internet alone, you can go and ask people as well, and on the internet alone, you will figure out who you need to connect with. And once you connect with that person, hold on to him and learn and listen and be open minded, not judgmental, and have the opinion saying I'm here to learn and grow. And when you can open that filter in that mind, you will grow. And that would be my suggestion. That's what I would have told my younger self when I was younger is work on yourself. I just didn't know.”
“When I was younger what I realised, especially today I look back, working on my communication skills, and listening. I've been writing a newsletter for almost 20 years now. It's called a blog. And it was a labour of love for a long time. And when I was younger, communicating better with a lot, something that someone would have taught me how to read body language, how to interact with people, that would help me tremendously in my career. Over time, in small increments, I'm now an outstanding communicator. But I realised that when I was younger, that would have been a huge win, to really learn and double down on communication skills.”
“I realized that how you make it in social media is being your authentic self, being vulnerable. And I think a lot of people have, you know, a lot of people build this house of cards, like, you know, I gotta show someone, the McLaren, or I gotta show someone that I do this, or where I have this stream of women hanging around me. I think people pull up this house of cards, and I don't know if that's the best value to provide. So I found that the way for me to go about social media is I'm going to provide value. And if you like me, great. If you don't, that's okay, too. You might not like what I'm shooting out there or my staff is, but I'm going to do it consistently and we're going to provide value and knowledge and see if it helps you. And if I could touch one person, or impact one person through social media, then I'm doing my job, that's how I look at it. But I look at it that it's, you know, it's a lot of it's a lot of content out there, and it's a lot of moving parts. And if you're going to follow someone, follow someone that's authentic, follow someone that cares, maybe has some empathy, willing to share and give back. And I see a lot of these, I see a lot of the people on your show, that's what they do and how they live their lives, and that's their social media, and those are the people I like to follow. So I think you got different sides of the coin when it comes to social media. That's how I approach it.”
“My family, the people who have supported me, my health, being on your show and everyone that is around me. I could go on and on.”
