Hey there fellow real estate investor — Patrick Riddle here with some good thoughts to get your week started well. Allow me to cut a slice of humble pie as I share this little tidbit of a story…
Soooo, I was in traffic court recently for running a stop sign (I know, not cool, open mouth, insert humble pie) — and learned a couple very valuable lessons.
And I’ve realized that when practiced, these nuggets of wisdom can set you apart from your competition with ease. But as Jim Rohn would say, “Most things in life are easy to do, but they are also easy not to do.”
See, ultimately your success in business or in life is determined, more than anything, by the kind of person you are. Every single choice you make… decision you make… reaction you have or don’t have, will be filtered through the lens of your humanity and the fabric of your humanity, which is your values.
If you’re not constantly challenging yourself to level-up as a human, then you def should be.
So, in terms of core value-shaping — creating values that will set you apart and help you rise above your competition — let me impart a couple important lessons I learned along my traffic court journey and beyond.
Lesson # 1
As I entered the courtroom about 10 minutes early, I noticed how many people were just twiddling their thumbs and staring at the wall with blank looks across their faces.
After sitting down, I scanned the room to see if anyone was doing anything constructive. Out of about 45 people, one woman had a binder she was studying, and I had Dan Kennedy’s No B.S. Business Success book, the book we were reading for our book club.
People who have a reckless disregard for their time are the same people who complain day after day, week after week about how unlucky they are, how things never go their way, and that there’s never enough time in the day.
I was able to read for almost 45 minutes while sitting in court. It made me realize how much time people waste in life that could be spent to get ahead.
But, I guess this makes sense after all… less than 5% of people in court that day planned to spend their time constructively by bringing something to add value to themselves. That’s about the same percentage of people they say set goals and are successful and happy.
Value your time! Because if you don’t, no one will!
Next time you’re waiting at the car wash, getting your car serviced, at the DMV, or in traffic court ( :/ ), sitting in a doctor’s waiting room, waiting to board a flight at the airport, or whatever… bring something to work on that will add value to your life.
Bring a real estate investing book, a course, or just a notebook. When you have 30 minutes to an hour on your hands, that can be a great time to review your investment goals, write new ones, and do some business planning.
Using whatever extra time you have in a given day wisely is a core value that’s easy to adopt and maintain. You just have to be mindful of it. Be intentional.
Yeah, bring a book wherever you go, and how’s about this too: turn on a podcast to sharpen the axe when you’re driving from potential property to potential property. Boom.
That extra time is highly valuable if you can keep your mind thinking about things that will amplify and accelerate your success, rather than just turning on whatever music the radio happens to offer you.
Lesson # 2
Ok, more on my stupid and unsafe traffic violation… there is definitely an important takeaway — besides obeying traffic laws, of course!
So, I was driving through a neighborhood to take a shortcut to a local coffee shop that I go to a lot. There are a couple stop signs that I choose to ignore from time to time. I typically slow down a little bit but don’t come to a complete stop.
I must have thought I was in a hurry that day because I pretty much drove right through it… and to my dismay, a cop was sitting right there staring at me. Before he could even turn on his lights, I started to slow down and pull off the road. I gathered my license, registration, and insurance card so that by the time he came to my window, I was ready to hand it over to him.
He asked me if I knew why he pulled me and I said, “Well, yes. I blatantly ran that stop sign and deserve a ticket for doing so.” My honesty basically shocked the cop, as he told me that I was the first person all day to admit to my infraction. He ended up dropping my offense from running a stop sign to careless driving. He remembered me when I was called in front of the judge in court and mentioned my honesty to him.
I walked out of court with no points and a discounted fine!
Honesty pays!
By simply acknowledging what I and the cop already knew, I set myself apart from the crowd.
Business ethics are noted throughout business books and courses but seldom followed…
If you are honest with yourself, to other investors, contractors, buyers and sellers, you will immediately set yourself apart from the competition. It really is that easy!
And there you go…
That’s 2 solid lessons that illustrate a couple ways that my core values set me apart from the competition — they are the fabric in my life and REI endeavors.
Might I just say that I think it’s a really smart move to add them to your core values too, if you haven’t already.