“It doesn’t matter where you are today. What matters is where you are going.”
– Brian Tracy
Phew, what a relief, right?
Does this mean it doesn’t matter that you’re 15 pounds overweight… or that you’re not quite financially prepared to retire at the age of 45… or that you haven’t learned to speak another language like you’ve been meaning to do since junior year of high school?
Bottom line is… who cares!?
Hey there, Patrick Riddle here to keep it real…
Keeping it real
See, the reality is, we all have bad habits we’d like to change and “good” habits we’d like to adopt. But more often than not, it’s easier said than done.
Putting the brakes on bad habits and developing new, better ones doesn’t happen overnight. It takes discipline, sacrifice, commitment, and hard work daily to build and keep those habits in place.
Today, it’s all about looking in the mirror, acknowledging bad habits, forgiving ourselves for procrastinating, and taking steps to develop newer, better habits.
We’re going to focus on looking to the future and putting the past in the past.
Most importantly, we’re going to identify the positive habits that real estate investors should have and outline action steps that we can take to bring those positive habits to life.
Defining habits & characteristics of successful real estate investors
So what kind of habits do successful real estate investors practice?
- Managing time, projects, and tasks with proficiency
- Setting and measuring goals
- Generating deals regularly
- Marketing with creativity and consistency
- Making offers consistently
- Focusing on both urgent and important tasks
Most “success stories” end up happening primarily to those who intentionally breed success.
Meaning, they deliberately and consistently implement good habits that are time-tested and proven — by others before them — to accelerate their success. And over time, these thoughtfully curated habits become a natural part of their everyday routines.
Like brushing your teeth – not so much something you have to force yourself to do, but almost so automatic that sometimes you aren’t even sure you can remember if you did it yet or not, right?!
But! This doesn’t happen without setting goals, creating action steps to achieve those goals, and then working the system to develop and maintain those good habits.
So, what steps can you take to create those good habits?
- Draw the line in the sand and say to yourself “enough is enough” — recognize and be ready for change.
- Take a drastic step to change your existing not-so-great habit (change gyms to make a fresh start, hire a new team to create hot, fresh, new marketing to promote your real estate investment business).
- Set short-term goals — they are easier to adhere to and are more attainable — 3-4-week goals at a time are ideal.
- Say it out loud — telling someone else will make it “for real” and will help you feel more committed to your goals, holding you accountable.
- Document specific, measurable action steps toward your goals.
- Set action goals, not results goals — action goals are easily trackable and easier to commit to (make “x” amount of offers vs. “x” amount of dollars)
- Reset your 3-4-week goals when you reach the end of the first short-term goal period.
- Buy and read “Maximum Achievement” by Brian Tracy.
Look at where you are today, so you know where you need to go tomorrow. Now forget about where you are today.
Confused? Don’t be!
The bottom line is it doesn’t matter where you are right now; what matters is where you want to go and how you’re going to get there.
Set goals, follow the action steps above, and move on!
By taking the time to read this blog post, you’ve already taken the first step toward developing better habits that will lead you to more success.
Now, get ready for greatness!