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Posted over 8 years ago

Staying on the grind

Hello again!

Hope life is treating you the way you want to be treated.  Getting what you deserve is sometimes under rated and that is something I would like to address with you today.  For the last few weeks I have been putting in overtime.  I took a small "break" from work and everything else (everything except real estate investment learning) and flew around the world.  Literally.  Back and forth from NH to TX to VA to STL to Germany.. and back.. Twice.  Travel is very important to me for a few reasons.  The main reason I do it is to see my kids.  They live with their mom in Germany.  Although we (me and my ex) get along better now that we ever did when we were married there is still an ocean that separates us.  As much as I would love to go see my kids on the weekends or whenever I get a chance that is not really physically possible for me.  So I end up traveling to Europe at least once a year to visit them.  This year I was blessed to have them come stay with me in the states for a few weeks.  We made the best of the time since I really could not take off 6 weeks to spend time with them.  I did end up working half days and going to the pool on most days with them.  We also took a road trip down to Virginia and also to the Statue of Liberty.  I am not shy to traveling.  I have been doing it all of my life.  Never really worked anywhere close to where I live.  So that motivational factor plays a huge part in my decisions.  It is actually why I am pursuing real estate.  To invest, to build wealth, to build a portfolio here as well as in Europe so that I can travel and stay there when I need to.  To buy a JET?  Its on the horizon for me and one of my goals.  Travel also allows me to get a different perspective on life and meet people I would otherwise not normally run across.  It expands my horizons and takes me out of the everyday normal life so that I can step back and observe a broader swath of this life.

So now that I am back from my travels I have been laser focused on work.  Not just my job but my real estate adventures and some other business ideas.  They all seem to overlap and I welcome that overlap.  I like making things that normally don't fit together mesh into something completely new.  I have been doubling down on work.  I work my 9-5 in the Army during the day staying focused on what I need to do there.  Then after I am done there I work on REI meetings and going through the motions of real estate investing... evaluating properties, looking up documents that I may need, doing tax and estate research, etc.  I have also been studying and working on industry certifications for my Army job.  I realized something that we only have 168 hours each week in which we can get things done.  I don't know about you, but I for one have to hustle in order to make everything come to fruition.  I am not a 50 unit investor yet.  I don't have a broker company I own.  I do not have the years of real estate investing experience that I would like to have.  I am also not rich.  So I have to make things happen.  I know what I do with spare time.  I waste a lot of it on nonsense.  Not that taking a break from life is some bad thing that should never be done.  I just realized that just like profit spreads and income sheets, my time is the most valuable commodity I have right now.  I need to invest it wisely.  So I have been working all I can with the time I have in order to make a few things in my life improve.  To tell you the honest to God truth, I feel way better at the end of the day when I know I made a whole lot of progress and had minimal distractions.

Of course not everyone has this option.  Some of us have families.  Some of us are single parents raising our kids.  Some of us HAVE to work 2 jobs to keep food on the table.  That is not to say you can't allocate 10 min toward something else you want to accomplish.  10 min every day over the course of a month is about 300 min which equates to about 5 hours.  That's a lot!  If you incrementally increase that a little bit you will see exponential increase on the end.  This works with all aspects of your life.  Whether in your marriage, your business, your budget.  Consistent and persistent.  I know I have read it in books and heard it on the podcast.  It never really makes as much sense as when you actually implement it in your life.  So here are some tips of things I have learned over the last few weeks that have catapulted my productivity, spirit, and enthusiasm.

1.  Get out of bed... and immediately make your bed.  This one tip (which I am echoing from Tim Ferriss) can change your life.  We are motivated not by huge victories, but rather small victories that are achievable as well as measurable.  Make your bed... Victory.. it can will set the tone for the rest of your day.  You woke up and accomplished something as soon as you got out of bed!  How amazing is that?

2. Fuel your body correctly.  Make sure you are eating things that make you feel good.  If you have been around yourself longer than 5 min you know what makes you tick.  You know what makes you happy and what makes you feel like crap.  The thing is will you change those negative things or just keep doing them because they are already part of your daily routine?  Am I sounding a little ridiculous yet?  If every time you go to 5 Guys and get the bacon triple you feel like a 3 toed sloth afterwards why would you keep going there and doing this again and again.  I am not saying cut everything out of your life that sucks in order to reach a zen state.  I am just saying regulate it!  Self regulation is probably job one when it comes to happiness and fulfillment.  So regulate.  Thats why it is called self regulation.  If you don't do it no one else will do it for you.  Eat things that make you feel great.  Don't just eat things because they taste amazing or look like something out of some expensive French gourmet restaurant. Also, if there are times in the day when you start to feel a little exhausted mentally make sure you have some healthy snacks that will not sit on your waistline.  These snacks can propel you through the rest of your day.  Your brain, amassing only 2% of your body actually uses about 20% of the fuel.

3. Take the time to enjoy the victories no matter how small.  Celebrate the wins you get.  Don't just accomplish things and then quickly move to the next thing.  Make sure you at least acknowledge it.  If it is something pretty important reward yourself (not always with food).  You can be humble and still enjoy the victory and celebrate.  Be proud of EVERYTHING you accomplish throughout your day!

4. Incorporate some sort of physical activity into your daily routine.  Make sure you get some type of exercise.  Push ups in your cubicle.  A pull up bar in the office.  A treadmill desk?  Why not.  I try to get up every morning and (after I make my bed) go for a run.  I used to run for long distances.  Right now... I am just trying to get my lazy butt out there and run for 15-30 min at a decent pace EVERY SINGLE DAY.  That is my goal.  Can I run a marathon?  Of course I can.  Do I have to run 15 miles a day or keep increasing every single day in order to prove anything?  NONE OF US HAVE TO.  But we do need to move and strengthen our core.  It is what keeps us young and what facilitates carbon exchange with everything around us.  Exercise will also keep your belly and your metabolism in check.  Combined with good eating habits (when I say good I mean at least 75% good..  you are going to end up at that Korean place once in a while with co-workers) exercise and decent sleep you will feel much better on a daily basis and you will tent to ward off disease and sickness.  Sounds like a fair trade to me.

These are just a few tips and tricks.  There are TONS more.  For now I am going to say take care of yourself and put forth a lot of effort in the things that are important to you.  Even if that effort is 5-10 min a day.  What ultimately happens (Im really glad you made it this far because here is the money shot)...  You move forward exponentially instead of incrementally.  You do the math.  Numbers don't lie.  When you invest you make your money on the front end right?  Same thing goes for everything else you do in life... make your money (health, happiness, relationships) on the front end.


Comments (1)

  1. Good read