Do You have a Blueprint for Success?
In business, planning is paramount. Whether lining up logistics, attending strategy meetings or digesting quarterly reports, savvy executives treat time as an ally, surveying the past for clear-eyed lessons about what worked and what didn’t, and looking forward for a chance to do it better next time.
In your personal real estate investing success planning sometimes becomes an afterthought. You have all kinds of tools, information, ideas and excitement. However, you don’t know what tasks to perform, when to perform them or how to gauge success from day to day, let alone next week, next month or next year. Most unsuccessful people never really get focused on their plan. They switch programs every few days, they take days or weeks off…they never build a blueprint. As a result, no matter how earnest our intentions, many of us miss the mark. Not for a lack of education or trying, but because we don’t have a winning blueprint for action. We’re busy, but we’re not action oriented. It’s only when you focus on one or two well-defined goals and follow a clear plan to accomplish them that you’ll start to make real progress.
If you want to accomplish any complex, challenging objective, you have to set clear goals, approach each of your hurdles systematically, routinely assess progress, and course-correct when necessary. The best part of a blueprint for your Real Estate Success is you get the benefits of working for the world’s best boss. You!
1. Create a Mission Statement – The first step along the success path is to create a mission statement. What, exactly, do you want to accomplish, both in the short term (up to three months from now) and in the long term (a year or more from now)? To get the process started, think “S.M.A.R.T” (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely. In the business world, those are the goal-definition standards that help executives set well-defined agendas. The other thing your mission statement needs is passion. What gets you excited? What are you fired up to accomplish? If you can’t come up with a substantial list of reasons why you want to realize a given goal, choose something else that pushes your buttons right now. In business, passion drives profits.
2. Take Inventory – Once your action plan is in ink, take time to clearly look at your assets and liabilities: What do you have going for yourself, and where are you now, relative to where you want to be? What do you know, what are you good at, what has led to success in the past? It is also wise to look at what you struggle with, what fears have been holding you back, what is missing from your knowledge or who is missing from your power team. Some of these problems might be obvious; others might not be as evident…talking to others in the business may help bring these issues to light. Finally, take stock of your available resources, including time, equipment, education, and team members. When do you have time? Where can you find additional resources? At this point I also recommend going “Public” with your goal. Post on Facebook, enlist that accountability buddy!
3. Make an Action Plan – The world gets out of the way for a man, or woman, with a plan! Just like a CEO has to keep an eye on short- and long-term goals, you need to think about daily to-dos and the big picture to make serious strides in your Real Estate Investment objectives. Whether you get help from a site like Insider Elite, attend a Boots on the Ground or go it alone, always strive to break larger goals into several smaller, more manageable bits. A well-constructed real estate program is systematically progressive: You’ll gradually learn more, accomplish more and go farther over the course of time. Remember, though, that progress is never completely linear. Improvements in every endeavor resembles the stock market during a bullish period: a general trend upwards with peaks and valleys appearing throughout. As with almost any truly fruitful investment, you want to take the long view, and keep your focus on working your plan, week in, week out. Ignore the get-rich-quick schemes who promote instant, spectacular returns. I love when it comes to health this quote, “You didn’t need a pill to get fat, why do you need a pill to get skinny.” The best results come from steady, consistent hard work. Don’t be Bernie Madoff; be Warren Buffett.” Regardless, plan to work and then work your plan. Yes, you have to work!
4. Do your Accounting – In fitness and weight loss it has been proven time and time again that those that log their food, workouts, etc have the most success. Why should that be different for any other goal strategy? By keeping track of relevant numbers/actions in a log, you can celebrate successes, pick apart setbacks, and course-correct as you go. Remember to compare your activities and success only to you – where have you come from and where do you want to go. Do not spend time comparing yourself to others, I want you all to be as successful as Matt Larsen and as personally fulfilled as I am, but that isn’t a fair comparison at this point. Strive for that, but only compare yourself to how far you’ve come. So how can you evaluate the data…put a highlighter mark on a calendar (you remember the gold stars from school). At the end of every day, evaluate yourself…put a green check mark for the days you did what you set out to do, yellow if you made attempts but fell a little short of your target activities, pink(red) if you didn’t do what you said you were going to do. For best results 26 out of every 30 days should be green. If it isn’t you’re the only one letting yourself down and moving your goals further from achievement. This is a great visual way to see how you are doing and it really makes you think about what you’re doing.
5. Manage the Clock – Most people blame lack of time for their lack of success. They cannot see any way to fit a few hours a week aside to invest in their Real Estate business. This is a great time to truly evaluate how you spend your time. Take one day to account for every 15-minute chunk of time during waking hours. Most people don’t even have to fill it out before they realize the real problem…too much Facebook and tv. By trading lower-value pastimes for top-priority action times for their success. How many minutes, hours and days you need to dedicate to your business depends on the contents of your mission statement. When you are seriously strapped for time, tell yourself you’re just going to invest 10 minutes. Ten minutes a day can keep you focused and your success goals at the forefront of your vision.
6. Reassess and Recommit Quarterly – Just like in business, you have to take stock in regular intervals. Once a quarter, assess how you’re doing. Meeting a goal can be tremendously empowering. Periodic check-ins can spark a well-deserved mini-celebration. Seeing that you’re falling short of a goal can also be instructive. Was it too restrictive, time consuming and beyond your current skill level? Did work obligations, family stress or other distractions prevent you from fully committing to it? If so, don’t throw out the whole endeavor – simply rework your plan to better suit your current schedule and obligations. Perfectionism can be a real obstacle. Whether you meet, exceed of fall short of your goals at any given time, it’s important to either recommit or thoughtfully reconsider your approach. Give some thought to what you want to accomplish now, and how you might best be able to move toward that goal in the short term. Now there can be a legging period or drop in success after an accomplished goal – trust me it happens to the best of us. What’s important is that you keep your eyes on the prize, and your head in the game. When in doubt, go back to the mission statement that fired you up in the first place. By using the same strategic, committed approach to our business and goals, we build a business to be proud of and fulfill our dreams!
Treat your Real Estate Investing Career like a business, build a blueprint and take action for success!
Best of Success!
Andrea
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