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What Preparing for Vacation Can Teach You About Building Your Business

Brett Snodgrass
3 min read
What Preparing for Vacation Can Teach You About Building Your Business

Right now, as it’s snowing and icy cold in my stomping grounds of Indianapolis, my family and I decided to take a vacation down in sunny Florida.

You know, it’s so relaxing and tranquil out here that I just sit back and marvel at the beauty of it all!

As I’m sitting here on the beach, I began to reflect on how going on vacation parallels developing a real estate business, and though it may sound a little far-fetched, I wanted to share with you all my thoughts on it.

What Preparing for Vacation Can Teach You About Real Estate

Now that we’ve arrived to Florida and have settled in for the week, everything is as close to perfect as you can get, but getting to this point wasn’t as easy!

I have three incredible children and to have everything planned and prepped for the flight (with three kids), getting here was so stressful that I cannot begin to describe it to you.

At the security checkpoint, my son Ethan was running around playing with the security guards, while all of our stuff took up the entire conveyor belt.

Getting all the things we needed, preparing for toddler breakdowns during the flight, packing car seats, clothes, entertainment, etc. took several days to accomplish.

I remember I was so nervous that one of my children would start crying during the flight!

It was pretty bad.

But then, as we finally got here and the dust settled, boom: it’s been smooth sailing ever since!

For me, this really parallels real estate in that in order for you to reach your “vacation destination” or your dream position in life and in business, there needs to be a time of stress, a time of preparation and extreme hard work before you arrive to where you’d like to be.

Related: My Journey to Financial Freedom: Invaluable Lessons Learned From a 17-Year Love Affair With Real Estate

Sometimes while preparing for this trip, I was tempted to call it off, but I kept pushing through what needed to get done, and I’m so glad I didn’t quit.

Maybe right now in your business, you’re at the stage of preparation where you’re buying the tickets, booking your hotel room and laying out the game plan. Or maybe you’re at the airport security checkpoint, where everything is push, push, push, and you just need to get through.

The Stages of Building Your Real Estate Business

You know, not a lot of people know this, but when I was preparing to go into real estate investing full-time, I worked both in a full-time job and full-time in real estate in order to make ends meet.

I needed to save up working capital, and it was super intense! I don’t remember another time in my life where I had to work as hard as I did then.

But that was my time of preparation where I was getting everything ready for my vacation destination. It was my dream to be a full-time real estate investor, and once I was able to do it successfully, I knew in my heart that it was all worth it.

Going back to the security checkpoint, I’m reminded of something we do in our business called the “90 Day Push.” For the next 90 days, we push hard in order to give it our all.

The goal is to go make a mess of things and get a ton of new momentum for our business, and then clean things up later.

Related: 5 Life-Changing Tips for Growing a Business While Working a Full-Time Job

It’s just like the security checkpoint! You have to unload everything, disassemble the stroller, make sure the kids don’t run off, take off a lot of your clothes, shoes and jewelry — and you do all this because it’s necessary for you to get on the plane and ultimately reach your desired destination. Then once you’re through the checkpoint, it’s over and you can finally clean things up and move on.

Conclusion

So maybe you’re in that stage, or maybe now you’ve reached your destination and it’s time to unpack. Maybe you’re close to reaching your dream income level or able to finally go full-time into real estate. It’s now time for you to sit back and enjoy the scenery.

The point of all this is that there is a time for everything in your business. There is a time to prepare, a time for chaos, a time for pushing, a time to rest and a time to enjoy the fruits of your labor.

Whether you’re in the chaos phase, you’re in the preparation phase, or any phase for that matter, please remember to take time to breathe and enjoy the process.

What stage are YOU in on your real estate journey?

Let me know with a comment!

Note By BiggerPockets: These are opinions written by the author and do not necessarily represent the opinions of BiggerPockets.