How to make Progress a habit

Person reads book about finding business success

Whether you’re investing in real estate, trying to get in shape or starting a business, success in any endeavor really depends on your ability to “move the ball forward” on a consistent basis.

Success is not achieved through one action with massive results, but rather an endless series of small steps that accumulate over time.

Success depends on incremental progress.

Take, for example, an Olympic-class Swimmer.  They don’t just wake up one day as a world-class athlete.  Their success is a result of years of training, dedication, perseverance and discipline.  At that level, they train for hours and hours for fraction-of-a-second improvements, but they still strive for improvements on a daily basis.

Success in your endeavor is no different.  The key is to develop the habit of making incremental improvements on a daily basis.

But how do we make incremental improvements when we’re consumed by the ‘busy-ness’ of our daily lives?

How do we avoid complacency and consistently move towards our higher-level goals?

The Power of 3

It’s pretty simple, really.

Pick three things on a daily basis, no matter how small, that you can do to move the ball forward.  That’s it.

These are tasks that are outside of your daily life and routine….what I call “higher-level tasks”.  These are the things that will improve your life as a whole, as opposed to the endless stream of seemingly important and urgent day-to-day tasks that consume all of our time.

 

Make it a daily ritual

There are 2 habits to develop here:

  1. Make a list of 3 tasks each day
  2. Take action and “just do it”

I would suggest knocking them off first-thing in the morning, while you’re still fresh and energized.  Then just go about your day.

 

Think of it this way:

3 tasks per day = 21 tasks per week = 1092 tasks per year!

How can you not move towards your goals?  And it will be totally painless!

Try it.  It works.

 

10 ways to NOT get started in Real Estate Investing

Man in a suit happily celebrates

Ok, here’s a little reverse psychology for you…

Anyone who knows me knows that I love talking about Real Estate Investing and my experiences so far… both good and bad.

And almost everyone I talk to dreams of owning a rental property, but just haven’t taken the leap for one reason or another.

What I find is that there are a few common reasons (or excuses?) holding everyone back.

With that in mind, here’s how I would suggest you go about NOT pursuing your dream of becoming a Real Estate Investor:

Two individuals whisper at a table

Look only at the Downside

Don’t get control of your Finances

Don’t ask experts for help or advice

Don’t read books on investing

Don’t set goals for your future

Watch more TV

Spend more money on “stuff”

Don’t follow your curiosity

Don’t do anything because you don’t know exactly what to do

Keep doing what you’re doing

 

Do any of these apply to you?  Do you have that burning desire to do something, but you just don’t know where to start?

 

Ok then, here’s what I would suggest:

 

  1. Start by looking seriously at your mindset around these 10 points.  Is inactivity or fear holding you back from taking action?  What excuses are you making based on lack of information or incorrect assumptions?

  2. Start reading and visualizing.  You’ll eventually shift your mindset to the point where you’ll absolutely need to take action and it will feel like the natural next step.

  3. Get a blank notebook and start writing your goals and dreams.  Make notes on your current financial situation and ways that you can make improvements.  Keep these notes with you and review them every once in a while to keep yourself on track.  It’s kinda neat to be able to look back and see how far you’ve come…I still have notes from almost 10 years ago and most of the things that I wrote about have become reality.

  4. Take small steps.  Just do something, like scheduling an appointment with your Mortgage Broker or writing out your long-term goals.  You’ll be amazed how small actions can start things moving in the direction that you desire.