2016 brought a lot of learning with it— even more than 2015. This has meant a lot of growth for me personally, and it has helped me move ahead mentally and logistically as we go into 2017. Here are five lessons that I learned about life from real estate investing over the past twelve months, and hopefully, you will find takeaways to help you streamline your success and goals as well. Cheers to 2017!
Practice Self-Reliance
I learned in 2016 that no one is required to make things happen for me. They just don’t have to and won’t. Simple as that. It’s not that the people around me don’t care, it’s that they have no responsibility to create my success. That’s my job description. This past year was a year to practice self-reliance and learn to be self-reliant. You can sit and wait— visualizing and hoping— or you can figure it out and take action.
Think On A Massive Scale
For as long as I can remember, I have always set big goals for myself. 2016 taught me to aim even higher. When you have the mindset and are thinking on a massive scale, you impact the people in your sphere of influence. People take note. In my business, I’ve seen my “big thinking” filter through the culture of my company and my partner. With the access to technology and information, it’s never been easier to set big goals and think big, and by big, I mean HUGE!
Stay Objective
No matter how great something looks, how much I feel like it’s a “great deal, or want a property, I have to remove the emotion from the equation. Remaining objective is critical. I know most of you have heard this insight before, but it takes discipline to apply it in action. Gino and Jake repeat the wise words— “Never fall in love with a property.” If numbers do not shuffle right, don’t force it. There are plenty of other deals with numbers that do work. Know when to pass, walk away, and give an all out “No.”
Delegate!
There is power in delegation, and in 2016, I learned that. When you delegate, it frees up your time to focus on higher value tasks. This has worked well for me, and I plan to continue to use the skill of delegation as a strategy for my business growth in 2017. If it’s possible to hire someone to accomplish a task at 80 percent of the quality and efficiency of what I could achieve personally, why not let them do it? Delegating work is not an option, but an absolute must. There is only so much that you can do! We all have the same numbers in a day, but the most successful are leveraging their time through delegating to get more done within the same timeframe.
Live In Patience
Through delegating, I have been able to get more done and hit higher goals, but what I have also learned is to exhibit patience. Some things just take time. Doing good work takes time. That’s ok. It’s more than ok. We just need to become comfortable with the situations we can’t rush and focus on doing what we can.
Exhibit patience, but notice the opportunities that present themselves and be prepared to jump on them with quick agility. For example, there have been moments in 2016 when I looked at about a hundred deals to find three or four good ones. When I find those good deals, I take action by making an immediate offer. Be patient, but don’t let the good ones get away
In what way are you hoping to live in 2017? What do you want to learn, do, and accomplish? Where you go in life is up to you. Take the time to think it over and decide.