Success is all about tapping the power you already have.
There is a great deal of power in you.
I can say that, even though you could be any number of people in the I Love Real Estate network. But I know it’s true because it’s true of all people.
(I can’t rule out that you’re a sentient plant with a wifi connection, but I think it’s unlikely.)
And I think we have to start here because a lot of people come to me looking for ways to increase their power. They want new skills, new tricks, special insights in to the investing world. And I can give you that (unless you actually are a plant. Try Better Homes and Gardens.)
But this is almost never the first place to start.
The first place to start is almost always harnessing the power that you already have.
The first job on the to-do list is getting your whole being geared around success – bringing the whole package – your heart and mind and body – into alignment with achievement.
This is a complex field of study, and you could go and read thousands of books on the topic and still be turning up something new everyday.
But for my money, there is an obvious place to start.
Your habits.
Now you might hear that and think, “Here we go. Dymphna wants me to give up smoking.”
And I do. Seriously. Give it up. It’s killing you. But when I’m talking about habits I’m talking about something so much more than that. I’m talking about your instincts. What is the first direction you turn to when a new situation arises?
What direction are you moving in, from the core of you’re being, before you’ve even fully consciously processed what’s happening?
There are habits that we need to learn and train ourselves in if we want to make success easy to achieve and easy to replicate.
Now for sure, success is possible without the right habits, but it becomes much harder and much more taxing.
Let me give you an example.
Let’s imagine a situation where an interesting deal presents itself to someone out of leftfield. The deal looks good, but then the person doesn’t get the finance they need and so has to get creative. After that, at the twelfth hour, the seller throws in a couple of special conditions that might derail the whole show.
Now what happens if we send someone with the WRONG habits off on this little adventure?
Well first up, when the deal emerges, their defences are triggered. What does this person want from me? Are they trying to rip me off? They are dropped into their old fears and hurts and they need to work through it to get to the next stage, if they get there at all.
Then they get knocked back for finance. Automatically, they head towards the mud to wallow in the familiar embrace of self-pity. ‘Nothing goes right for me. I should just give up.’ They need to muster all their will-power and courage to stay optimistic and focused.
Finally, as the seller throws them a curve ball in the dying minutes of the game, what happens? Are they able to close the deal? Or is it the confirmation they’ve been looking for that it was all too good to be true? That they’ve never deserved to be loved and to have nice things?
Now they might get through all that, but geez, what a lot of work. They won’t be bouncing back from that in a hurry. They’ll have to take 6 months off and do a detox retreat in Bali before they’re even able to think about property again.
But now imagine the same scenario, but with someone with the RIGHT habits.
The deal comes in, and they’re ready for it. They’re hungry for opportunity, and their first thoughts go into how awesome it could be, and the tires hit the road very quickly.
Then the finance doesn’t come through. That’s ok. They know there’s going to be challenges. Before they’re off the phone with their broker they’re already doing a stock-take of potential JV partners in their head. They getting their creative on and they’ll have a few possible solutions by the end of the day.
Finally comes the seller’s curveball. They don’t doubt for a second that the deal will come off, if it is the right deal for them. They don’t see it as a set back, but as an opening into a conversation and a win-win negotiation.
They close the deal and they’re already processing what they’ve learnt and thinking about how it can be applied to future deals.
This is a simple example, but I’m hoping it’s familiar. Our habits – our instincts – define our reactions. If we instinctively move in the wrong direction, we have to undo everything before we can even get back to doing the right thing.
It’s a lot of work, and it’s not sustainable.
So you’ve got to get the habits right.
Luckily, the science of habit formation and change has advanced a long way over the past ten years. So over the next couple of blogs, I want show you how you can set yourself up with the habits you need.
(Thankfully, it’s surprisingly easy!)
I’m going to show you the right way to think about habits, and how they fit in the human psyche.
I’m going to give you a simple 5-step framework for building new habits and changing old ones.
I’m going to show you how to build “habit structures” – something I call “The School of Small Wins.”
And finally I’m going to share you with you the one special ingredient that can protect your habits in times of crisis.
All that and more over the next few weeks, so stay tuned.
What habits are you trying to shift at the moment? Maybe I’ll use them as examples…