Developing a strong mental flexibility and discipline is a very personal and delicate process that requires a personal touch, assessment and time. We have found that it is very important and we will share with you keys to developing a strong mindset, an eye to sort out opportunities, how to overcome challenges, and much more. We hope that this will give you a chance to see for yourself how important your state of mind is in any aspect of your life.
Developing a strong mindset will open your minds to explore the art of mind feeding and daily mental exercises. By applying the mental skills that you learn to your everyday life, it will lead you to deeper connections, success, and allow you to Make More and Work Less.
Level up your focus
When it comes down to it, if one wants to be successful in anything that they do, whether it is to be a real estate investor, a published author, a speaker, or someone who Makes More and Works Less, having laser focus is critical. When you have laser focus, everything else falls into place. You will be held accountable, your will take on challenges, you will take the necessary actions, you will be persistent and you will constantly look for ways to improve. Along the way, if building relationships are needed, you will get it done. If having a coach and attending masterminds is needed, you will find a way to make it happen. Being focused is the glue to holds everything together. There are three elements that help you keep focused.
PLANS GOALS TIME
As the saying goes, “Out of sight, out of mind.” The key is to keep your plans and goals in sight. In most cases, they are generally a part of your vision boards. Have your plans and goals mapped out on white boards, your phone, daily reminders, etc. so that you can focus on them every day if not every moment.
Plan for Success
Planning is a key component to success. Imagine what it would be like if someone told you to visit a place you’ve never seen and you had no access to a map. You would feel lost wouldn’t you? It’s the same thing as planning to be successful without having a way to get there.
Let’s say you want to have one cashflowing property in two months. What must you do to get there? How many offers do you have to make? How many places do you have to see? How many calls do you have to make? Just work backwards from your goals and you will have a plan. Remember, as George S. Patton once said:
“A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan executed next week.”
So, start with a plan and adjust it as you move along.
Set yearly, monthly and daily goals and activities. Review your goals every day and plan what you want to accomplish the next day. This will allow you to wake up ready to go! You will have a plan as to what you need to do and when you need to finish it.
Remember back in school when the teacher tells you that you’ll have a test on the 15th? When do you study? The 13th? The 14th? The morning of the 15th? What happens when the teacher tells you that the test is postponed until the 20th? When would you study then? If you were to plan ahead and set aside some time every day to review and study the material, would you ever be anxious as to when the test will be? Would you ever need to pull an all-nighter to study for the test last minute? Having a plan in place will allow you to focus and manage your energy and time. You will no longer be wasting time thinking of what you need to do or if you have forgotten anything.
Strive for Goals
Setting goals allow you to strive for something. While goals are great, many goals are unattained mainly because people are not capable of setting goals correctly. People set goals that are too unachievable in the time period they want. Their goals can also be too vague. They could have no timeline. Let’s look at these a little more closely and find out how we can avoid these mistakes.
If the goal is too grand, the possibility of failure is great. For example, if your goal for this year is to have 10 cashflow properties when you don’t have any properties or knowledge at all, then the chances of success are very slim. Have goals that are challenging yet achievable.
If a goal is too vague, then one will never know if the goal is reached or not. For example, if one were to say: “I want an investment”, what does that mean? What kind? How many? Does buying one silver coin count? Are you going into stocks? Real estate? However, if one were to say “I want a cashflowing single family property to bring in a positive cashflow of at least $500 monthly by April next year,” then, we know exactly what is wanted and when that goal is achieved.
Finally if a goal has no timeline, then it will never get done. Think back to the tests that your teachers gave you. If they never told you a date, would you ever have studied for an undisclosed date? Probably not. Without a date, goals tend to be pushed aside and forgotten. The power of having dates will also allow you to work backwards and set mini goals and dates for you to meet your goals. For example, if your goal is to have 10 cashflowing properties by the end of the year, then you may have a goal of attaining five in six months. When six months comes around and you have five properties, then you know that you are on track to meet your annual goal. This way you can break down your plan into one year goals, 6 month goals, monthly goals, weekly and, daily goals.
After setting your goals, you will find that planning and strategizing your actions become easier and easier. This may be an overwhelming task to begin with and therefore we highly recommend you seek the help of a coach or a mentor.
Goals turn risks into rewards. You should have long term, medium, short, and immediate goals in all aspects of your life: Physical, emotional, spiritual, mental, social, civic, family, career, education, financial and the list goes on. The shorter the timeline the more specific the goal should be. In addition to timeline goals, each goal should have three levels of desired outcome: Acceptable, Preferred, and Outstanding.
Acceptable – What is the minimum results that will you be content about?
Preferred – What is the target that you would like to achieve?
Outstanding – What would be a result that will leave you breathless?
For example: Let’s imagine that you would like to learn a new language. You may feel that it would be too grand a goal to set for yourself if the goal was to be fluent in Spanish in 6 months. However you can set the following:
Acceptable – in three months I would like to have completed 3 levels of Spanish classes
Target – in six months I would like to be able have a conversation with a Spanish speaking individual.
Outstanding – in nine months I would like to be able to get around in Spain speaking only Spanish even though it is not fluent.
By creating 3 goal levels, you will be motivated as you achieve each level, most likely earlier than you thought. In addition, with each level you will feel good about achieving the goal, giving you more momentum to reach the next level or create new ones.
Manage your Time
We all have 24hours in a day, so how come people like Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, and Richard Branson, can run multiple businesses, manage teams of thousands of employees, and have a ‘life’? Their 3 secrets to time management are:
1) Time Block
2) Delegate
3) Energy Management
Time Block
Identify the tasks that you want to complete and schedule them into your daily routine. Jeff Bezos dedicates every Monday to his space program and the other four days to Amazon. When you schedule the time with yourself, subconsciously you will feel that you need to fulfill that schedule as if it was a scheduled appointment with a client. Just like you would be focus on that client during that appointment, you too should be focused on the task that you have scheduled yourself to. The stricter you are with your time blocking the more you will be focused on the task. JT Foxx, one of the world’s #1 wealth and business coach schedules his day in 5min increments!
Delegate
Take time to identify all the activities that you do on a given day. Everything from when you wake up to when you go to bed. Now rank each take from A to C, where A is the best use of your time and C is the least effective use of your time. Now look at all your tasks and determine what each task is worth per hour. After you have done that, look at your B and C tasks and see which tasks would be more beneficial for you to delegate out so that you have more time to focus on your A tasks. Delegation and entrusting those around you to do tasks that open up your time is one of the reasons why Richard Branson and others are able to oversee so many businesses. They have the people in place to handle the day to day who would then report to them to keep them updated with what is going on and only seek them out when certain decisions are needed specifically by them.
Energy Management
Finally, energy management. As we all know, we all have the same 24hrs, so no matter how you manage the time, you will still have the same 24hrs. However, the amount of energy we have can be managed. This comes with taking care of our bodies. You will find that when you exercise daily you will have more energy to do the tasks you want to do. One of our coaches Reggie Batts, goes as far as going for a run when he feels tired, even if it is 9PM at night. The key point that we have taken from that action, is disrupting the energy flow. When you feel that you are low energy or unmotivated, disrupt that flow. Go for a run or do something fun, just for a while to bring your energy back up. It can be something as simple as taking a quick break and listening to your favorite song. You will be amazed as to what that would to your productivity.
Another strategy is to maximize your production during the periods of time when you have the most energy. Most of us have the most energy during the mornings. This is ideally after a good night’s sleep. However, something that the most successful entrepreneurs have in common is that they all are early risers. Some as early as 3:30AM. By the time they are done their most important tasks of the day, the general masses are just waking up. Therefore, being an early riser maybe something to consider.
Lastly, a strategy that has two benefits is the following. Within the tasks that you have identified to do during your high energy times of day, identify the tasks that you want to do least of all and do them first. Get the toughest tasks out of the way first. Not only will you be energized realizing that the tasks you like least is taken care of, but you will not be wasting any energy during the rest of the day thinking or worrying about that task. Those who are able to manage their energy best are those who manage their time the best as well.
By having your plans and goals clear and with time management strategies in place, you will find that levelling up your focus becomes easier and easier. With laser focus, everything will fall into place for you to Make More and Work Less.
Until next time, today is the day to unlock your potential. I’ll see You later.
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