If you want to reach your real estate investment goals, there is simply no way around dedicating superhuman effort towards your craft and the compelling mission you have set for yourself. Some tips to implement: The power of getting out of bed early; find your “ikigai” (the reason you jump up in the morning); and to never lose your hunger.  As a football coach of mine used to tell us “there is always someone looking to take your spot.” 

Deep Focus and Clarity

A recent Harvard study showed that the 3% of graduates from their MBA program in a given year who had their goals written down, ended up earning ten times as much as the other 97% from that same class put together, just ten years after graduation. 

I have seen this so many times in my own investing life. In my real estate company, Lifeafar Capital, we set big quarterly goals that we then break down into daily and weekly action steps.  With this clarity, we are able to make huge progress quickly.  I credit this goal-setting for going from $5 million in real estate assets under management in 2018 to almost $50 million in luxury, high-end properties, just two years later.  

The same philosophy applies to my personal portfolio of BRRRR investments.  I picked an investment strategy, set my criteria, and have scaled faster than I ever thought possible.   

The clearer you can get about what you want, the easier it is to get there.  Your mind requires that direction.  When it has it, then incredible things can happen. Another book on this topic of precise focus that I highly recommend is Outwitting the Devil: The Secret to Freedom and Success.

The titans also emphasize the necessity that investors focus only on what they can be truly excellent at. The advice is to choose and develop your core competencies. This can mean a lot of things. In the world of real estate, this means choosing a specific market, asset class, investment type or end product.  For us, that means disciplined BRRRR strategy investing.  The point is to be great at a few things rather than average at many things. 

A final tip from the titans: learn to say no to demands on your time that are not aligned with your goals. This is so hard for so many people. There can be so much social pressure to do things that distract us from our missions. Saying no more sounds great in practice.  But how do you do it without offending people or potentially missing out on valuable opportunities? (Additional Recommendation: On this topic of learning how to say no, I also have to refer you to Tribe of Mentors, by Tim Ferriss).

Education

Always seek to fill your mind with valuable education. The day that you stop learning is, as the titans say, the day that you start dying. Read great books. Go down different avenues of learning to expand your mind even outside of those directly related to your investing and real estate. Education is your advantage. Consume thought-provoking books with an appetite for finding new ideas. Study history. To have a chance at predicting the future for any market or industry, you must understand the past.

Surround Yourself with Greatness.

Expand your social circle with purpose. Greatness requires upping your standards.  In particular, your standards with respect to who you spend your time with.  Dive into this book to explore how you can make these desired relationships a reality. The number one piece of advice for cultivating a relationship with anyone who you see as valuable: find ways to provide the people who you want in your circle with incredible value without an expectation of getting something in return.