Act Before Thinking

As I was trying to figure out what topic to blog about today, I came across this title in my "drafts" to remind myself to post about it at some point. I thought it would fit perfect for my post, as I was just listening to a teleseminar talking about "Ready, Fire, Aim", while at the same time listening to a Real Estate Guys radio show where the topic was one of their main mantras - "education for effective action". I took it as a sign that these came up during the same day that it was the perfect time to address this.

We're traditionally taught to be prepared; to get ready, aim and fire, in that order.  It sounds reasonable, right? It seems to make sense that that's the logical order of things. There's a lot to be said in favor of it to be sure. You don't want to go into something with zero knowledge or direction, that's certainly true. However, so many people get stuck in the first two parts of the process. They either never feel like they're "ready" enough, or if they do start to aim, it's without enough clarity to know what they're supposed to be aiming at, or with too much timidity to actually pull the trigger. They sit and wait, and analyze, and before they get to "fire" the opportunity is passed and they have to start all over. Opportunity does not sit and wait with a target on it's back for you to aim until you're fully prepared to pull the trigger.

So what's a more effective approach? The "ready, fire, aim" concept is not new, but it is contrary to what our naturally tendencies and comfort is. We often want to be completely ready to go, and we should be reasonably so, but you will never be fully 100% ready to pull the trigger. If you wait until everything lines up perfectly, until you have all the answers and all the knowledge you need to move forward, you'll be waiting your entire life. We need to be reasonably ready, have a good knowledge base to stand on, and pull the trigger, even if we don't know 100% what the final outcome will be or have every "what if" scenario figured out ahead of time.

One important aspect of this is knowing enough to work backwards off a "worst case scenario". You have to have enough knowledge around what you're doing to create a couple possible outcomes, and figure what your worst case scenario is. If you can live with that, don't go any further in analyzing. Start moving forward, and then figure out the details or exact direction from there. Take real estate entrepreneurship for example. When you come across a potential deal, and you know values, you can work backwards and figure out a couple exit strategies. Is the worst case handing the deal off to another investor for a small wholesale or assignment fee? There could be several other much better options, but if that's the worst case, stop thinking and pull the trigger. Then explore the other options and decide which route is the best. Is the worst case a huge loss, but with the potential for profit? Ok, well then in those instances step back and take a closer look first. That said, some of the great companies out there have had worst case scenarios that were complete failure of the business. The point is, you need to make that decision on what you can live with as a worst case. Even facing a potential catastrophe as a worst case could still mean moving forward, if you know that going into it and are ok if that is the final result.

When you get stuck with thinking you need all the answers before you can do anything, remember that there is no way you can know it all. That's why it's so important to surround yourself with smart people and have a great team around you. The key really is action anyway. Knowledge is not power, applied knowledge is power. Knowledge is only the potential for power. You can have all the knowledge in the world, but without using it and taking action, it's not doing anything for you and is wasted. Don't spend your time working so hard to learn something, to become an expert, and then never use it!

Here are some quick tips to get past being stuck in either the "ready" or "aim" steps:

• Expand your knowledge - But don't let not knowing all the answers stop you.
• Build a great team - Having a great, knowledgeable team helps you feel more confident.
• Step outside your comfort zone - Get used to it, because "ready, fire, aim" isn't always - or usually isn't - comfortable.
• Be clear on what you want - Without clarity on what you want in life, how can you know what to aim at?
• Be bold - Ask questions around and take bold steps towards the things you want.
• Don't over-think it - If you sit and think about all the bad things that could go wrong, of course you'll never want to move forward.
• Remember that failure is part of success - Re-frame your thinking around failure. It's only failure if you let it defeat you. Otherwise it's just part of the process and an opportunity to learn and do better.

 Now go out there and practice. "Ready, Fire!, Aim". Get as much knowledge and make as many preparations as you can up front, then take bold action, and make adjustments as needed.

Make This Your Year of Change

It's that time again. A year ends and another one begins. Along with it comes setting aside the past, and looking toward the new year with hope and anticipation. "This is going to be the year" everyone tells themselves. Sadly, but the middle of January, most have already given up on what they've set out to change. Don't let that happen to you! Not this time! Here are a few simple pointers to go into 2015 and make progress on your goals and ambitions.

Have Complete Clarity - You can't reach a goal or hit a mark if it's vague. You must be perfectly clear about what you're setting out to accomplish.

Have a "Why" Bigger Than the Goal Itself - Don't just try to hit a number. Know what hitting that number will do for you, your life and those you love. Focus on that reason and you're motivation will continue.

What is Your "One Thing"? - Don't set too many goals! At the beginning of the year, people tend to set a long list of what they want to change. Financial goals, health goals, family goals, and on and on. You want to have goals for every aspect of your life, and you absolutely want to be balanced. However, you can't expect to make progress without focus. Pick the one thing you want to change most first, focus on that, make some new habits around that change, and add something else. Don't overwhelm yourself with too much, or you'll just give up on all of it.

Find Accountability - Ask someone you trust, and who will be honest with you and hold your feet to the fire, to hold you accountable. Tell them exactly what you want to accomplish, by when, and check in with them often with progress reports.

Do Something Every Day - Do something every single day that will make progress towards your biggest goals. It may be something that doesn't even feel like it's moving you much closer at all, but it's the little, daily things added up over time that get you up the mountain. If you do something every day, you'll look back months from now and be shocked at how far you've gone.

Simple, yes. But also effective. It's the little things that make the difference in whether your 2015 will be a year of achieving what you've set out to do, or if you'll be sitting in the same place you are now when you're reflecting on 2015 come January 1st 2016. You get to choose. Make it happen!

Using Fear as Motivation

Fear. We all experience it. When something new, unknown or unexpected comes into our lives, often times we have a sense of fear involved. Our mind goes through all kinds of "what if" scenarios, most of which don't have even the slightest possibility of coming to pass. But that doesn't seem to keep us from sometimes letting those thoughts get the best of us, preventing us from moving forward. The key to overcoming this is to put fear in a new perspective.

First, take a step back and look at what the fear is. Is it the fear of failure, or the fear of rejection? Maybe it's the fear of not knowing what next steps to take once you take that first big one to get the ball rolling. Whatever it is, ask yourself this: If I don't try, even though I'm afraid, will I regret not having given it a shot? Ah, the fear of regret. It can certainly be a great motivating tool. I'm not saying it should be your only source of motivation; not by any means. However, if you find yourself frozen and unable to move forward, stop and picture a couple things. First picture yourself having moved forward, and having succeeded in doing so. What have you accomplished by moving forward with success? What goals are you closer to now? What does your life look like having taken that step in spite of the fear that may have stopped you? Now picture what it would look like if you didn't move forward on it. What would your life look like this time? Here's the big question: Looking back, will you regret not having at least tried?

I come back to Theodore Roosevelt's quote a lot, but it's so applicable to this that I need to bring it up again. Roosevelt said, "The credit belongs to the man who's actually in the arena...who at worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be among cold timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat". Those are some powerful words. If you never take risk, sure you'll never know defeat; but you'll also never know victory. Worst of all, you could find yourself at the end of your life, never knowing what you could have done, or what kind of an impact you could have made. You'll only know what you could have tried but didn't, and wonder what your life would have been if only you had. Don't let yourself get to the end of your life, with the haunting question running through your mind - "what if I had...". Instead, step out, move forward, face your fears, and one day you can look back and say "I did".


--"We must all suffer one of two things: The pain of discipline or the pain of regret or disappointment." -Jim Rohn--

How to Create Positive Change in Your Life

From my own experience and my observation of others, I've discovered a few different things about what steps are necessary to move from being in a place you don't want to be in your life to pursuing and achieving exactly what you want.

The first and most important thing you need to do is to know what you want. It doesn't do any good to chase a dream if you discover at the end that it wasn't even your dream! Make sure your goals are yours and not someone else's, and not what you think they should be, but what you want. Too many people don't know what they want, so they spend their lives chasing one thing after another, thinking each new thing will be the one that makes them happy. I'm not sure what is worse - not making the effort to chase anything, or chasing something your whole life only to discover it's not what you wanted! Take the time to sit down and really think out what it is that you want out of life. Go through each area of your life and write out what you want it to look like. You must know exactly what it is you want out of each of those areas. Only then can you take the steps to achieve the results you truly want.

Often times if you feel low or depressed, it is because you are not doing what you know you should be doing. I've discovered this in myself in the past. I've also heard comments from others around me about their lives, and the root of it is based on this. They know they should be taking action on something, but they're not. They know they have the capability to do better, to do more with their lives, but they're not. When you know you should be doing better or doing more to pursue what you want, when you know you are not meeting what you are capable of, you beat yourself up mentally over it. The solution is simply to start taking action on those things. It may be something small or simple at first, such as making a phone call you've been avoiding, or it could be starting your business plan. Whatever it is, it just needs to be something that is taking you in the direction that you know you should be working harder to get to. It doesn't have to be huge, it just needs to be action. Stop putting it off. And trust me, when you start taking these small steps you will feel relief, as well as start building your confidence and sense of worth. Once that happens, the next steps are easier and it creates momentum toward your goals.

The last part of the equation is consistency. Writing out what you want and then taking the first step is great, and will start you on the right path, but the right path can't take you to its destination if you are not taking additional steps. This is not an escalator, this is a stairway. You don't get to take one step and sit back and think you will keep making progress. You have to keep taking action. Consistent action is necessary to keep things moving, or you will find yourself right back at the previous step; knowing you should and can be doing more. Don't let that happen! Once the ball gets rolling it's easier to keep it rolling. But when it stops, it's hard to get it started again. Don't let it stop; keep taking steps every day that help you get closer to the life you want. You deserve that life, and don't let anyone tell you any different.

I encourage you to take these steps seriously and go through them one by one. I promise you it will change your direction and change your life. Keep your goals, what you want your life to look like, in front of you on a daily basis. Remind yourself what you are pressing towards. Know what you want, take action on those things, and do it consistently and you will discover abundance.

Action Creates Momentum

Have you ever had a time that you knew you should do something that you didn't want to do? Something that was hard, or even a little bit scary or outside of your comfort zone? What did you do? Did you break past those feelings and do it anyway? Or did you let the fear or other feelings get in your way and stop you?

We all have times when we have things we know we should do that we don't feel like doing for one reason or another. When those situations come up, you need to press on, stop thinking so much and just do it. When you push past those feelings and make yourself do it, you often get a great sense of satisfaction from following through on what you know you should be doing. You know you are taking steps towards your worthy goals. On the other hand, if you don't do it, you often feel worse than you did when you were worrying about doing it in the first place, because you know you aren't following through on what you need to do. The result can be a pattern that will either inspire and push you forward, or one that will be full of regret and hold you back. Make the conscious choice to step outside of your comfort zone and break through whatever else may be holding you back.

A lot of times when we are stuck in a place like this we get into the "I'll do it tomorrow" mindset. Well, I've got some news for you: tomorrow never comes! If you are making those excuses today, something is sure to come up tomorrow that will stop you as well. Don't put it off! Do it today, and you will build momentum for tomorrow.

I first met my real estate mentor Greg Pinneo at a real estate investment group meeting that I did not want to go to. It had been a long and rough day, and I wanted to get home to see my family. However, I knew my goal was to become more active in real estate investing, and that I needed to keep going to meetings to learn and network if I wanted that to happen. I had no idea that a special guest was coming or anything like that, but needless to say I'm so glad I went that evening, because it was the beginning of a whole new perspective and education that has made and will continue to make a huge difference in my life.

I'm also reminded of a story about Donald Trump, who, when he was at the lowest of lows and massively in debt, had a dinner party he was supposed to attend. He didn't want to go; He certainly didn't feel like going. But because he went he had a conversation with one of his bankers at the dinner, and that conversation was the beginning of his recovery. What would have happened if he did what he felt like doing instead of what he knew he should do? The entire Trump story could have ended right there, instead of being the huge success that he is.

So don't let your excuses or your fear stop you from taking steps forward. Take the steps and let the feelings of accomplishment and the small steps forward build momentum toward achieving your goals. Nothing can stop you except yourself.

Putting Your Action Where Your Mouth Is

You've heard the term "put your money where your mouth is", meaning back up what you say and don't just give out advice that you don't follow yourself, or spew an opinion that you can't or won't stand behind. However, I think there is a key word that needs to be replace in this phrase - money doesn't back up what you say; action does. Let me explain.

With all the training and endeavors I've been a part of up to this point in my life, I've seen plenty of people so called "put their money where their mouth is" by paying huge amounts of money to start a business or to go through educational courses to learn how to make money in various industries. The problem is, they think that paying the money for the education is what will solve their issues and will make them successful. This could not be further from the truth. You could pay a million dollars for education from the best educators and most prominent leaders in whatever industry you'd like to be successful in, but paying the money doesn't do anything for you. It's not paying for the training that gets you anywhere, it's the action that follows it.

So many people think that somehow paying money form something will be what gets them the results, or that it will be easy once they get into whatever program they are starting. Sorry to burst your bubble, but there is no educational program or business system in the world that you pay and then just sit back and watch the money roll in. Success is not easy! It is hard work and takes a dedication to learning whatever endeavor you choose. Success is a process. It will not happen overnight and will not happen without you putting in the effort (and if anyone tells you that it will, RUN FAST). If you want success, if you want to reach your goals, you are going to have to make it happen, and that means taking action, not just paying for a "magic formula". I makes me sad to see so many people thinking they can buy their way into prosperity.

Now I'm not trying to be negative, I'm just trying to be realistic. If you are going to back something up with your money, you have to be prepared to back it up with action. In reality, the action part is what really matters, and is the only part that will get you anywhere. Without action, you are stagnant, and you will always be where you are right now. To progress, to move towards your goals and dreams, you have to take action. Go out there and put your money where your mouth is, but make sure you are also putting your action where your mouth is. Without that final component, your money will just be wasted.

Trying and Failing is Better Than Not Trying at All

One of the major things that stops most people from ever moving forward on their goals and closer to their dreams is fear. One of the biggest fears is the fear of failure, of not knowing if you can actually accomplish the dreams you set out to achieve. We are afraid of what people will say or think if we don't achieve what we set out to do.

Theodore Roosevelt put it amazingly well:


"It's not the critic who counts; Not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit goes to the one who is actually in the arena; Who strives valiantly; who errs and comes up short again and again; Who knows the great devotions, the great enthusiasms, and spends himself in a worthy cause. Who, at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; and, at the worst, if he fails at least he fails while daring greatly; so that his place will never be among those timid and cold souls who know neither victory or defeat."

Have you faced defeat in your endeavors? If not, I would contend that you are not putting yourself out there nearly enough. Ask any successful person if they experienced defeat or setbacks along their road to success and you will get a 100% "yes" response". In fact, most successful people have experienced far more defeat than those who are not successful. Most get knocked down once or twice and give up. Successful people get knocked down over and over and over, but they keep bouncing back up and keep moving forward.

In the end, what is worse? Failing, or not trying at all? Which is going to leave you with regret? Which is going to have you wishing you would have tried harder or kept going instead of giving up? Which is going to get you to where you want to go? If you never try, or try and give up quickly, you will have regret down the road. Now I'm not saying there is never a time to let something go so you can move on to something else, but we do it far too often, and bounce from one thing to the next in search of something that will get us to our desired result. But most of the time it is not the "vehicle" that is the issue, it is the "driver" (you). Pick your vehicle that you want to use to get where you are going, and stick to it and make it happen. Don't quit. Most importantly, make sure you are at least out there trying. If you fail while trying, you can deal with it. Get up and get going and try again.

Failure is our best teacher. It won't kill you, it will only make you stronger. Even if you fail, at least you know you gave it your all (you did, right?) and you don't have to face the regret of not having tried at all. Even if it doesn't work out as you planned, it is better than looking back and not knowing what you could have done or been but will never know because you didn't try. So get out there and start failing! When you move past your failures, success is waiting for you on the other side.

“If you want to succeed, double your failure rate.”
Thomas J. Watson
Founder, chairman & president of IBM.

When the Going Gets Tough...Just Keep Going

There is no denying that along the path to success there are many obstacles, and there will be tough times along the way. If anyone ever gives you a "secret" to success that they say involves no pitfalls and no struggle or work, they are either lying to you or they have never actually tried it for themselves. There is one principle you must be aware of if you are to get past these hard times, and that is "stickability". This is the ability to "stick to it" and keep going no matter what.

I love this speech by Charles "Tremendous" Jones:

"Stickability is Tremendous"

"Stick by it, die by it, never give up. We need to burn the word "stickability" into our hearts. There is a plague sweeping the world, it is now reaching epidemic proportions. It's better known as the Quitters Disease. Everywhere I go I hear the phrase, in many different tones I QUIT - I QUIT - I QUIT. I expect to be greeted by some overwhelming, happy associate each time I return to the office with a great big -I QUIT. The problem with most people is that they don't realize what the problem is. I remember how I always wanted to quit. In fact, that's why I worked so hard to become successful so that I wouldn't have to go through that agonizing wanting to quit all the time. Then, finally, I became a success, and to my surprise, I wanted to quit anyway. I then learned that the human being hits psychological lows two or three times a year, and wants to quit for no reason at all. Of course, the real problem was in wanting to quit, because the more I would want to quit, the more I would want to quit, and the more I would want to quit, the more I was afraid I was going to quit, and I didn't want to quit, I just wanted to want to quit. Finally, one day I discovered the difference between quitting and wanting to quit. I then decided I would never quit, and now I enjoy quitting all the time, because I know I'm not going to QUIT. Sometimes someone will ask, "You mean you can't ever quit?" That's right, you can die, retire or get fired, but that's it. Of course, there are exceptions and you are going to think you're it every time you want to quit and if you sell out that easily, you'll never get to pay the first price of leadership. I think you'll agree that more is to be gained by stickability, than chasing better deals, and most of the time our attitudes at the time of our quitting is setting the stage for almost certain failure in whatever we run to."

You're ability to stick to your dreams and to keep going when times get tough and when you run into obstacles is what is going to have the largest bearing on your success. Those who keep going, who make sure they are the last ones standing, are the ones that will reap the rewards. Too many give up right when they are about to turn the corner to success, because the going has gotten too tough. Too many give up when they have put in effort but have not seen results as quickly as they would like.

Calvin Coolidge said "Nothing in the world can take the place of Persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan 'Press On' has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race."

Keep going; stick to what you start; don't quit. Persistence will win in the end. Ask yourself "how high does the hurdle have to be, how large the obstacle, before I throw in the towel and quit?" Remember your "why", and don't let anything keep you down. When you get knocked down, get up, dust yourself off, and just keep going.

Moving into the New Year

The final hours of 2010 are here. This is when we all should make our final reflections on the past year, and see what we need to repeat, and what we need to change in the following year. Here are some tips for getting 2011 started off right.

1) Write down your goals. Goals are much much more likely to be achieved when they are written down and reviewed consistently. Write them down and post them where you can see them on a regular basis.

2) Make a commitment. You have to commit to your goals if you want to achieve them. It can't be just hopes or dreams. Believe you can do it and commit to it until you see the results you desire.

3) Connect with your "why". Unless you have a strong "why" backing up your "what", you will not stay in it for the long haul. Losing weight, increasing your income and building your knowledge are all great goals. But what is the reason that you want to achieve these things? Is it to be more healthy so you can live a better life? Is it to have more freedom or time with your family? Identify what your why is and connect you goals with it. Make sure your daily activities are connecting with your why, and you are much more likely to stick to it and put in the extra effort.

4) Ask for help. If you don't know how to get to where you want to go, find someone who can help you. Find a mentor for your business, or a physical trainer to help you get in shape. Seek out whoever it is that you think can help you the most in achieving your goals. Don't be shy. Remember, "If You Never Ask, the Answer is Always 'No'". People are usually willing to share their knowledge and experience, so take advantage of that and just ask for help. If you don't know anyone personally, find a mentor via books and audio programs and learn from them.

5) Don't give up. Nothing worthwhile is easy. Don't give up. Stick with it until you achieve the end result you are seeking. Remember your "why" is a big part of this equation. Do whatever it takes to get it done.

I hope these tips can help your 2011 get started on the right track. Happy New Year!

Living Without Regret

2011 is just days away, and now is the time that people reflect upon the past year and make goals as to how to make the next year better. Upon reflecting for myself, the process led me to what will be my theme for 2011, and even beyond. That theme is this: Living Without Regret.

What does that mean? Think back over your last year or so. What have you done that you wish you hadn't done? More importantly, what have you not done that you wish you had done? This is the crux of what this theme is aimed at. Most likely, those things you think of will bring up regrets of wishing you had done something differently, or taken action when you didn't, or of passing up an opportunity instead of embracing it. No more. Live without regret.

So how do you go about achieving this theme of living without regret? It starts with looking at your choices on a daily basis. You have to recognize and be aware of when you are doing these things that are later causing you to have regret. Are you purposely avoiding talking to someone about a business opportunity? Are you putting off taking action steps to reach your business goals? When you become aware of the specific things like this that you are doing, you can make the conscious decision at that time to move beyond your fear or whatever is holding you back and just do it. You can cut off the chance of regret down the road by taking the action right away. You know if you don't do it, you will regret it. So be aware of those situations and live without regret. Don't worry about what will happen as a result of you taking action. Just know that even if it doesn't work out as planned, at least you will know that you took action on it. You can live with something not going right, but try living with the regret of never knowing because you never tried.

Now, we all have regrets, so please don't beat yourself up if you are reading this and you're thinking about all the things you wish you would have done. The past is the past. You can't change it, and dwelling on it does not solve anything. All you can do is learn from it, move on, and go from this point forward with the mindset that you are not going to let that happen anymore. You are going to take action, do those things you've been putting off, and make sure you are living in a way that you will not regret never having put forth the effort.

Here's to your 2011. Make it the best year yet. Make decisions, take action, take steps to reach your goals every day. Live without regret in 2011 and beyond.

Knowledge is Not Power

You've heard it said that "knowledge is power". But really, knowledge is not power. It is potential power, but knowledge itself is not power. Without action, knowledge will do nothing for you. It doesn't matter how much you know, if you never act on it then it will never make any difference. Action is the event that takes that knowlege and turns it into the power it has the potential to be.

Darren Hardy, Publisher of Success Magazine and author of "The Compound Effect" stated it perfectly when he said "Ideas without execution are wasted. Knowing what to do and not doing it is the same as not knowing what to do at all". You see, one person could know all there is to know about how to make money, how to be successful, and so on and one person could know absolutely nothing about it, and they can both be in the exact same place if the person that knows how to do it never does anything about it. No knowledge is the same thing as unlimited knowledge that is not used.

So don't just stop at educating yourself. You absolutely need to keep learning and make sure you have the knowledge you need to succeed. But don't keep that knowledge locked up inside. Go out and take action on it, or it will all be for nothing. Don't wait until you have all the knowledge you think you need to be able to start. Trust me, you will never get to that point. You learn and gain confidence as you go, and if you use the excuse that you don't know enough to be able to take action, you will be making that excuse for the rest of your life. Educate yourself and take the leap of faith into acting on it!