 “I am a successful and energetic real estate and business investor creating multi-generational wealth through strategic cashflowing income streams EVERY DAY."
"I am the world's greatest father and husband.” I write this down ten times and say it aloud every morning before I get going on whatever my first task is. From checking web analytics results to conferencing with investors and partners or driving to my 9 to 5 W2 job (or 7 to 4 in my case). It is a mouthful. I say it EVERYDAY and I MEAN IT. The mind is a powerful thing. It can be both a useful tool and harmful adversary . Failure to understand the importance of how to best control and program your mind to reach your potential can lead to years of spinning your wheels or never getting started. I started my rehab and flip journey before getting my mind in order. It cost me a bunch of money and it wasted a lot of my time (and hair). About 6 months into working on the 8-month flip project (written before in this previous blog), I began working with a Business Mastery Coach. I will write another post on the power of coaching (when done right). When we began our work together, I was expecting to jump right in on growing my deal flow and business. Instead, we spent about 5 weeks on psychology and various tools and techniques to use to set myself up to succeed. I knew there was a method to the madness. And man, am I glad I bought in and picked up what was being put down. We took a deep dive into the voices in my head and ways to control my narrative in a different light. My mind was full of self defeating thoughts and impossibilities. Reactions to events became more manageable and my outlook, over a period of about two months, really began to transition. One of the keys to adjusting my mindset was the use of daily affirmations. As the great Napoleon Hill shared, “Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve.” There are a variety of great tools and content available about the subject of affirmations. When going through the process to build my affirmation muscle, the following seemed to work for me: 1. Start small and simple Initially, I started out with 10 different short affirmations. Very simple and concise - each eliciting a specific feeling. I read those ten affirmations multiple times a day for 60 days. As the 60 days winded down, I began to look ahead to how to best use the tool. So, I combined a few of them that I felt moved me more than others. And thus, a single (somewhat longer) affirmation was born. 2. Commit to executing & timestamp it As my wife can attest, I have a horrible memory. I can’t explain it but sometimes I really don’t remember something as recent as yesterday that we talked about. Because of this, I have become fairly good at time management and blocking off portions of my day to execute specific tasks. I maintain one electronic calendar (synced with all of my businesses and personal). I also maintain one single sheet of paper that has a 30-minute blocks of time on the left side and 7 columns (one for each day including weekends). I check daily that they match. It helps keep important topics top of mind for me as I check in – so I don’t forget anything inadvertently. My system has evolved to this method and it has worked well for me for about 6 months. About five to eight items make it on my calendar for any day. 90% of the time, the number is six or less. For me, this allows me to really provide committed time to the task at hand. Only important items make it on the list – things that I REALLY want to get done that day. An investor call or lunch, kid’s doctor appointments, a podcast interview, working on my book or blog, networking with people that have deals in my market that fit my business model, etc. If it doesn’t make it on the calendar, it is simply a to-do list that are required to get done but are not important. The difference between important and urgent is critical to understand: Important tasks are tasks that contribute to long-term missions and goals. Urgent things may include phone calls, tasks with impending deadlines, and situations where you must respond quickly. Responding to an email, when you must do it, is usually an urgent task. Urgent things do make it on my list. But important things have priority when building out my week. 3. Reflect before, during and after Before I get going, I think about what I am trying to accomplish from the task. I remember that through continually repeating and believing what I am saying, I am setting myself up for success in achievement of the life I want. While I am now writing my affirmation (and before when I was simply repeating), I made sure it was at a time and in a place that I wouldn’t be disturbed. Usually first thing in the morning and last thing at night. As may be the case for you, all time in between is pretty jam packed with family, business and life. After you complete the task, reflect once more on why you just did that. I believe it helps to acknowledge that you just started or ended your da doing something powerful aimed at improving your future. A small victory gives me a little pep in the morning and some good vibes at night as I go to bed. 4. Review results after 30 days and note changes Every month, it is worth checking in to make sure you are achieving the results that you want by repeating the things that you want to embed in your head. As goals and life evolves, so too might your affirmations. The key is to work the muscle and be mindful of the results you are looking towards achieving through using this tool. By following these simple steps, you can really set yourself up for success. Be consistent and have purpose in what you are doing - it will make a world of difference.
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 As I work to build my digital cashflow streams through affiliate marketing niche websites, I find myself trying to learn each aspect of how it all comes together. I am a big believer in self-education. I want to soak up everything I can and understand it all. My mindset has previously been: how can I expect associates and employees to do something I have not done myself? As I reflect on that mindset writing this article, I realize how limiting that is for me as a business owner.
In this example, I was trying to write some keyword content in the health space. We needed about a thousand words filled with good material all focused on a specific growth strategy we have targeted. I got about 500 words down, sent it to my team members for review and asked them to tell me what they think the article’s title should be that would best summarize the content. Each of them came back with something different than what the article was supposed to be about. And each of them was exactly right. I had written 500 words of crap – not focused and simply grabbing at key words wherever I could possibly plug them in. I am grateful I only spent a few hours writing before getting that feedback and coming to this realization. I could have wasted time not only writing non-performing SEO content but then posting it and waiting for it to perform to a level that it was incapable of. The question to ask yourself is NOT – “CAN I do it?” As entrepreneurs – we can all figure out a way to get it done. Come hell or high water – an entrepreneur’s relentless stubbornness to accomplish a task they set out to do can be both a gift and a curse. The question to ask yourself IS – “SHOULD I do it?” Should you be doing the task yourself or should you plug in a team member or contractor to do it? Based on my lack of SEO content creation skill, the answer is simple. It highlighted a gap in my ownership mentality that I am grateful to have received so early on. My focus is, ultimately, on setting up the business and its team members to succeed. That success depends on my ability to establish the strategic vision and execute with my team – measuring KPIs and steering as we go. My income stream and cashflow performance depend on it. For this content creation project, the solution is simple and cheap. I have a content group that can knock out the work for less than $100 allowing me to simply plug and play while I focus on other tasks such as analyzing current performance and outlining our next moves to make. If you find yourself in a similar situation (doing something because you want to learn – not because it is best for the business), I’d suggest you reflect on your strategic goals and make the choice that best suits your business. You CAN do anything. Of all that you can do, there are a few things you SHOULD do. BE STRATEGIC. Failure to do so may lead to significant amounts of wasted time and capital. |
AuthorJustin Grimes has been an active real estate investor since 2007 participating at various levels in asset classes from single-family rehab and mortgage note creation to multi-family, self storage and mobile home parks. 
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