When I was in high school I rode the city bus a lot because I had skipped a couple of elementary grades and wasn't old enough to drive. I frequently observed a man riding the same bus. The moment he sat down he opened a book and began to read. This man, Richard L. Evans, was the announcer of a nationally syndicated radio program and he wrote and delivered a brief, usually less than two minute thought each week. I know two minutes doesn't seem like much and it doesn't seem very important, but I got out my HP12C and ran some numbers. He gave over 2000 of these messages until his unexpected death in 1971. 2000 X 2 minutes / 60 = 66.6 hours. He wrote 19 books and much of the material came from his 2 minute talks. He edited a monthly magazine. He made time to serve as president of Rotary International in 1966-67. I'm not suggesting he did all of this while riding on the bus; however, I think many of the things he was putting into his mind on the bus later appeared in his books or in his talks. While the man on the bus was accomplishing great things in his chosen field I didn't even have a field. I was just content to ride the bus. After all, it beat walking.
Plato said, "Nothing is more unworthy of a wise man or ought to trouble him more, than to have allowed more time for trifling and useless things than they deserved."
What a strong message this is to those of us who have a tendency to major in minor things. Sometimes the world just pushes in and our good intentions get pushed out. At times our passion for success should defer to our employment needs, emergencies, family time, staying fit and other activities that improve our quality of life. It should never be placed on the back burner for lack of time.
Some of us accomplish so much and some so little but we all have the same amount of time. I have learned through study, observation, and experience that those who accomplish more are usually goal oriented, task driven, and are aware of the value of time. Investors should also be aware of the time value of money but that is a subject for another article. So, what do you value enough to take time to schedule your time?
There are wonderful tools to help us organize our lives. Before computers I carried a daily planner in a slender leather case that would fit in my suit pocket. In a glance I could preview my week and then my tasks for the day. I carried my drivers' license in the planner so the planner was always with me. I wrote everything in the planner so I didn't have sticky notes everywhere. Now I use Microsoft Outlook, not because I think it's the best program but because every hand held device made synchronizes with it. I've used a Palm and recently got a Blackberry. Learning how to use the Blackberry is going to stimulate my brain enough to postpone the onset of Alzheimer's. Pricey handhelds are fun but inexpensive planners are available in many stores. You don't need to spend a lot of money. Microsoft Word has many calendar templates you can print out and use. Just do something now. Get started.
Each evening, or early each morning review your daily tasks from the previous day. Transfer the important ones to today's tasks. Ignore the less important ones that didn't get done. Write down any new tasks you want to work on today. Now you are going to assign each task a value. You will have A, B, C, and D tasks. Assign each A task a value, i.e. A1, A2, A3. Do the same with your B, C, and D tasks. B, C, and D tasks are probably more pleasant and that's why, without organizing, we gravitate to these tasks and accomplish very little of substance. Work on your A1 until you can't do any more at that moment. Then go to A2 and do the same. Then go to A3 and so on. If you never get to the C's and D's it's alright. They are probably not going to help you build wealth or achieve important goals.
Now I would like to discuss numbers. If, on average, it takes 10 written offers to get a deal and you write one offer a month it will take you 10 months to get a deal or 1.2 a year. If you write one offer a week it will take you 10 weeks to get a deal or 5.2 a year. If you write 5 offers a week it will take you 2 weeks to get a deal or 26 deals a year. It's obvious that larger numbers produce better results. We all have important demands on our time. How we use it is important. Success in my real estate investing is largely a matter of making offers. It's the only way to determine if a seller is really motivated and needs to sell at a price I am willing to pay.
I urge you to take time to set realistic long term, intermediate term and short term goals. Understand the numbers it takes to accomplish your goals. Collapse time frames through good daily organization to speed up the process.
Act now! Success will not wait! This is the time! This is the place! You are the one!
