Has what you read 16 years ago shaped who you are today?
Last April I gave an insight to what I was reading back in 2005 after I did a mini spring clean of my office filing trays – I’d found a plastic folder with 5 articles dating from the summer to autumn of 2005 (picture attached). Just for fun here are the headlines of those articles so you can get a sense of what the green but eager 25 year old version of me was reading:
“Building a fortune out of beer money” – about renting property]
“Fifty ways of saying carpe diem and stop carping” – [50 reasons why everyone should become an entrepreneur]
“The buying game” – [a basic guide to buying property]
“How to quit a 9-to-5 life on £400,000” – [about how to retire before the traditional age]
..and last but not least…
“11 Keys to Success & Wealth” – [what it says on the tin]
In 2005 I would have been a little over a year into building a corporate career, and whilst enjoying it, couldn’t help searching for something more entrepreneurial, and at that point the property light bulb had gone off thanks to reading Rich Dad Poor Dad.
In property related conversations I often refer to the “Reticular Activating System” within our brains – that part of our brains that when consciously programmed to look for what you want, it helps you find what you’re looking for in the sea of information flooding past our senses.
By evidence of these articles, clearly I was searching for insights on wealth creation and entrepreneurship back in 2005, and it hasn’t stopped since. It was a trip down memory lane re-discovering and reading these articles again. It’s incredible to think that everything I was reading back then that felt new, complex yet inspiring and exciting is now part of what I am living today. Whilst my wild ambitions and impatience of 2005 haven’t always materialised as quickly as the 25 year old me may have wanted, (I’m still very much on the continuous growth journey), I’ve nevertheless become what I started dreaming of 16 years ago- an entrepreneur in property.
Here are the 11 Keys to Success & Wealth that I got from one of the first property talks I attended, and these points were put together and shared by an American property entrepreneur called Jim Francis. Reading through these I was reminded that they are just as relevant 16 years later, especially given the current environment we’re in. Here’s my paraphrased summary of Jim’s words:
#1: DREAM BIG
Jim referred to the common denominator with all the millionaires that he’d interviewed – they all had big dreams and believed they were worth more than a 9-5 they didn’t overly enjoy. All with the dreams, they were prepared to take some risks by taking some of their hard earned money to try something new ie build a small business or invest in property.
#2: GET OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE
You must attack your comfort zone and get outside of it. Push yourself to try new things, to break your limiting beliefs and poor habits. All successful people know that growth happens at the edge of your comfort zone.
#3: WORK SMART AND NOT HARD
Millionaires tend to work smarter, not harder. It’s not that they don’t work 16 hour days, but they use their time much more effectively. They have a better plan for making money and if they are going to work 16 hour days, the fruit of their labour will be their own, not for someone else. They make their money work for them in property, in their own business and in the stock market.
#4: THE QUICK AND THE DEAD
One of the major rules of the wealthy is taking action. While you are thinking about this right now, someone else is taking action. Don’t analyse things to death but do your diligence, make sound judgement and take fast action.
#5: TAKE EMOTIONS OUT OF DECISIONS
Too often people are stopped by FEAR- fear of failure, fear of loss, fear of rejection. Millionaires learn to conquer fear, they simply look at 3 things – 1st, the investment, 2nd the return, 3rd, the probability of success. If those things stack up they go for it…
#6: TOTAL COMMITMENT
Successful people give their all, they work their 40 hour week job and then put in another 20 hours plus to start investing in property or start their small business. Even if you are tired, don’t let it be said that you “missed your dreams because you were watching TV”. Schedule time for success, take action as scheduled and the results will follow.
#7: MENTORS
..Are worth their weight in gold. Why? Because mentorship and coaching work! You can only learn so much from a book, a self study manual or a video or a website. A coach or mentor can get you on the path to success quickly and help cut your learning curve in half.
#8: STUDENT OF SUCCESS
Millionaires never stop learning. They study success habits. They study money, property, business and asset building. They have a thirst for new knowledge and invest a significant amount in training and self development.
#9: BOUNCE WELL
Millionaires have failures. They have lost, but they keep a positive attitude – “I’ll figure it out, I’ll work harder or smarter to get the result, I’ll apply a better plan”. They remember that a flat ball doesn’t bounce, so they have to keep it pumped up. (Great analogy for the current times).
#10: SELECTIVE MEMORY
There are no failures, only learning experiences. ‘If they swing at a baseball they do not remember the 66% of the time they miss, they remember the 34% of the time they hit.’ The problem for most people is that they remember the last time they failed – no wonder they stop swinging the bat. Selective memory is key to success.
#11: DON’T QUIT
The character of man or woman is not measured in the number of failures, but in the number of times they come back from those failures to attempt to win! Ask Edison – 10,000 plus attempts at making the lightbulb. Do not give up. Success is just a decision and some action away!
I hope these 11 keys resonate and feed your mind as they have done, and continue to for me.
I’d love to hear which one of these 11 keys to success strikes chord with you right now, shoot a quick reply here.
Hi Tsen – great post!
We became Millionaires and financially free when my wife was 39 years old. I have no idea what we were reading 16 years ago. Property investing would definitely have been on the list.
#1 Dream Big: We set ourselves Big Hairy Audacious Goals (BHAG). If they don’t scare you, they aren’t big enough!
#2 Get out of your comfort zone: the BHAG forces you to do that…otherwise you can never achieve them.
#3 Work smart, not hard: this is the one that resonates with Sarah and I the most.
We constructed our property business, so that managing it only takes 1 hour a month. Time is the most precious asset – you can’t make more of it.
#4 the quick and the dead: once we’ve made a decision, Sarah and I just get it done!
#5:take emotions out of decisions. We see our property portfolio as investment vehicles, and don’t have any emotional attachment to them. However, if we are making a decision that we know could have an emotional bias, then we seek advice from mentors to check we are not being irrational.
#6 total commitment: when we started buying property I was working 6 days a week in the rat race, and building our portfolio on the 1 day off we had. We then foolishly spent every weekend for months decorating them ourselves…we learned from that and have other people manage refurbs now.
As we don’t need to work anymore, we spend most of our time with our family and on things we are passionate about.
#7 Mentors: I mentor a small group, and have multiple mentors for myself in different specialities. It is so important to do this in order to get to your objective faster. Find someone who has achieved what you desire.
#8 Student of success: Sarah and I currently set ourselves a training budget of at least £20,000 per year for all areas of our life – whether that is property, business, mindset, relationships, health or fitness. We aim to keep learning and growing.
#9 Bounce well: we like to say “find a way, or make a way!”
#10 Selective Memory: a great tip is to watch out for your limiting beliefs, like “I always fail at_____”. Ask yourself “is it really true?”
Usually it is not. Adjust, and try again from a different angle.
#11 Don’t quit: absolutely. Remember, you only lose when you quit!
George & Sarah