Month: December 2018

Welcome to December folks. Two weeks ago I shared a post on finishing the year strong and how you can ‘Fixate on breaking the tape’. If you missed it you can find that post here

A few things Chris and I are pushing on to finish the year strong include:

-onboarding 3 new SA units in the week ahead

-sourcing and analysing mixed use commercial sites (ie shops and uppers) with a view to securing a deal for early 2019

-direct booking marketing for our SA units ie flyer drops, email and text message campaigns, phone calls and referral requests

-optimising our accounting software and processes for better reporting and analysis

Whilst we still have 3 busy weeks to realistically hit our final 2018 goals, many of us are already thinking about 2019. For the last 3 or 4 years I’ve completed a pretty comprehensive year end review and year ahead planning process (more on that later) and this week I read an article by Tony Robbins about creating an extraordinary year. So. I thought I’d share the topline of that article here for those interested.

Robbins says, “Transforming into the person you want to be in 2019 is not difficult so long as you have the dedication, focus and correct tools at your disposal”.

STEP #1 FEED YOUR MIND

I’m going to paraphrase Robbins here – ‘feeding your mind is all about perspective, you’ve got to bring something new to it otherwise you’re going to keep feeding off the same old beliefs, same old thoughts, same old emotions that have not gotten you the level you want”.

So don’t just hope things will go your way, we need to learn to condition ourselves to believe they will. In other words, this relates to what we are telling ourselves (our internal dialogue) and that is influenced by what we put in front of our eyes and into our ears. It’s not a coincidence that the leaders in this personal development space say the same thing.

Darren Hardy shared in a post this week that thoughts inform expectations, which drives your creative process, which drives you to produce the results you ultimately realise. What informs your thoughts? What you put in front of your eyes and ears. See, same thing!

So, you’ve got to guard your mind from limiting messages and simultaneously feed it with positive messages by reading empowering material ie autobiographies of role models and selectively choosing what information and news you let in.

Robbins recommends a book that he read as a teenager called The Magic of Believing by Claude Bristol. It’s not one I’ve personally heard of but it’s now added to the audible list.

STEP #2 STRENGTHEN YOUR BODY

So step 1 is about strengthening the mind, it’s equally crucial to strengthen the body. ‘Priming your physical self can set the stage for the change you want to see mentally and emotionally’ says Robbins. ‘If you go for a really intense run, music blaring and heart pumping, your body and mind will both be energised and clear, and you’ll be able to better focus on what you want”.

STEP #3 FIND A GREAT ROLE MODEL

Robbins advocates that, “If you want the best year of your life, you need to decide to find a great role model who is already getting the results you want.” In other words, to accelerate your journey, rather than just try to do it yourself you want to model someone who’s already getting results.

STEP #4 TAKE MASSIVE ACTION

To simply summarise this step (and Robbins reminds us it’s simple) – Make a huge step forwards. So what is that for you…..? Build out your website. Reach out to a prospective investor. Find a deal and offer on it. Book a big family holiday that will bring everyone together.

In short, get clear on what action to take and take it. Every week.

STEP #5 GET OUTSIDE OF YOURSELF

Instead of focusing 100% on your goals and what you want to achieve in 2019, Robbins reminds us to also find a way to add value to others. “As corny as it sounds, the spirit of living is giving, and it’s what makes us feel alive” he says.

By helping others figure out there problems it has two primary impacts:

1. Your problems will lessen in intensity
2. Your life will have more meaning

“Life is not about me; life is about we. So it’s not just growing, it’s growing and contributing beyond yourself that makes your life meaningful.” – Robbins

So, there are 5 high level steps from the big man himself. If you’re looking for something more tactical go ahead and message me and I’d be happy to share the process I run through between Christmas and New Year. The process is simple yet thorough and looks like this:

-Reflect on the last year

-Inventory of the present

-Create a vision for the year ahead

Message me if you want in on this.

And here’s the final Robbins quote to finish on – “If you want the best year ever of your life, you’re going to have to come up with a vision. What do you want? What’s going to be different next year? What do you want to change and what do you want to transform?”

Today (Nov 22nd)our friends across the pond are celebrating Thanksgiving, hence the prompt for this week’s post. It’s a shame we don’t mark the occasion in the UK as it’s a great opportunity to openly express gratitude- towards family right through to our respective property businesses and beyond.

And why is gratitude so so important? To explain I’ll borrow and paraphrase words I heard from someone I’ve been following for over 10 years – ‘Happiness is not derived from the outside ie material things, it’s derived from the inside – and the way we do that is through gratitude of what we already have. Only then can we nurture what we want more of.’ – Darren Hardy.

If you’re interested, here are a few tips on practising gratitude that I’ve picked up over the years from reading/following the work of thought leaders like Darren Hardy and Shawn Achor (AKA ‘The Happiness Guy’).

*Focus on what you HAVE not what you LACK

*Take the focus off yourself and turn it on others

*Be intentional about giving thanks to people each day

*Swallow ego and express gratitude

*Practice gratitude every day to feel the benefits over a longer term

Writing a post on this topic is also a great opportunity to unashamedly express massive gratitude for key people who have and are influencing and supporting the ongoing journey of continuous growth – my amazing and supportive wife Emma, awesome business partner Chris, our Ops Mgr Louise, all of our mentors, our power team on the ground, all our paying guests and this brilliant property community.

And here’s one final thought:

Whilst this week is great for taking inventory of everything that might appear on our gratitude list, I also challenge you to think about how often YOU appear on someone else’s list- not just today, but throughout the year. Quite a re-frame isn’t it?

Happy Thanksgiving to you all.

Here we are in the final 44 days of the year. Well over 300 days down and we’ve all invested a massive amount of energy and dedication to put ourselves in the position we are in, and we want to finish strong.

Wherever you stand with your property goals, what can you do to make sure you have that final big sprint to finish the year strong and go into 2019 with confidence and momentum?

I looked back at my 2017 posts and realised that I wrote a similar one around the same time last year, just using a different reference. Clearly it’s something I think about around this time each year and I’m sure I’m not the only one. This time round I was prompted by a recent message I heard from Darren Hardy who referenced the true story of a runner who was able to consistently lead the field but who always lost in the final stretch of the race. His coach, who had observed and analysed the runner’s race habits and results, pinpointed the problem – in the final stretch he was always looking over his shoulder at the competition and in those moments would be overtaken.

The coach’s advice that proved successful was to ‘fixate on breaking the tape’ and ‘don’t look over your shoulder. You can’t be afraid when you are out in front and alone. When you look over your shoulder you switch focus from the positive goal of winning to the possibility of someone overtaking you.’

This same thinking is what we all need to apply to our respective business situations in the final weeks of the year, if we want to finish with a winning feeling. In other words, to really focus on our goals and protect ourselves from distractions.

In a quick google search I found an article looking at the science and technique in the 100m sprint race. To the very point I’m highlighting, here was the same message,

‘One important aspect of the 100m is to always stay focused on yourself and the track ahead of you. Glancing to your left or right to see where your competitors are will only slow you down.

“You should be able to run 100 meters like a horse in the Kentucky Derby with blinders on,” Ato Boldon says. “Nothing in the 100 should ever cause a sprinter to look to his left or right.”

Ato Boldon knows that full well. He glanced over to Namibia’s Frankie Fredericks in the 1996 Olympics and fell behind him, which got him bronze rather than silver.

“I know more than most that you can do it,” Boldon says, “but you have to spend the rest of your life telling people why it cost you a medal in the Olympic Games.”

And here are a couple more fitting analogies about the ‘final stretch’ i.e. in the NFL, the most points are scored in the final 2 minutes of each half; and in the retail industry 25-40% of annual sales happen in the final 45 days of the year. In other words, the race for the year is won or lost in the final push.

So if you want to finish 2018 strong, focus on breaking the tape and don’t let the hysteria of the upcoming Christmas season break your focus.

Here are 5 STEPS TO MAXIMISE THE END OF THE YEAR:

(This is a shortened extract from last year’s post and you can read the full post here: http://adaeroproperty.com/week-48-breaking-the-2017-finish-line-tape-with-massive-momentum/ )

Step #1 AWARENESS

*Have full awareness with what you’re doing and how you’re operating in the final stretch of the year.

*Do the opposite of others i.e. at this time of year, most people are starting to eat unhealthy, drink more, take the foot of the work pedal but if we want to differentiate ourselves we have to do the opposite – step up the exercise, keep the diet in check, plan effectively, don’t sell yourself short

STEP #2- STACK UP MOTIVATION WITH WHYS

*Figure out WHY you want to have an amazing end to the year AND build MASSIVE MOMENTUM going into 2019, and write the reasons down.

*Look at these reasons regularly and use them to push you through while others are easing off.

STEP #3- WRITE DOWN EVERYTHING AND PRIORITISE

*Best way to get rid of the overwhelm and fuzzy thinking is to write everything down. Get it out of your head and onto paper.

*What GETS SCHEDULED GETS DONE

*Write out clear expectations for your business for end of the year and clear tasks for each person, whether it’s just you or if you have a team – it’s about working more strategically and intentionally rather than doing loads of hours so we can all be more present with our family.

STEP #4- CELEBRATE WEEKLY PROGRESS

*Celebrate weekly progress rather than focusing on perfection or living in ‘the gap’ i.e. focus on what completed or how far you’ve come in the last year, be grateful what done rather than living in the gap of where you think you should be”.

*This next bit of advice is gold, and my favourite quote of the podcast – “You are exactly where you need to be, to learn exactly what you need to learn, to get the lessons that you need to get to build an amazing future”. Don’t beat yourself up, bet on yourself.

STEP #5- WHAT IS YOUR GAME CHANGING HOLIDAY ROUTINE

*The ritual you create to solidify getting back in the zone.

*It’s hard to build momentum when you take breaks, but at this time of year you need to, and when you do you’ll want to be fully present. So to allow yourself to be fully present during down time, maximise what you do leading up to the break. You’ll then feel amazing taking time off with your family.

*In advance of taking your time off, think about and write down a ritual to get you back in the zone.

What are you doing to keep your focus on breaking the tape?