Every year I go through a process of intelligent reflection to review the year that was and draw out the top lessons to carry into the next year.
Over a multiple reflective ‘cave time’ sessions (including a few on holiday) with my journals and previous quarterly reviews I have written out my top ten lessons.
I thought I’d share them here so they might benefit others, and to hold myself accountable to heeding these lessons going forwards
1. Don’t short change my morning routine
-I know my morning routine and my first focus session are my competitive advantage so I must guard and respect it by not letting in reactive things, starting it on time and not cutting short my learning session short- it makes me feel I’m not starting the day right since growth is my top value.
2. My actions vote for future me
-This concept came from James Clear and resonated deeply with my philosophy of becoming the best version of me. I must hold myself accountable to be clear on my future self and take consistent action towards that version of me. To borrow the wise words of James Clear, ‘Every action I take is like a vote for the person I want to become’.
3. Don’t make a noisy business more noisy
-I learned this from Dan’s Property Entrepreneur podcast and it helped me decide to strategically NOT grow our SA business because when a cash flowing business is doing what it should ie providing the cash flow we don’t need to add more noise by adding more properties, instead can shift focus to profit and asset plays.
4. I don’t need to be an admin superhero
-I’ve been wrestling with admin for years, swaying between the desire to have it all done yet not wanting to be distracted from growth activities by doing it. I came to the realisation that I don’t need to get it all done each day, it’s about being ok with not having it all done because I have a system in place that makes me confident I haven’t dropped anything (now to find that system, still experimenting
5. Lighten the cognitive load
-I heard this from Darren Hardy and loved the concept- this is what I want from my team ie them shortlisting solutions and just taking action to lighten my ‘cognitive load’ (ie the need for doing the research, considering the options and making too many operational decisions), and it’s what I want our business offerings to help our clients with wherever possible.
6. Life is great in the Freezone Frontier
This is an awesome mindset shift from the book of the same name by Dan Sullivan. It helped me see there is a place where there is no competition, only collaboration. In most industries we will find similar yet subtly different value propositions that don’t actually compete with one another, but actually compliment one another. This is an abundance mindset replacing a scarcity mindset
7. On holidays change gear and change focus
-Instead of always feeling like I need to ambitiously chase growth through my learning and progressing work things whilst away, switch focus to being ambitious about creating experiences and being the best father and husband I can be.
8. Trust but verify
-Another mantra from Dan that deeply resonates having made a huge mistake in appointing a main contractor for my home renovation last year. I trusted the salesmanship of the main guy, did one level of reference checking and then paid for my lack of further diligence in stress and excess cost for poor workmanship. So, trust the salesman but go much further to verify their work.
9. Be careful not to over optimise
-My lesson is to curb back on trying to overiptimsie what I can squeeze in i.e. before leaving my desk to go somewhere as it will only cause me to rush, potentially be late and put stress on my family. Instead, see it as investing 10 minutes to stop earlier so I can be calmer and less stressed rather than getting 10 more minutes of some work done.
10. See the stress as positive
-This is a reminder and a reframe that when I’m feeling stress and pressure, if it’s a problem arising from something I chose and definitely want ie a certain project I have thoroughly sense checked to be aligned what I want and who I want to become, then I can acknowledge that I want to figure out how to solve it so I can get better. Therefore the reframe is that the stress is a good feeling to have because I’m growing.
I can’t recommend enough how powerful intelligent reflection is for your growth as a property entrepreneur.
What is one of your key lessons from the last 12 months?