TRP090: Specific Actions

May 12, 2020


If you’re looking for honest real world, no BS advice on how to create income, build wealth, and achieve true freedom with real estate, your in the right place. Welcome to another episode of the real estate preacher podcast. Joe, where your host Randy Lawrence shares with you his experiences and strategies from over decades as a successful real estate investor. This episode is sponsored by prosperity capital partners. Learn more at prosperitycapitalpartners.net now onto the show.

Hey, I want to welcome you to today’s show. We’ve got an exciting episode today. Today is the third part in a four part series. Today we’re going to be talking about specific actions. So I want to encourage you, go back, check out part one- was strategic focus on February 25th. Part two was handling money on April 24th and then today we’re talking about specific actions and then next week we’ll be talking about sustained faith. And again, so talking about specific actions. And really the overview of this is about achieving the goals, the outcomes that you want. This was really kind of a four-part thing to help you set the tone for 2020. And again, I know clearly we’ve got this COBIT 19 that’s thrown a wrench in a lot of people’s plans, but these principles still apply. And I would say apply all of the more in the midst of this Corona virus scenario.

And again, we’re going to talk about that. So first we’ll go through each of the four steps, talk about those, and then we will circle back and talk about how those things can then be applied as well within the context of the Corona virus. So the very first thing about the specific actions is they need to be specific by defining the outcome you want. And this is where people really get it messed up, right? Like they don’t really truly define the outcome they want, right? They see somebody else doing a hundred properties a year or they see somebody else who is managing a couple thousand apartment complex units that they own. And they take other people’s outcomes and adopt it as their own. Like I was just talking with a good friend of mine that’s a nationally known attorney and you know, even he was saying like, the truth is that you look at certain people, and I see this all the time, even within some of the high level groups I’m a part of with top guys, the country where on the outside it looks good, right?

It looks all like, Hey, everything’s great. But on the inside they’re struggling, meaning that inside of their business it’s a challenge, that the cash is not there. Whatever, it’s not everything that glitters is gold, right? And so you need to define the outcome that you want for your life. It’s like I go back and I’m in my office here right now and I’m looking at a photo. That goes back to probably 2011 and it was really probably right about there, maybe 2010 that I had decided that my family and I was part of a book with Jack Canfield dare to succeed and was speaking at an author’s summit in California. And he was there and talking with him at the cocktail party and reception and all like that for the authors summit, he was sharing with me how him and his family vacation together basically one week for every four weeks of work.

So that translates into three months a year. I thought, wow, man, that is genius. And as then as I thought about it, prayed about it for my family, I thought, you know what, that’s fantastic. And so we’re going to spend two months a year vacationing together. And so I’m looking at a picture of us riding horseback on the beach that I have in my office. It’s a reminder, see, because for me at the time I was defining an outcome that I wanted, that I wanted to be able to grow my business. At the time I was also pastoring a church and I wanted to be able to serve those people, but at the same time serve my family and the interest. We had to be able to spend time together. My daughter was probably, you know, seven ish years old, something like that.

And I wanted those years from her growing up from, you know, six, seven years old to becoming a teenager than an adult to be filled with experiences and memories that we’ve created as a family, traveling together, vacationing together doing different things together. So again, I didn’t just adopt Jack Canfield’s outcome. I really defined it for myself. And that’s just one example. So what you need to do is define the outcome that you want specific to your life and your business, right? That’s where I think I see people make that mistake where they say, Oh, Hey, I want to, man, this guy is doing a hundred deals a year and I want to do what he’s doing. And the reality is they’re then taking on something that they don’t really enjoy, like, or want or doesn’t really serve their life. So that’s where you got to get clear in defining the outcome you want and then even to within your business, right?

You’ve got to define the outcome that you’re looking to get, right? That’s the starting point. Once you’ve done that, then the second element is to identify the strategic steps in order to get that outcome. And what this requires is a measure of thinking. And I would just say this to you, that thinking is going to be some of the most challenging work that you do. I know you know Tony Robbins talks about it. Keith Cunningham talks about thinking time and I think about how he shares the story of Michael Milken, who’s the junk bond King from the eighties. Used to just, that’s what he had his blocks of thinking time and then, Oh yeah, Hey, I’ll meet with you two weeks from now because then that’s when I’ll be able to think about that. And, and so it really is, most people don’t think about things and that’s just the truth.

They just do stuff. And then that’s why they, you know, are bewildered that they got haphazard results. And so once you’ve defined your outcome, identify the strategic steps in order to get there. Right? So you’ve identified, okay, Hey, you know, like for us right now, we are in the midst of this timeframe. So clearly some things have changed. We’ve identified, okay, we want to further automate some of our internal processes. Everything we do in our companies is processed and systems driven. But so that was an outcome we identified, right? We define that outcome and then now we identify the strategic steps of what’s necessary to do it right. What do we need to do? And then also with that, prioritizing what steps to take first, right? Because once you identify the strategic steps, there’s a priority that exists that you need to take step one before step two.

Maybe it is you need to have somebody working on step five so that by the time you get there, it’s ready to land on, right? That’s part of thinking that through. And then also within that context, not only are you prioritizing the steps that are necessary to get there, but then you’re also identifying what ones are less essential or maybe they’re not less essential, but they can be delegated to somebody else. Right? Because again, if you’re going to do it all yourself, it’s going to just take you more time in speed of execution is critical in anything that you do, right? A lot of times people are master procrastinators and so, and again, I get it. If it’s just you, then it’s just you, right? I was talking with somebody the other day, probably a week ago, and they’re, I think they’re probably in their thirties and wanting to build their own business and they’re discussing about how much time they’re putting into it, right?

And I’m like, you know, dude, like for God’s sakes, you got to get realistic. You know, if you think that you’re going to build something special on, you know, 30, 40 hours a week, you’re kidding yourself, right? You’re delusional. You’ve read some crappy ass book that’s, you know, diluted you into thinking that you can put a little bit of work in and get a lot of reward, right? That violates the law of sowing and reaping, right? You’ve got to sow in order to reap, and sow again, you’ve got to be willing to put the work in. So maybe if it’s just you, you don’t have that immediate ability to delegate or maybe you don’t have the immediate resources to do, but most people that are listing you have the resources to do so. Once you’ve defined your outcome, you can also put a monetary value on that outcome, right?

And then with it, once you then identify the strategic steps you can delegate, the less essential. So you could even hire somebody part time. You could hire somebody contractually, you could do any number of things, make some type of economic swap with them to be able to get them to help by taking on those less essential. Now of course, within our companies, I have team members and employees, so I can delegate those tasks. So once I’ve identified the strategic steps, we then prioritize what are the order or sequencing those steps. And then we assign those responsibilities to various team members. Because again, because we have a team, we have systems, process outcomes. You know, oftentimes when we’re doing something like that, it’s involving two or three people that are collaborating and working together on various facets of it. So once you’ve done that and you’ve put that together, now you can establish the timelines and that’s the third element to it.

You have to establish the timelines that are associated with the accomplishment of these steps, right? And so that’s, you know, look, if you don’t have a timeframe put together on this thing, then you’re just peeing into the wind, right? Like, and the reason I say that is because you, you’ll kid yourself, right? Okay. If you don’t have it defined, like I need to get this done within one week, 30 days, 60 days, whatever it is. And again, I can’t tell you what that timeline is. You have to assess that based on a realistic assessment. But if you don’t put that timeline in there, then you’re going to lack accountability. And it’s twofold. One, in accountability with yourself, you know, you can BS yourself into having something on your list that’s not a defined outcome with the timeline. And then it just rolls from week to week to week.

And then like, Holy smokes, you look back in three months have gone by and you still haven’t got it done. And then especially all the more, when you’ve got other people involved where you’ve delegated some of the lesser essential or you know, items that you don’t have to do. If you don’t have a timeline on it, then you’re going to run into frustration because you’re not having the proper accountability with the other team members to have that done and have it deliverable. So whenever we’re doing it, I always with our team members, ask them, what’s your ETA for completion right now? And again, what that means is, you know, again, like here’s the steps that we need to take. You’re taking on those steps. And then I’m asking them because oftentimes they have other responsibilities within their workflow. And so I’m saying, you know, that’s a question for them as thinking individuals to be able to communicate.

You know, I can get this done in conjunction with my other workflow and have this done by, you know, Wednesday at noon and if I need it before then that’s when we enter into a dialogue. We’ll really, because of the other components of this, we need to have it by Tuesday. Are you able to make some changes in your schedule and accomplish that? Right? And so it becomes not just an authoritarian thing but a mutual agreement, right? Because now they’ve agreed to it that it’s reasonable. So, cause sometimes people will want to set a timeline that’s not reasonable, right? It’s like, here’s this giant stuff that’s gotta get done. I haven’t done, you know, by tomorrow at 9:00 AM and it’s already 4:00 PM today, right? It’s like, that’s not realistic and you’re just going to yield frustration for you and your team. So you’ve got to establish the timeline in do so where it’s going to be realistic.

And again, I would also say somewhat aggressive, right? Like you want to keep a measure of pressure on it. Don’t just something that could be taken in two days. Don’t give four days to do it, right? Make it tight for the two days. And that puts an accountability cause you gotta have accountability. The last thing is then now you are executing daily and that’s taking massive action, right? I mean that is really the key. If you spend all your time just thinking and pondering and planning and all like that without taking daily massive action every day, massive action moving forward on these initiatives is what’s required, right? And it’s like, you know, Hey look, it’s time for you to grow up and be a professional. Right? Okay, look, I don’t give a crap how you feel. If it’s a good day or a bad day or it’s an easy day or a hard day, a professional executes every day.

Right? And if you want to get professional type results, then you’ve got to operate like a professional. That’s just the truth, right? I mean, I think about looking at some of the writings- Jim Collins, good to great other books as well, that’s really inherent to it, right? You’ve got to make the March execute every single day. And that’s the deal now. Yeah, maybe you’re like sick and in bed with the flu or whatever. I get it, then you know, Hey, there’s an exception to that, but Hey, I’ve got a cold or I’ve got a headache and I had a rough day. You know that, that look, that doesn’t cut it, right? You’ve got to execute every single day. And then it’s like, you know what? You still have to execute even when there’s challenges.

Like, so what I do is I reset my mental frame. There’s some days that realistically you just don’t feel it, right? Can we all agree that that’s true? Like there’s days I wake up, I’m ready to just kick ass and take on the world. There’s other days for whatever reason, I wake up and I’m just not as emotionally in a peak state, right? And so what I have to do is then recognize that and then begin to work to put myself in a peak state. So that begins with what I’ve shared before. You know, entering into a daily routine where I’m focusing on the outcomes. I’m practicing gratitude, I’m praying, I’m reading the Bible inspirational material to infuse my mind with positive thoughts. And then I’m elevating my energy level through movement and action. And then even as I’m driving into work, man, I will have my tunes just cranked up.

People will pull up next to me at the light and think, man, this dude is psychotic, right? I’m pumped up, I’m hitting my chest. You know, it’s like all these things are engaging me to a higher level of energy. So that now when I walk in, my energy level is at a higher level of execution. I do the same thing even to in my office throughout the day. Like right. If it is at a place where I feel my energy is down, my executions down, I’ll take a stop in a moment, refocus my energies, you know, move around, go for a walk around the building, kind of do some exercise if you will, in in what that does is it reinvigorates you to keep executing. Cause again, if you don’t execute every day, you’re going to stall out the ability to accomplish the, the plans and the specific actions.

So now what does this all mean? Really? And this is just a normalcy of execution in practice of what you need to do in order to accomplish your, you know, your outcomes. But so now all the more when we’re in the middle of this Corona virus, again, a lot of times people are looking at these things in light of what’s going on for the year ahead. But now you’ve got to compress down your timelines. What I mean by that is you take and look at and define what your outcome needs to be for you and your team this week, right? And so again, we’ve moved into a whole new cadence for our team so that again, and there’s a whole new reporting metric to define the outcomes each week and then now with the same clarity, team members are identifying the strategic steps and again, we’re prioritizing what it is.

But again, it may be different workflow, right? Because of this Corona virus, it’s changed. Like normally, you know, we’re buying apartment complexes and moving forward with those acquisitions. And right now that’s a little bit on hold. We’re still looking at deals, but it’s not anywhere near like we were before because we’re still in an uncertain moment, right? And so we redefine our activities to then shift more greater focus to renovations, operations. And again, we already had processes and team members in place for those things. But again, we deploy additional resources to it because that’s the moment in time that we’re in and then we establish the timeline. Like I said, I would say that your timelines and or your outcomes are going to be better served in this environment by defining it in a weekly basis, right? Because quite frankly, things are changing right?

By the week, right? Again, depending on, you know, you may be a professional FA practice dentist or doctor, and so you’ve been closed or tele tele medicine visits, and now they’re reopening depending on the state where you’re in. Like we’re here in Florida and it’s phase one 25% open. So again, that means every week the outcomes are changing, right? So before you maybe had people working from home. Now this week we’re entering back into a certain percentage of your workforce coming in. It’s like all those things are subject to change. And so that’s where you’ve got to establish that timeline and I think you’re better served no doubt by going into a weekly mode. And then again, that daily execution, that’s critical. You’ve got a daily execute to ensure that you’re getting the outcomes you want. It’s, it’s a daily thing, right? You can’t say, Hey, I’m just going to go to the beach today.

When I was driving to the office, you know, realistically every parking slot, they opened the beaches on Monday here, and I live on the beach. And so every parking lot or spot on each street, there’s beach accesses on certain streets that they’re on our beach, every one of them. 9:00 AM I was doing a little work from home, leaving about nine o’clock to come to the office and every slot was already filled with cars, right? Cause everybody’s at the beach and it’s like this is the moment in time. Realistically, you need to be executing every day. Even if you’re at home and your team members at home, you could be working on items and things that are going to improve you to be able to be more strategically prepared as we move into the new environment. As this economy opens back up and it’s a new environment, it’s going to be, it’s not going back to the old, it’s a new environment.

And so with the new environment, you’re going to have to have made adjustments. And so now is the time to begin making those adjustments and coaching your team so that they’re prepared for change, that they’re in a cadence ready for it week by week, and that you’ve conditioned them to be able to see. It’s like, Hey bam, here we’re pivot. We’re move, pivot, move, pivot, move. Because you’re onto a weekly cadence and that’s really going to serve you far greater than just kind of fart and along until things where you open. And so I want to encourage you to really take a look at where you’re at. Take these steps. You know the specific actions that you need in order to succeed. Define your outcome, identify the strategic steps, establish your timelines, and then execute every single day with massive, massive action. Thanks for listening to another episode of the real estate preacher podcast. I hope today that you learned something that you can immediately apply in your life or business. Make sure that you check us out on iTunes or at therealestatepreacher.com for information. If you want to find out more about partnering together with me personally on real estate deals, including apartment complexes, go to the real estate preacher.com and click on the invest with Randy link. I look forward to talking with you personally. Have a blessed and victorious week four. This is the week God has ordained for you.