Hi, Richard here – Happy New Year from The Property Lifeboat!
It’s traditional in January to have a look at our lives, health habits, wealth habits, businesses, relationships and reappraise them. Typically, this results in something referred to as ‘New Year’s Resolutions’. Remember them from January 2023? (ah hem…).
Anyway, moving rapidly onwards; at The Property Lifeboat we are also going through a refresh.
As business owners and investors with a lot of different interests, we find that a common theme to sustained success is establishing supportive habits. By this we mean supportive to business, family and life success – and by that we mean sustained success. It’s about achieving balance. Not specifically ‘work life balance’, which is not something that really clicks with us, but overall balance where every activity and interest supports the others.
So, are you looking for a reboot in 2024? Looking to increase your wealth and business success? Perhaps this is your year where you have decided to start a completely new business venture or ‘step up’ an existing one into the big league?
So, let’s get to it and share with you a few of our success habits for you to apply to your own lives in 2024. No ‘New Year Resolutions’ here, let’s call them ‘Whole Life Resolutions’, here goes:
- Total belief in your ability to succeed.
This is the top one for us. Cut the inner negative voice, cut the self-doubt. The clue is in the words, this is you doubting yourself, nobody else actually cares whether you can do it or not; they are not even looking at you – they are too busy worried about their own lives! So, let’s get that straight from the start. Stop sabotaging yourself. You don’t need that job. - Total commitment to success: 100%.
Wanting it is not enough, believing it’s possible is not enough. Both are a good start but on their own they just won’t cut it. You also have to be totally committed: 100% totally committed and willing to do whatever it takes to succeed. Nothing worth achieving is ever easy and it won’t come to you unless you apply yourself fully and are willing to make sacrifices to achieve what you have set as your target. - Willingness to accept failure and keep going.
When we are operating towards a big target in a new area or at the limits of (or beyond) our abilities, we can expect to make mistakes – lots of them. Not small, little, trivial mistakes but great catastrophic, big mistakes. Get used to this. Embrace failure. Fail fast and large. The bigger the better, because this means you are operating outside your comfort zone where you can grow. Albert Einstein famously once stated that throughout his life he had calculated that he had only been right about 67% of the time. So, here’s a newsflash everyone, the rest of us can expect to be right about 25-30% of the time! Also, reframe your failures into success. Thomas Eddison, when challenged on his repeated failure to invent the electric lightbulb, famous replied that he had actually been successful 10,000 times in working out how not to invent the lightbulb. If Einstein and Eddison had given up at their first failure, or not been able to reframe these failures as opportunities for growth, then they would have not got to their goal. So, be prepared to fail most of the time but get back up and try again until you are successful. - Avoid blame and the victim mentality.
Now that we have established that failure is not to be expected, but it is to be welcomed and accepted, then we can immediately stop that other bad habit that will hold you back: trying to find someone to blame. Here’s the thing, you and only you are both accountable and responsible for your life and its successes or failure. Period. Right, now we have got that straight we can tackle the other issue that goes hand in hand with blaming and that is playing the ‘victim’. People play the victim for only one reason and that is so that people feel sorry for them and allow them their failures. Stop both these bad habits as they will not empower you to be successful and reach your goals. - Aim big.
It’s not only OK to have big goals but it’s empowering. Wealthy and successful people play big in the big league. They don’t bother with the crumbs of life on other people’s tables. Don’t belittle yourself and the possibilities of your life by deliberately sticking to the little league. Choose to play big and play to win. - Have a clear vision or a ‘why’.
Finally, this one underpins virtually every other success habit. It’s been said in different ways by many different authors: most notably Steven Covey in his seminal text ‘Seven Habits….’ instructing us to simply ‘begin with the end in mind’. Others have referred to it as your ‘why?’. Basically, what they are saying is that you have to have a very clear and powerful reason for undertaking any challenging activity. The bigger and more visual you can make your ‘why?’ the better. Only this will see you through the dark times and keep you on the right path. If words don’t work for you then create a collage or ‘vision board’. In the property industry, we frequently talk to new investors and other business owners embarking on their journeys. One of the first things we ask is ‘What is your why?’. Why property, why not some other business or investment? It’s enlightening what we get back, but one thing is for certain ’Because some guy down the pub said it was a good idea’ isn’t going to cut it when the going gets tough.
So, there you have it, our favourite success habits to support you in any of your new – or existing – venture in 2024 and beyond. If you are starting a property venture and would like to connect with us, then get in touch to book an initial free 15 min consultation.
At The Property Lifeboat, we will always help and advise landlords and assist where we can.
If you would like some help with any of the subjects covered above or anything else relating to properties or lettings, please email admin@thepropertylifeboat.co.uk
