So...What's Your Plan?
We've come so far together!
Let me give you a crash course on flying an airplane...not that I really know the mechanics of how to physically fly a plane but I got the concept of it.
Most planes are off course most of the time. Both technology and the pilots on task are responsible for keeping a plane on course, on time, and on point for its final destination.
Before you can take off, you have to know where you're going. Obvious, right?
Yet, why do so many people set goals and have no idea how they will get there?
Why do so many people set goals that are so entirely unrealistic...so much to the point that they psych themselves out before they can even get started?
Why are people so unwilling to do things for their future?
Okay, these are open-ended rhetorical questions, correct?
Maybe.
An obvious point is that you can't take off in an airplane without knowing your destination.
Even if you know that you're going to Chicago and nothing else...that's all you need to know to get yourself up in the air. You don't need to necessarily know what you are going to do the second you touch down. You don't need to really have your hotel picked out provided that you have some idea that there are hotels in the immediate area where you'll be staying. You don't have to know where you're going to eat while you're there. You don't really have to know much except some broad idea of where your destination will be.
Back to life in general...
Saying that you want "financial freedom" is equivalent to saying you want to take a vacation but you don't know where. Again, the plane can't take off until you have some idea of where you want to go first.
A better statement would be that you want to have "financial freedom through real estate."
A bit better but not perfect. This is almost equivalent to saying that you want to take a vacation somewhere in the southeast of the United States. Again, no specific destination means the plane can't leave.
Even better, you'd say that you want to have "financial freedom through passive income real estate via residential-commercial apartment building investments."
This is almost perfect...but not quite. This is equivalent to saying you want to take a trip to Florida but you don't have a city in mind yet. Again, the plane can't leave until you know exactly where you want to go.
To make it even more specific, you'd add that you want "to make a monthly net income of $10,000 like clockwork." Or whatever your financial freedom point or goal is.
Now we just created a flight plan. Now the plane can take off. This is equivalent to saying we are choosing to fly to Miami.
Of course, there is a lot of stuff to decide. Where to invest. Where to get the down payment. How to locate properties. All this stuff is equivalent to trying to plan the further details of your trip like what you are going to eat for each of your 3 meals each day you are there or where you are going to stay or what color your rent-a-car is going to be. These are details that can be worked out when you get there.
When people start stressing out over the details, they never get very far. They get overwhelmed and end up paralyzed. When they are paralyzed they do...nothing!
Life is like a dark road. The only pieces revealed to you are those that are a short distance ahead in which you headlines can light up for you. That's the only piece of the road you need.
The magical part of "making plans" is that your plan will never go off the way you originally intend. And this is awesome. Because a better plan reveals itself after you get off your ass and start progressing forward in some manner and in some direction. Any positive direction.
Case in point: One of my newer endeavors ended up being successful in a completely different realm than I could have ever planned. One of our most successful products was sold via direct mail. Yet it wasn't cost effective enough since postage is so high and printing costs are excessive.
The original "plan" was to sell this product via direct mail. We went forth with the plan. It worked but only marginally to where we ditched the campaign just to have something else happen after I "let go" of pushing the business forward.
Ronnie went into a gas station owned by an associate of his and the guy was complaining about a supplier for this one particular product (stocked in our warehouse) couldn't provide him with enough of the product since it was selling so fast.
The only "problem" was that the product we had in our warehouse was in bottles. I had to work on a means of individually packaging each supplement capsule for this type of retail sales.
A door automatically opened in our exact precise product line that we would have never "figured out" by thinking about it, toiling about it, worrying about it or even trying to plan it.
Even more strange, Ronnie is working the distribution network of this product in the greater Detroit area. Another gas station owner associate who said he'd buy the product from him once we launch our individually packaged line suddenly sold out his interest in the gas station and couldn't get our product in his store.
Since he likes Ronnie so much (who doesn't?) and he was getting out of the business, he gave Ronnie a list of all the major distribution warehouses he bought all his products for the store from including contact names and phone numbers. (When does that ever happen?) Again, this wouldn't be anything you'd ever "plan" in the process of moving forward with success.
Let's move forward, shall we?
Figuring out where you want to go needs to happen 2 ways:
1) In writing.
2) Visually.
Write down specific goals (like the one I used above with the $10,000 a month in passive real estate income from apartment buildings).
Then create a visual of these things.
I like the concept of a "vision board" because I know first-hand how powerful it is. Whenever I stopped using a vision board, I found that years would go by with no progress. When I would use my vision board, each year by the year's end, I'd have accomplished 99% of the stuff on the board.
Most of us are "visual" people. We respond to pictures. It ignites a feeling within us. So, get some pictures of all the stuff you want and start gluing it to a poster board. Hang the board up where you'll see it everyday. Make sure everything that's on your board is what you want because you will end up getting everything on your board within 18 months or less.
Now, it's not simply enough to have a list of stuff and a pile of pictures of everything you want in life. You have to go a step further.
Remember, God can't mail you a check from the clouds.
So, you have to have some kind of loose plan on how you're going to acquire your list of stuff you want.
Not to overwhelm you, we'll start with only 1 - 2 items. Usually the financial one is the most pressing. The other should be the "minor" one like a new relationship or something not as pressing.
Do not choose to go forward with 10 goals at one time otherwise you won't be focused and nothing will happen.
Focus on 1 - 2 goals with a loose action plan and nothing outrageous, physically impossible, or overwhelming. (I.e. "I'll have $10 million in property by December 31st of this year," or "Some old guy will die and leave me all of his apartment buildings and I'll meet him at a bus stop on Valentine's Day." You get the point, I hope!)
A loose plan may be something like, "I'll have 3 apartment buildings in the next 12 months that will give me a $7,500 monthly cash flow (net) and I'll be finding all of these properties in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. I'll begin looking for these properties online as well as finding a buyer's agent in that area to assist me with both acquisitions and foreclosure properties. I'm also going to work on my business credit as well as finding investor partners to assist with the down payment money."
Now, to seal the deal and make this all happen at lightning speed, I have something else.
And I'll tell you all about it tomorrow.
(I promise.)
;-)
See you at the top!
Your mentor,
Monica Main
www.MonicaMain.com
