A very wise man once said (no, not me - Confucius actually!) - "Knowledge without action is no knowledge at all."
This is a saying that resonates very strongly with me. When potential students talk to me about my Property Development Formula mentoring program, they often ask how many people succeed or fail, and why.
Given that every student is different, it's something of a "how long is a piece of string?" question, but there are certainly some consistent themes. And of the most consistent traits I see in students that go on to become successful Property Developers is that they take action.
Sounds simple, right? "Just Do It" as Nike would say. But there's a bit more to it than that.
Taking Action Isn't Enough
I see a lot of students taking action and getting nowhere. Why? Because they're taking the wrong kind of action. Spending hours bouncing around all over sites like realestate.com.au looking for deals is a classic. You're looking at deals, so you're taking action, right?
Wrong. You need to Trust the Process and follow it step-by-step. You need to take action on the things that are going to move you closer to your goals, not just take up time looking busy.
In other words, you need to combine knowledge with action. Starting out, the action you need to take is to do the learning required to understand the process of becoming a Property Developer.
Then, once you have that knowledge, you need to use it to focus your action into productive tasks that keep you moving in the right direction. Focused action improves property development results.
Some of those tasks would include:
The list of tasks is obviously much longer than that, but when you Trust the Process and follow the necessary steps, direct, focussed action is easy. You already know what the next step in the development process is - you just have to take action and get it done.
Making Decisions
Part of taking action involves making decisions. These can be tiny decisions, or they can be massive - but they need to be made. And when you've done the work to gain the necessary knowledge, you should be able to make quick decisions leading to action. Procrastinators take note! Yes, I said QUICK decisions. Quick decisions help secure development opportunities.
Now, I'm sure there's a few of you jumping up and down in protest right now. "But Rob! If I make quick decisions won't I make more mistakes?" Not necessarily. As I said earlier, if you've built up the knowledge, quick decisions are much easier, because you don't have to spend time learning all the things you need to know in order to make the decisions.
As an example, the Property Development Formula teaches you how to become an Area Expert. It's much more efficient to look for deals in one area you know in great depth, than have to start from scratch learning everything about a new area when a deal crosses your radar. You can burn a lot of midnight oil and waste a lot of time doing the latter.
Something I often say is that you should make decisions quickly, then change your mind slowly. What this means is you need to monitor the outcome of your decision. You're going to see whether or not the action you took results in a good outcome or a bad outcome very, very fast. If it's a great outcome, then you just keep on doing it. If it's less than great, then correct that as quickly as you can without doubling back on your original decision. Tweak what you've done, as opposed to going back and doing it again.
Also, one of the reasons people procrastinate or struggle with analysis paralysis is because they're stuck on making the "right" decision. But no decision is in itself right or wrong - it just leads you in a certain direction. So if you get a little further down the road and realise that things aren't quite going how you planned, then guess what... You make another decision and change direction to get back on track. There are very few decisions in life that can't be altered, adjusted or even completely reversed. Yes, it might cost you some time and money, but most decision tweaks are only minor.
Take buying a potential development site, for example. Some people struggle to get to the starting line and make an offer, because it feels like such a big decision. But there's usually some way out if you really have to change that decision. It might be a cooling off period, a clause in the contract that allows you to back out, a due diligence period and more. You might have to pay some penalties, but that may still be a better decision than holding onto the development deal and losing a lot more.
And there's one other thing to remember about taking action. Whenever you're being overly indecisive and not making decisions or not taking action, then look at the opportunity cost. While you're procrastinating, someone else might take a deal from you. Or some other development opportunity will be lost because you didn't move forward and grab it. It may sound bizarre, but no action is actually an action in itself - and generally it's not a positive one. But consistent action leads to property development success.
The bottom line is that while it might be fun to have a story about the fish that got away, it's a much better (and more profitable!) story if you catch the fish.
This is a saying that resonates very strongly with me. When potential students talk to me about my Property Development Formula mentoring program, they often ask how many people succeed or fail, and why.
Given that every student is different, it's something of a "how long is a piece of string?" question, but there are certainly some consistent themes. And of the most consistent traits I see in students that go on to become successful Property Developers is that they take action.
Sounds simple, right? "Just Do It" as Nike would say. But there's a bit more to it than that.
Taking Action Isn't Enough
I see a lot of students taking action and getting nowhere. Why? Because they're taking the wrong kind of action. Spending hours bouncing around all over sites like realestate.com.au looking for deals is a classic. You're looking at deals, so you're taking action, right?
Wrong. You need to Trust the Process and follow it step-by-step. You need to take action on the things that are going to move you closer to your goals, not just take up time looking busy.
In other words, you need to combine knowledge with action. Starting out, the action you need to take is to do the learning required to understand the process of becoming a Property Developer.
Then, once you have that knowledge, you need to use it to focus your action into productive tasks that keep you moving in the right direction. Focused action improves property development results.
Some of those tasks would include:
- Area Research
- Suburb Analysis
- Finding Deals
- Rapid Elimination Method
- Running Deals
The list of tasks is obviously much longer than that, but when you Trust the Process and follow the necessary steps, direct, focussed action is easy. You already know what the next step in the development process is - you just have to take action and get it done.
Making Decisions
Part of taking action involves making decisions. These can be tiny decisions, or they can be massive - but they need to be made. And when you've done the work to gain the necessary knowledge, you should be able to make quick decisions leading to action. Procrastinators take note! Yes, I said QUICK decisions. Quick decisions help secure development opportunities.
Now, I'm sure there's a few of you jumping up and down in protest right now. "But Rob! If I make quick decisions won't I make more mistakes?" Not necessarily. As I said earlier, if you've built up the knowledge, quick decisions are much easier, because you don't have to spend time learning all the things you need to know in order to make the decisions.
As an example, the Property Development Formula teaches you how to become an Area Expert. It's much more efficient to look for deals in one area you know in great depth, than have to start from scratch learning everything about a new area when a deal crosses your radar. You can burn a lot of midnight oil and waste a lot of time doing the latter.Something I often say is that you should make decisions quickly, then change your mind slowly. What this means is you need to monitor the outcome of your decision. You're going to see whether or not the action you took results in a good outcome or a bad outcome very, very fast. If it's a great outcome, then you just keep on doing it. If it's less than great, then correct that as quickly as you can without doubling back on your original decision. Tweak what you've done, as opposed to going back and doing it again.
Also, one of the reasons people procrastinate or struggle with analysis paralysis is because they're stuck on making the "right" decision. But no decision is in itself right or wrong - it just leads you in a certain direction. So if you get a little further down the road and realise that things aren't quite going how you planned, then guess what... You make another decision and change direction to get back on track. There are very few decisions in life that can't be altered, adjusted or even completely reversed. Yes, it might cost you some time and money, but most decision tweaks are only minor.
Take buying a potential development site, for example. Some people struggle to get to the starting line and make an offer, because it feels like such a big decision. But there's usually some way out if you really have to change that decision. It might be a cooling off period, a clause in the contract that allows you to back out, a due diligence period and more. You might have to pay some penalties, but that may still be a better decision than holding onto the development deal and losing a lot more.
And there's one other thing to remember about taking action. Whenever you're being overly indecisive and not making decisions or not taking action, then look at the opportunity cost. While you're procrastinating, someone else might take a deal from you. Or some other development opportunity will be lost because you didn't move forward and grab it. It may sound bizarre, but no action is actually an action in itself - and generally it's not a positive one. But consistent action leads to property development success.
The bottom line is that while it might be fun to have a story about the fish that got away, it's a much better (and more profitable!) story if you catch the fish.
