(img: emily dowdle)
Over the years, we've questioned our understanding of "success."
Depending on the day the definition of "success" changes on us it seems.
Sometimes it's having the right properties, other days its having a good business and often, it's having time to spend with family.
When we boil it all down... Perhaps success, to us, is having the freedom to spend our time as we please.
It's a topic that fascinates us and we continue to explore this elusive idea of "success."
And as Tony Robbins' has famously said, "success leaves clues," and it's interesting that almost everyone we chat with that has achieved some level of personal success shares very common characteristics and habits.
We interviewed a long time mentor of ours, Rob Minton, for Rock Star Inner Circle VIP Members.
It was a great interview and Rob shared some amazing stories of building up his own personal financial freedom before the big real estate meltdown.
He went on to share how he survived those dark days with ease and made observations on those who didn't.
Rob also shared what he learned about himself during that time - it was extremely interesting.
We asked him to reflect on the things that he believes have had the largest impact on his own personal success.
And what he went on to share aligned extremely well with our thoughts and we've heard many others share these same items repeatedly.
Here's the summary of what it takes to create your own success, in our humble opinion...
Working on your mindset is often ignored because we're all running around with no time for anything.
You need to slow down sometimes in order to speed up.
Whenever we are achieving things, we've noticed it's because we're energized with the right type of thinking.
During the days and weeks where we're struggling, we've noticed that it's because we've let negative thinking creep into our days.
On our call together we discussed how Harv Eker has been quoted saying something along the lines of "your roots determine your fruits."
What you think about most effects your daily emotional state and your emotions affect what type of action you'll take on any given day.
Feed your mind great food and you're bound to do great things.
Sounds slightly crazy but we've found this to be 100% accurate.
To build the proper mindset we've found you need two things:
A) A morning ritual that includes some type of reflection. This can be visualization, journaling, meditation, dream boarding... Anything. Quiet time for yourself to relax and be with your own thoughts.
B) Food for your mind. This often takes the shape of books. On the call we discussed how impactful Harv Eker's books have been, Napoleon Hill's, Robert Kiyosaki's, the eMyth and a several others.
Rob mentioned that his first big business breakthrough was realizing the power of systems that delivered reliable results.
In business, this can be systems that deliver customers.
In real estate, this can be systems that deliver good tenants and properties.
In fitness, this can be systems for weight loss and muscle gain.
It's interesting how easy it is getting caught up in the day-to-day grind of making a living that very few people take the time to step back and analyze if the system they are implementing for their life has them on the path they truly want to be on.
Creating the right systems for our own lives is something we're not perfect at but it's something we are consciously aware of at all times.
Sometimes we're asked how we got the confidence to quit our jobs. Part of that answer is that we felt we had a system to deliver customers to our new business.
Who you hang around with matters.
Rob mentioned that over the last few years he disconnected from many mastermind groups that he was a part of.
Looking back he realized how impactful it was to hang around people who were accomplishing things.
We've noticed that when you hang around people doing great things you somehow absorb their confidence and your own mentality of what is possible changes.
Every single time we complain about travelling to some far off city to spend a few days at a mastermind or a conference of some type we end up coming home wondering why we don't do it more often.
Perhaps Jim Rohn has the best quote on this,
"You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with."
This one isn't discussed much but it's important.
Rob mentioned one of the reasons he survived so well through one of the largest real estate collapses in U.S. history, is that he and his family were living below their means.
From watching him closely during those years - we noticed it.
Rob never went out and bought the fancy car or took extravagant vacations or bought the big mansion or moved into the expensive neighbourhood.
He enjoys his live (and he's not exactly suffering by any means) but he's always been financially disciplined.
In Canada, right now, as investors, we can all learn from this.
It's easy to get caught up in easy access to credit lines and never-ending equity growth as means to spend silly.
Let this be a reminder. The economic and real estate cycles throw curve balls at us all. Prepare your financial world for it when times are good.
And there you have it...
Mindset, Systems, Peers and Money.
There may not be much more to creating any type of success you want.
Create your own morning routine.
Analyze the systems you are using to run your life.
Rid yourself of negative people and add in some positive ones.
Save some money.
And have some fun!
Hope you find that useful and until next time ... Your Life! Your Terms!
Hey guys,
Great article, as usual. And so true about your advice about your peers and who you hang around with. A few months ago I went out for lunch with a fellow who owns 41 properties. 41! When you see people actually accomplishing these types of things, it really makes you aware of what is possible for yourself. See you at the member event, looking forward to it!
great post! Would be nice to have Rob attend a future rock star meeting! 🙂
creation of a morning routine is exactly what I've been struggling with for a long time and working on it right now.
for me this needs to be cover spiritual aspects of life and non-tangible sectirs of life as well as body and family My purpose and reason for being here.
As I write this I realize no wonder it's taking quite an effort because it is a monumental undertaking.
I would like your comment on Harry Dent ,who has written several books and follows demographics. And who is of the opinion that the next slaughter of the asset class is going to be stocks and property.
I just finished reading the book "Morning Miracle" - fantastic read that gives a step by step ritual you can follow each morning to start your day. All of which is already outlined above.