The Guts to Decide

September 13, 2009 by admin
Filed under: Foreclosures, REO's & Short Sales

The Guts to Decide

I do some of my best writing at odd hours of the day or night. Sometimes I write these articles when I can’t sleep at 1:00 am and sometimes I have to actually plan to write them so that they get done. In my particular case, writing is one of those things that sometimes comes very easily but at other times, I have to almost force myself to get started. Once I get into the first few lines, I usually find my groove and knock out the entire article in one session. But isn’t that how much of life can be, especially when it comes to things that aren’t necessarily required but might be important to us regardless. Some of us may have a desire to push forward with an idea to grow or start a business, a plan to drop ten or fifteen pounds (or more) complete reading a book that we’ve been putting off or even start writing a book of our own. It’s funny how we can think about a particular topic or even talk about it to others but little or no action occurs even after years of thought patterns like this.

The reason is that there is actually a small step that has to occur before the action itself and that is the actual decision of whether or not to do it. For many, this decision doesn’t happen because we are forever weighing the pros and the cons or letting that small voice continually show us the negative side of why it wouldn’t be a profitable venture or why it wouldn’t make sense at this particular time or how we will do it or get to it once we finish something else. Hey, I’ve been there. I get it. But I also have learned to identify this series of thoughts for what it is and it’s usually nothing more than good old fashioned fear with a touch of procrastination thrown in for good measure. Some people refer to it as “thinking it through” or some other phrase that makes it seem as if this is such a momentous decision that weeks or months or even years of thought are required before finally giving it the thumbs up. But as you sit there waiting for the perfect moment, remember that many before you have started businesses, lost weight, written books or done whatever it is you may be pondering. You are not the first nor will you be the last so you might as well get going with it!

I try not to be categorized as a motivator but I would guess that some of you may put me into that realm. I won’t argue with the fact that some of what I talk about may motivate a person to get up out of their seat (or at least that’s what the testimonials on my website http://www.riversofincome.com/ seem to indicate), but I would rather be known as the guy who just plain out gets it…you know, the guy who understands why we all, including myself, do the things we do and I’m just pointing it out so that we don’t lose touch with reality. Because reality ain’t going anywhere and neither will we unless we meet it head on. So here’s your assignment, make a decision today. Big, small, mid-sized, super sized, whatever size decision you want to make is fine with me (other than what to have for lunch). If it’s something you’ve been playing around with in your mind for a while, decide today and don’t look back. Just say yes or no and leave it at that. If the answer is yes, then just start making more decisions right after that, in fact, go out and make a mess if you want, I dare you. Go out and even make a few “wrong” decisions and then come to the realization that it wasn’t necessarily a “wrong” decision, just a chance to refine the direction you are going. Hey, I just made a decision myself…….I’m done with this article. Adios!

Communication is the Key

When someone asks me what I do for a living, I simply say that I am a communicator. I communicate through a variety of different means including the telephone with homeowners, through face to face conversations with students in my mentorship program, through conversations in a group setting at my seminars and even to all of you through the written word - my blogs and articles being an example of this. Yes, I am in the business of real estate as an investor and also in the business of marketing myself and my properties but more importantly, I am in the business of talking with other people and talking to myself. Yes, we actually communicate with ourselves (more on that in a minute).

How well I communicate with myself and with others has a big impact on everything from the money I make to my personal peace of mind to even the value of my time. I don’t want to get too deep on you here with this article but this is what goes through my mind on a daily basis before I make any key decisions. The way in which I communicate to myself determines whether or not I actually complete (or even start) the dreams that are in my mind. See, I can take the thoughts that I have and daydream for part of an afternoon or I can take those same thoughts, put them on paper, put a timeline for achieving them and then physically bring them to reality. To me, there is no greater thrill than that. To look back at something that you’ve done that at one time was a mere thought is a lot of fun. At one time, this particular article was a bunch of interrelated thoughts that I had during the better part of this morning. So I sat down and created some organization to those thoughts and I’m now bringing it to light and putting them on paper. This short article may also lead to a series of other articles, which in turn may lead to an ebook, which in turn could lead to an entire seminar.

You see, I currently mentor students in the area of short sales. However, once you understand the short sales process and most of the details that go along with it, the process has very little to do with knowing more and more about short sales. Instead, the process is now about replicating it over and over which will consistently lead to more checks. But to replicate the process, it has more to do with communicating with a variety of different people involved in the process and little to do with how much you know about short sales or foreclosures. When I say communicating with various people, I mean communicating effectively, not just picking up the phone and checking off a phone call like it was nothing more than just something on a list of things to get done. What I’m talking about is more like the pre-thought that comes before the call, determining what you want your outcome of the call to be, thinking what steps you must do to achieve that outcome and then finally executing it. “But Dave, I know all about how to do that…I’m pretty good on the phone already,” you might say. Well, if that’s the case, why haven’t you ever approached a phone call with me in that manner? Believe me when I tell you, I can sense when someone has thought out what they are explaining to me and when they haven’t. Honestly, I can only think of a few times when I knew the other person on the end of the line had called me with a pre-planned agenda and I respected that person for it. Real recognizes real.

I’ve come to the conclusion that most people already think they are good communicators and for that reason, they often ignore how important it really is in getting the job done. Personally, I am always working at getting better at the communication aspect of the business because I don’t consider myself an unbelievable communicator yet. I still believe that I am a work in progress. However, what does that say for someone who believes they’ve already gotten this part of it down cold when in reality they haven’t really even started? You can bring a horse to water but you can’t make them drink it. But what if the horse actually believes it’s already tasted the water when in reality it was their own sweat they were tasting, not the real thing? It may mean that I am going to have a tough job ahead of me as far as the mentoring goes, right? And that’s why my next step in breaking down the short sale process will be to teach the art of communication to the best of my ability.

So what does it take to teach the art of communication? It involves a few words like salesmanship, tone, persuasion and influence. First I need humble individuals who know that they lack greatly in these areas. It’s okay even if you can’t talk yourself out of a wet paper bag. As long as you know that going into it, it’s a starting point. Also, we need to get into your current belief systems and what it is you believe about yourself and the world around you…you may just find out that (gasp!) YOU are the reason for your own success or lack of it. You may get to the point where you actually have to look in the mirror and take accountability for your own situation. This may be one of the toughest things we have to do. It’s something that is tough for me to do…but I do it. Realize that it’s ME that is the problem. Not the marketing or the market or the general public or the news or anything. It’s how I’ve responded to and handled the situation at hand.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. This subject goes on and to be honest, I’ve already create the pieces to a new seminar and have earmarked the individuals who can make it a reality for me. The question that I have for you….yes, YOU, is whether or not this topic is of interest to YOU. In other words, does it ring true that what I’ve just touched on in this article is the missing piece to your particular business….whether real estate or something totally different. Am I making sense or am I just out of my mind? Or is it both? Maybe I’m way off base. It’s okay, I have a thick skin and I can handle the truth. But make sure you present a persuasive argument as to why this topic is not the number one reason why most people fail. Hit me with some feedback and let me know if this topic is of interest to you. Maybe one day I’ll take it out of my mind and bring it to a theatre near you. Until then, signing off, your friend The Diamond (or Diamante) in Espanol. It’s Your World, Your Way!

real estate investor mentor

Share and Enjoy: