Can making your bed first thing every morning really make you a better real estate investor?
According to the author of The Four Hour Work Week, Tim Ferriss, making his bed every morning gives him an edge. So what does this have to do with being a better business professional? What other daily habits can help you get more of what you want in real estate?
Make Your Bed
Tim Ferriss, along with several other notable leaders, swears by the advantage he gets by making his bed every morning. It’s also one of the first things all members of the military learn to do, and are constantly monitored on. So why is it so important?
Making this the first thing he does every morning is one of five daily morning rituals Ferriss contributes to his success. He says it isn’t about making it pretty, but has several powerful mental benefits. First, it delivers a small victory to kick off each day. Second, it helps fuel focus and organization throughout the day.
Morning Success Rituals
Tim Ferriss’ other morning success rituals include:
- Tea with coconut oil
- Hanging to decompress the spine
- Journaling
- Meditation
These things take time. Some real estate pros don’t feel they have the time. Yet, all the data shows that exercise, in particular, actually boost productivity and performance throughout the rest of the day. It is like investing, with compound interest gains.
Maybe meditation and tea aren’t your thing. May be you don’t even do mornings at all. Regardless, find some routines to set your day up for success. It might be walking or running, checking a couple of your favorite real estate blogs, or something else. Just find what works for you. This is your opportunity to hone your focus, mentally prepare for the day, and own the outcome.
Important Daily Scheduling Items for Real Estate Pros
Mastering your day isn’t just about what you do first thing in the morning. It is about scheduling success in advance by committing to the items that are most important. If you rely on what’s in your email inbox or voicemail each morning to dictate your day, you are letting others that don’t particularly care about your success run your schedule. That’s a recipe for disaster. So what should be on your schedule no matter what?
Marketing is something that needs to happen every day. If you aren’t marketing daily, you are going to end up with big holes in your real estate deal pipeline. That means holes in your income too. There will always big issues with deals in process. There will always be ‘emergencies’ in the process. You’ll overcome them, but you can’t let them drag down all of the income. Many may find the best way to tackle this is to start with proactive marketing every day, even before checking on the status of anything else. This might be writing a new real estate blog post, hitting the post office to drop off some direct mailers, sending a new email campaign, or making 10 cold calls to keep in top sales shape.
A big part of sustaining and growing your businesses is new connections. Your success in real estate is directly related to how many new connections you make every day. This is often lumped in with general real estate marketing, but deserves its own time slot. Are you taking time each day to meet new people and trade contact details? May you can squeeze this is by multitasking over lunch or dinner?
Don’t ignore time to think either. If you want to get to the next level, it takes thought, strategy, and planning. This is some of the most profitable time you can ever spend, and far trumps the results of most busy work. If it isn’t on your schedule it is too easy to go months without spending time on this.
Don’t forget to take time to do something you enjoy, and to spend some true quality time with friends and family. What’s the point of making all the money, and having scheduling freedom, if you don’t enjoy it?
