The Procrastination Bandwagon

I identify with what you wrote in many ways as I am sure a lot of people do. Time to jump off that wagon is right now, as all of us here are realizing!

When I read your post I read the quote a little differently:

"wake up stupid this really IS your life!"

Had a greater impact for me that way let me tell you!

Angela

Don't time pass you by.....the time you waste may cost you THOUSANDS, and the BEST deal you've ever come across. Only by getting out and applying the knowlege that we all have at our disposal can we truly gain our freedom. Until you have a burning desire to accomplish that goal....you might as well pack it in.....Your boat may have just sailed, and along with it....your freedom. FIGHT FOR THAT WHICH WE ALL DESERVE....FREEDOM...FINANCIAL AND OTHERWISE. Don't let yourself remain a slave to your debt.

Just Do It !!
Sam

Angela,
I think i like your version better, I'm glad im not the only one who's gotten "caught up" before. Thanks.

Thank you for the post. I know exactly what your saying, i shudder to think what kind of deals my procrastination has already cost me. I hope anyone else reading this can realize weather or not they are doing the same things and take action to not miss out on their freedom.

Has anyone else been guilty of this?...
I work a lot, and when i have time to spend with my family we will watch some of our favorite shows. The kids like american idol, my wife and i think Supernatural and Lie to Me are kinda cool. Im not saying that watching a show with the family isn't nice, but... it seems like there's something to watch every night. It's easy to plop your butt on the couch and not move for hours and wonder where the time went, especially when your already tired. If this sounds like you then realize how much valuable time your wasting and do something about it. The family can get along without me infront of the tube. I still spend time with them... board games, bedtime stories, and my baby girl just realized that kissed booboos heal faster. The time i spend with them is richer, and i have a lot more time for REI. I also figure i'll have tons of time to spend with them when i retire in a few years as a millionaire.

Whatever you do, don't loose site of what you do. Yes, i understand the pitfall of having a family and spending quality time with your children and other commitments, but whatever you do, DO NOT LOSE SITE OF YOUR REAL ESTATE INVESTING. I too get caught up on Americal Idol fever this season mainly because one of my good friend's daughter is on the show. Her name is Taylor Vaifanua. I haven't watched much TV lately unitl i got a phone calls and emails from friends and asked me if had seen Taylor. Having not watching much TV in the last few months caught me by surprise, and for the last few weeks, i've been clued to the TV on tuesday and wednesday. Her next appearance on Americal Idol will be March 3rd, 2009 for the top 12. Looking for to it!

By no mean i've neglected my real estate investing business because i haven't but the other nights of the week gives me plenty of time to do my real estate stuff. I don't want to go on and on, but the fact of the matter is, whatever we do, whther we are too busy working 40-60 hours per week, family obligation and other commitments, make sure you spend a few hours a day or two or three days a week for your business. We can be easily distracted from a lot of the stuff going on around us, but DO NOT LOSE SITE OF WHAT OUR GOALS ARE, and that is to be a successful real estate investor and become financially independent.

Lloyd

Whether we like to admit it or not, we've all done it at one time or another. I love Supernatural and Smallville. So what I do is record them, then on Saturday night after I've accomplished all my REI goals for the week. I watch the recordings as my reward. VCR's are great for that reason plus you sift right through all the commercials! I know it's easy to plop down in front of the t.v. after a long day of work. I work 9 1/2 hours four days a week and I'm exhausted some nights when I get home. But I put in my REI course or read my REI books instead of turning on the t.v. because I know I have to do it if I EVER want to achieve my goals. If you want change then you have to do things differently or you'll never achieve it. As for the whiners, try to change the conversation from the usual complaints. Share with them what you're learning in REI, take charge of the conversation, get them interested in it, maybe they need some kind of hope of a better life too. That's what I do when I come across a complainer. Your mindset is the most important thing to guard. It's SO easy to sit and agree, but it takes a strong mind to sway others to think like you do. Look at it like a challenge each day. I hope this helps!

God bless,

As long as you LET YOUR FRIENDS KNOW what you are doing! When they know you're confident about real estate for yourself, you never know what deals may come your way! If you pick up on subtle comments about "not happy with their landlord" or "can't afford the rent/mortgage," offer your help when you don't even know the details. Let them set up their situation for you, and you may set yourself up to help a friend and profit yourself, too!

I did not find my first deal through a realtor. It wasn't on the market. An uncle told me of a friend he knew who was selling a rental without a realtor, and we got a deal! (See Andrew's journal). Word of mouth is an awesome tool. Build bridges and networks through the people you know!

My family watches that show all the time. Good luck to your friend's daughter i'll be sure to watch that one, and good luck to you in your REI!

Elena,
What you said about them possibly needing hope is very true. For a while the economic downturn "as they like to call it" hit our town kinda hard. People are still afraid for their jobs. I don't share what i learned because of what might be said about it. But maybe some of them just need to feel like they have a little more control of their lives. I'll give it a try, thanks for the suggestion.

Thanks for the post, that sounds like some people I know. I think i'll have to strike up a conversation with some of them and see what happens.

I know what you guys are thinking "this guy procrastinates a lot!", and thats true or at least it was. I have a strong belief that it you want to change something you have to notice what your doing before you can change. So i guess this thread is just a way for me to identify some bad habits so i can change or get rid of them. Maybe someone else will read this and notice that they have the same bad habits and do something about it. I look for properties on the internet all the time, it's a great resourse. But the problem comes about when i see an ad, or a news headline, or get sent an e-mail, or some other thing gets my attention( i think sometimes i have A.D.D ). I do eventually get back to what i was doing but sometimes 30 minutes to an hour has gone by. If this happens twice i just lost a lot of time. So i recently implimented a little dicipline. Personal e-mails get checked once in the morning and once at night, e-mails pertaining to REI get checked ASAP and everything has its own seperate file. This has already helped me get a lot more done. As for ads and news while browsing, i cut out a picture of the house i want to live in, and a picture of my family and taped them to the top corners of my monitor. Now any time i start to get off track i see the things i want, and the things i love and they bring me back to the task at hand. It seems to be working for me, but i would love to hear some other tips or tricks to keep organized and on track.

Thanks Dave!

Rome wasn’t built in a day. Most seemingly instant successes are the result of repeated attempts after repeated failures. Most of those who succeed aren’t any brighter, more industrious, or more knowledgeable than you.
In short, you too can do real estate investing. Just remember real estate is a numbers game and you have to put in a lot of offers. Sometimes you have to make 15-25 offers to get one. That’s okay as long as you don’t give up before your deal comes through. Hang in there. Your deal will come if you’re sufficiently persistent. You must be absolutely clear on your goal.

This is a good post. I think that it is great that you have identified your time wasting behaviors and made changes. I also like that you have those pics. on your monitor. I would say to spend some time every day (even if it is a few minutes) reading a paragraph or two in the book, checking the postings of the day here. Catching up on the days new RE ads online. Keeping your interest up all the time will increase the knowledge we need and strengthen the belief systems that we can succeed in RE now.

Angela

It happens to us all. Word of advice though. don't let CBR get on your case, it is not pretty, I have been there. His words might hurt, but he does it because he cares. He doesn't get paid 1 penny to help people out, none of us do. We do it to help each other win, win, win,....Jan

Just wanted to vent to all wonderful DG family!
Last night I went to a friend's birthday party and started a gradual conversation about real estate. It was just unbelievable how many naysayers around the table about the real estate market! All they can say was it will not work, you need money to make money, no lenders will lend you any money without having a huge income and credit!!! I was astound by what I was hearing from the conversation. Not one person around the table had anything positive to say about the opportunity in the real estate market! I was so annoyed and wonder if these individuals are the type of people I want to mingle with in the future. Wished CBR and other mentors were around the table to prove naysayers wrong about the real estate market!
Thanks

"Stick to the fight when you're hardest hit"

Hmmmm ..... IGNORANCE IS BLISS!

WE all have experienced and will continue to experience this kind of thinking. I am just glad that WE have this forum, to come to for support. There are times when we feel alone. Mingle with your friends still, just do not have unrealistic expectations of them when it comes to the real estate market, they are just reacting to what they see in the news and are not exposed to the education we are getting from this site and each other. Cut them some slack and VENT to us anytime you need to!
I have read Matt's (CBR's) success story, in the early days he hid his RE materials when his friends came over to his house because he didn't want to listen to their negativity ... I wonder what they think of his success now?
Good friends are hard to find, I am sure that yours are positive about other things. You have new RE friends here!
Angela

What I do is keep a daily planner at all times. I fill it out at the beginning of each week and plan my week as close as possible. Every hour of ever day is planned, of course I may have to change things around but the basic idea is that my time is accounted for. Then in the evening if I have any 'free' time I spend it as I like because I've gotten all the business tasks out of the way. When I'm around others that have the 'recession' mentality I just explain to them what I've been doing in this market and they're astonished! Then the questions start to fly, so experience talks!

Thanks for listening.

hi guys,
Thanks for all the great posts. I haven't been on in a few days....not proctastinating....reading! Got Dean's new book, it's awsome. A lot of great contributions from people on this site. Really motivating, and so step by step, you can't help but get things done. I just got my own toll free number and now im working on my flyers and buisness cards! Wish me luck.