Real Estate Investment Tips and Strategies : How to Set Yourself Apart from the Competition
Soooo, I was in traffic court last Wednesday for running a stop sign and learned a couple very valuable lessons. If practiced, these nuggets of wisdom can set you apart from your competition with ease. But as Jim Rohn would say, “Most things in life are easy to do, but they are also easy not to do.”
Lesson # 1
As I entered the court room about 10 minutes early, I realized how many people were just twiddling their thumbs and staring at the wall with blank looks across their faces. After sitting down, I scanned the room to see if anyone was doing anything constructive. Out of about 45 people, one woman had a binder she was studying and I had Dan Kennedy’s No B. S. Business Success book, the current book we are reading for our book club. These people that have a reckless disregard for their time are the same people that complain day after day, week after week about how unlucky they are, how things never go their way, and that there’s never enough time in the day.
I was able to read for almost 45 minutes while sitting in court. It made me realize how much time people waste in life that could be spent to get ahead. But, I guess this makes sense after all. Less than 5% of people in court that day planned to spend their time constructively by bringing something to add value to themselves. That’s about the same percentage of people they say set goals and are successful and happy.
Value Your Time! Because if you don’t, no one will!
Next time your waiting at the car wash, getting your car serviced, at the DMV, or in traffic court, bring something to work on that will add value to your life. Bring a real estate investing book, a course, or just a notebook. When you have 30 minutes to an hour on your hands, this can be a great time to review your investment goals, write new ones, and do some business planning.
Lesson # 2
I was driving through a neighborhood to take a short cut to a local coffee shop that I frequent. There are a couple stop signs that I choose to ignore from time to time. I typically slow down a little bit but don’t come to a complete stop.
I must have thought I was in a hurry that day because I pretty much drove right through it and to my dismay, a cop was sitting right there staring at me. Before he could even turn on his lights, I started to slow down and pull off the road. I gathered my license, registration, and insurance card so that by the time he came to my window, I was ready to hand it over to him.
He asked me if I knew why he pulled me and I said, “Well, yes. I blatantly ran that stop sign and deserve a ticket for doing so.” My honestly almost shocked the cop as he told me that I was the first person all day to admit to my infraction. He ended up dropping my offense from running a stop sign to careless driving. He remembered me when I was called in front of the judge in court and mentioned this to him.
I walked out of court with no points and a discounted fine!
Honesty Pays!
By simply acknowledging what both myself and the cop already knew, I set myself apart from the crowd. Business ethics are mentioned throughout business books and courses but seldom followed. If you are honest with yourself, to other investors, contractors, buyers, and sellers, you will immediately set yourself apart from the competition. It’s that easy!
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Real Estate Investment Tips and Strategies : Not Enough Time in the Day
Category: Tips and Tricks
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I’m in traffic court all the time and I always bring something to read — the Wall Street Journal or a magazine usually. Some judges don’t like people reading newspapers in court by the way – I got yelled at once. I think it’s because it’s too big and obvious, and noisy (visually as well as sound) when you turn the page.
For traffic court lawyers at least, it can be a good networking opportunity. A chance to schmooze other lawyers, pick up tips, learn how the court works, or other courts in the area. Sometimes you make connections who send you work in the future or people who can cover for you in their area.
It doesn’t hurt to get to know the cops. Most of them are pretty good guys.
Wow! Honesty…what a concept. So may people have a problem doing what they say they are going to do when they say they are going to do it. I think honesty starts at home. By this I mean if people cannot be honest with themselves first, they are never going to be able to be honest with others. I wonder how many of the 95% of the people in the courthouse who were wasting time have told themselves they were going to manage their time better. For example they promised themselves they would use a planner, work from a list, compartmentalize and prioritize tasks, read a book, etc, etc, and end up justifying their failure to follow through with (insert convenient reason here). Want to improve accountability? Pick ONE thing you want to cahnge in your life and concentrate on doing that one thing for one month. Write your goal on scraps of paper and tape them to your fridge, bathroom mirror, car dashboard and anywhere else you will see it throughout your day. Then just do it…just do the thing you promised yourself you’d do. It sounds so simple, yet is so difficult in practice for most people. Want to change your life? You’ve just read step one.
Continued Success,
Wil
It is refreshing to read such a great post! Practical applications, with personal examples to back them up. Often times the “honest guys” seem to shoved to the wayside, but I am glad that honesty pays off every once in awhile.
Wil,
In reference to your suggestion to pick one thing to concentrate on improving, I read that recently in one of Brian Tracy’s books. I decided about 3 weeks ago to work on blocking my time to increase productivity. It’s going great so far.