Life After Covid-19 - How to Set Yourself Up for Success in the Last Half of the Year

So many small business owners are struggling now, and that’s certainly true for real estate investors. It’s almost as if they are frozen in time.  Do I buy, or do I wait?  There is no easy answer.  Today I have put together a few tips on how to set yourself up for success in the last half of this year.

You may be wondering exactly how do you get back on track after Covid-19 (or any other life event for that matter) that derails the goals and the plan you laid out for your business at the beginning of the year?  I mean, who could have predicted we would be in this situation on January 1st of this year?  If you are struggling, if you’ve lost your focus, or you just need someone to point you in the right direction, you’re in the right place.

We All Crave Success

It’s human nature for us to want to be successful at everything we do in business and in life.  Even though you may have some setbacks along the way, if you prepare yourself for the road ahead and really visualize what you want to accomplish, then the only person standing in your way of success is you.  Ultimately, it’s up to you to set yourself up for success.

Know this; there’s no magic potion or secret formula for success. Even business-people or celebrities who seem to be overnight sensations worked hard for many years before reaching their level of success. The goals you set and the processes you put in place to make those goals a reality are two very big parts of this puzzle, but first, you have to get started. 

Work through the process, pivot along the way as needed, and you WILL set yourself up for success both in business and in life.

Getting Started

It’s almost certain that business as we knew it before Covid-19 has changed dramatically for a lot of folks.  People are working from home that has never done that before.  Simple things we used to take for granted like strolling through the office supply store or looking at occupied properties haven’t been possible in many cases. A lot of investors are struggling when it comes to their business. However, there are also a lot of people that are doing better than ever. They pivoted, they made changes in the face of uncertainty and started to do things differently and that has made a huge difference for them.  

I have put together 3 steps for setting yourself up for success in your business in the last half of this year.

Step 1. Create New Goals

Even though you may be thinking, “I already did this a few months ago and it sounds like a lot of work”, you need to ask yourself how you “intend” to finish out the last half of this year.  Creating these new goals takes you off the hook for your original goals. Now, make no mistake, I’m not saying to completely abandon the original goals you set for this year. I’m just saying that rather than living in this state of overwhelm, you may need a new plan that puts you back on track so that you can accomplish your original goals or pivot and make changes as needed.

Once your big goals are broken down into smaller goals, they’re not so overwhelming. This may mean putting together a plan to achieve your goals in a shorter period of time.  If that’s the case, maybe your need to increase your marketing so you can bring in more leads in your real estate investing business. Or it could mean that you need to simply set more realistic yet attainable goals for the last half of the year. At the end of the day, this is something only you can decide.

The 12 Week Year

If you’ve been around me for any length of time, you’ll know I love the book “The 12 Week Year” by Brian Moran. The premise of this book is that by taking your big goals and breaking them down into 12-week segments, they will be less overwhelming and easier to accomplish.  (I’ll put a link at the bottom of this article so you can check out my original book review).

Instead of looking at those giant goals, you made like “double the number of deals I did last year” or “double the amount of net income in my business in the next 12 months”, break that big goal down into something smaller that is easier to accomplish.  For example, if your goal was to do 12 deals this year, how many deals would that normally be in each 12 week period?  The answer is of course 3 deals.

Since we have less time left in this year, ask yourself this; how many deals do I need to do in each of these remaining 2 quarters to catch up?  Next, what do I need to accomplish each month?  Break the tasks down so that you know what you need to do each week to meet your goals.  Your small goals should guide you toward your next action steps so that you ultimately reach your big goals.

Step 2. Decide Who You Need to Become

This is a big one. Much like identifying your ideal client which in your case would be the group of motivated sellers you target in your business, put into words the type of person YOU want to become. Even better, who is the person you need to become to accomplish your big goals? Once you have that answer then identify what that type of person does differently than you.

For instance, let’s say that you want to run a multiple 6 or 7 figure real estates investing business. What are some habits and behaviors that other investors that have built those businesses have? Do they get up earlier?  Do they have a morning routine that they are committed to? How did they get to be the CEO of their business?  If your goal is to build this same business, you need to think and act like them. You certainly don’t need to copy exactly what these people are doing, but you’ll need to add some behaviors and habits to your routine that put you on the path to becoming that person. These people definitely have different habits and behaviors than other people.

Step 3. Create Processes to Set Yourself up for Success

The processes you create to reach your goals are much more important than the actual goal itself when it comes to accomplishing the goals. While the goal keeps you focused on a direction, the process is all the action necessary to achieve that goal. I want you to take a look at your business as it is today.  What processes do you have in place today that will help you move closer to your goals? If you’re like most small business people, creating processes are often an afterthought rather than something you do proactively.  Processes are one way to make your life easier and they help you set yourself up for success at the same time.

Be Mindful of How You Spend Your Time

You must know how you’re spending the hours in your day before you can make changes. In the beginning, you might consider following a checklist for your daily tasks with a time limit for each task. This will help you get your focus back. For instance, start with a morning routine. Those are the steps you take to start your day each day.  This morning routine will look different for everyone.  I’m a big fan of Hal Elrod’s book “The Miracle Morning”, but I know myself and I’m not getting up at 4:00 am each day. Figure out what your morning ritual or routine looks like and commit to starting each day the same way.  We’re creating habits here.  Once you figure out a productive way to start your morning, managing the rest of your day will get easier.  Focus on one thing at a time.

What do You Need to Stop Doing to Set Yourself up for Success?

Maybe you need to ask yourself this question before moving on. What do you need to STOP doing?  Maybe that is turning on the news the first thing in the morning to listen to as you get ready for your day.  Let’s be honest; how many times have you stopped for just a minute to watch something on the news and realized that the one minute segment turns into 30 minutes in front of the TV?

Maybe it’s something like checking email the first thing in the morning that derails your entire morning.  Instead of checking email the first thing in the morning, allow yourself 10–15 minutes to check and respond to emails at a set time of the day, then sign out of email for a few hours.

Time blocking works really well when you need to focus on one task or one client for a certain amount of time. One example is to set aside time to tackle your marketing.  Next, set aside time for the next thing that really needs to get done. Remember, you’re trying to get your focus back and get your business back on track.

Some people like short bursts of work, but I much prefer 90 minutes to 2 hours of focused time on a big project before I take a break. Someone once said that once a task is interrupted, it can take up to 40 minutes to get back on track.  Interruptions have a huge impact on your productivity.  The point here is to figure out something realistic that will work for you. Set a timer then get to work. 

Refine Your Processes

If you feel like your processes aren’t working, focus on improving the processes instead of changing the goals. Maybe you need to add or subtract a step or two or add more time to complete certain tasks. Your goal can be static, but your processes are meant to be more fluid and open to change.

Every single living, breathing person has the opportunity to create the business of their dreams with these simple steps. I can guarantee you the road won’t always be easy and everyone will have a different timeline for reaching that success. It’s Covid-19 this year that has had a huge impact on our businesses; it will almost certainly be something different in the future. But with focused, hard work and a desire to succeed, you’ll soon recognize opportunities as they arise that will move you toward your ultimate goals.

More on “The 12 Week Year”

To learn more about the principles behind the 12 Week Year and why you should implement them in your business now more than ever, you can check out the book review I did here on the blog.  JUST CLICK HERE.  It will change the course of your business.

 

I hope this show helps you to set a new direction for your business in the last half of this year. It is definitely still possible to reach your goals. Pick up a copy of my “Marketing Plan Template” over on the Louisville Gals Real Estate Blog.