Setting Goals and Being Excited About Them

If you are a frequent reader of BiggerPockets blogs, or a listener of the Podcast, you have likely heard a number of investors cite The One Thing as a book that has had a great influence on their success. While I haven't actually read the book in full, I'm familiar with the concept of intense focus on one task. I also have a subscription to GetAbstract - a website that breaks various business books into 5-page summaries. (A wonderful tool for professionals that don't want to get 25 pages into a book only to stop due to the book's irrelevance.)

I have twin girls aged 2.5. They go to preschool most days. But there are a handful of days where someone comes down with a fever or an ear ache and has to stay home. After all, preschools are just large petri dishes, right?

My wife is a criminal defense attorney, and has a very successful practice; as such, her calendar is packed. I graduated last year from UC Irvine, and took a job in public transportation as a consultant. I was fortunate to work from home and have very flexible hours to accommodate the days our two little ones were sick. 

The consulting firm was small and I worked directly with both partners - two old-world bus mechanics who had started a business based on their connections. They had no idea how to go get new business, and had zero interest in learning the "new" world of internet marketing - something that I do part-time for my wife's law firm. I stuck with them for 8 months, but work became infrequent and insufficient to continue being committed to their business. 

Long story-short, here I am. 

I'm fortunate enough to have the time available to commit to finding deals full-time. It's an exciting business and requires hustle to say the least. But (and it's a big, big BUT), the hustle isn't nearly as hard or intimidating if it's focus driven. 

I recently experienced The 10X Rule after listening to Grant Cardone on Podcast 108 (both of which I highly recommended). I say experienced because, 1, I listened to the audio book, and 2, simply reading or listening to that book isn't an appropriate description for what went on in my brain. 

Just yesterday, nearly 3 weeks after finishing The 10X Rule, I had a breakthrough and was able to set a goal. I heard another BP Podcast guest say that he wanted to have a net worth of $1 million. I thought, yeah that's a pretty solid number; good for him.

But $1,000,000 didn't excite me.

Now, I've never been a goal-setter I've accomplished some things; I'm a veteran, I'm a Dad to twins, and somehow I graduated from a fairly highly acclaimed Philosophy and Political Science program while having the reading comprehension skills of a bacteria. Not once have I begun an endeavor with a defined goal and an end date that I was excited to accomplish. 

$10,000,000 net worth in 10 years. That is exciting. That is a goal.

What are your goals?