Motivational Monday Part 2 – Opposite Action

“Success isn’t always about greatness. It’s about consistency. Consistent hard work leads to success. Greatness will come.” Dwayne Johnson.

Real Estate is not always an easy job. Somedays it is downright exhausting. However, most things in life that are worth doing are a little hard. Granted, investing in self-storage is fun and so it does not feel hard. However, like anything, some days feel repetitive. That is because it is doing the basics over and over that will make you successful.

Success comes from hard work. This is true in sports; this is true in business, and this is definitely true in self-storage. If you thought that you could just decide to be a real estate investor and deals would start falling into your lap, you thought wrong. Being a successful self-storage real estate investor requires hard work. However, more importantly, it requires working hard in the right areas.

We have talked about how to work hard and what to focus on, but sometimes, it is just hard to convince yourself that you want to actually get up and get motivated. Have you ever had a really, really bad day? You didn’t want to get out of bed and just sitting and watching TV all day sounded really good. Just in case you have, or just in case you have ever gotten a little discouraged, we are going to talk about ways that you can self-motivate.

Have you ever heard of opposite action? Sometimes this is the only thing that can convince you to pick up the phone and start calling self-storage owners. Opposite action is a technique where you force yourself to do something that you do not want to do. When you do opposite action, you are able to overcome that slump, that blah feeling that keeps you from wanting to do anything.

When you are able to focus on some of the small things, you may find that they motivate you to do more than you thought you could. As you get into the rhythm of making those phone calls or doing the deep dive research on a self-storage property, you start to get excited by the possibility of having found an opportunity. Then the adrenaline and excitement of that possibility kick in and now you are off and running.

One way to force yourself to do it anyway, is to set up a routine that your mind and body expect. When they know that you are going to do the same thing every day at the same time, then they are ready to go at that time. Try it. You will be amazed at how your brain is already in that mode if you are talking to self-storage owners at the same time every day.

Finally, sometimes you just have to do it. There will be days that you do not want to, but you just have to do it anyway. You will find that as you get into the rhythm, it will be easier each day. Opposite action is not a be all end all cure, but when you are able to force yourself to do your plan of action every day, you will find that greatness is about consistency and you can be great! As always, Happy Investing.