I am a big basketball fan, I watch every Los Angeles Lakers game, and the one thing that really stands out to me week after the season is that momentum can oftentimes win or lose a game. When a team can get the momentum on their side and stay motivated and consistent, they should always win the game. They only lose if the momentum shifts, real estate is no different.
Use of Momentum to Stay Motivated
Once you get the momentum, you need to stay motivated. When you start to experience success, the last thing you should do is take it easy, which is probably what you will want to do. It is a good idea to reward yourself for your success, but do that and come back focused.
Sometimes it is hard to get the momentum in your favor because you are not sure what activities will get it going. Momentum always starts with a single success and builds from there, and it should be able to build as your confidence goes up. You should feed off your accomplishments. Here are three sure-fire steps to get momentum in your real estate business.
Set Your Goal and Stick With Them
This needs to be a short-term goal that is challenging but realistic. The short term is thirty days or sixty days at most. An example would be to have a house under contract in the next thirty days.
Believe You Have Already Accomplished Your Goal
I cannot overstate the power of this. You will accomplish the goals you believe you can, or better yet, believe you already have accomplished. The concept is simple, but the implementation is challenging. If you have never done a deal how can you believe that you will have one in the next thirty days? There are several strategies for this, but something that I have used with a lot of success is affirmations.
Affirmations are statements that are repeated to you over and over until you believe them to be true. This works best when the statement is specific, personal, in the present tense, and positive. It is even more effective if the statement includes the goal as if you have accomplished it with the steps you took to get there. Here is an example of a statement that could be used to get a deal in the next thirty days:
I got this house under contract that will net me $30,000 within a thirty-day period by calling at least ten potential sellers every day from lists including, FSBOs, FRBOs, and foreclosures. Once you have structured a quality statement print it out and put it in your car and in the bathroom mirror. Say it out loud at least fifty times a day. There are entire books and home study courses teaching this stuff, and all of it works. I recommend studying the law of attraction and picking up one or two strategies that work for you.
Get Out There And Do It
Do ten times as much as you think you need to. If you think you need to knock on twenty doors a week or make ten calls a day, do that, but also send out mail, put up signs, call all potential referral sources and go to networking meetings. Focus all of your energy on accomplishing this one small goal.
To me, massive action means not watching any TV, not hanging out with friends, and not going out to eat. Massive action is working long and hard hours on productive activities. To me, massive action is doing what others are not willing to do. I know this is harsh, but it is temporary and could be necessary to get the momentum going. I like to compare this to flying a plane. The plane takes ninety percent of its energy to get off the ground but once it is in the air it stays consistent and gets results.
Maintain the Momentum
Once you accomplish your goal, set another one and do this process again. The momentum will build and once you have it you just need to maintain it. While you maintain the momentum you need to stay consistent with your activities.
I want to be clear that maintaining is not the same as massive action and you will not be working as hard, but if you feel the momentum start to slip, I suggest starting the process over again. It is really amazing how easy success comes when you get the momentum that you can build on. Keeping the momentum going will definitely give you the confidence to do more and accomplish the goals you set out to do in life. The pros at “Local Records Office” say, “Momentum is power and power is momentum”.
In the dictionary, “Momentum” is defined as “the quality of motion of a moving body, measured as a product of its mass and velocity”.