I just got out of the bathtub* where I was reading Stephen Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change
Those of us who watched the lunar voyage of Apollo 11 were transfixed as we saw the first men walk on the moon and return to earth. Superlatives such as "fantastic" and "incredible" were inadequate to describe those eventful days. But to get there, those astronauts literally had to break out of the tremendous gravity pull of the earth. More energy was spent in the first few minutes of lift-off, in the first few miles of travel, than was used over the next several days to travel half a million miles…."Lift off" takes a tremendous effort, but once we break out of the gravity pull, our freedom takes on a whole new dimension.
It’s exactly the same with real estate newbies. The first few pages of your sophisticated investor binder, the first properties that go through the funnel, and your first offer seem like insurmountable goals once you’ve arrived on the pad called Quickstart and the training wheels are off. They’re still talking to you by radio, but you’re the guy with the controls. Successful REIN members seem like they’re playing golf on the surface of the moon, saying "it’s great out here! Come and have a beer!"
Guys like Don Campbell and Russell Westcott appear to be doing laps in and out of the solar system. However you feel, the strategy is the same.
Make sure the rocket is pointed in the right direction, your safety belt is fastened, the seat back and table tray is in the full, upright, and locked position…..and light the fuse.
* Yes, I read in the bathtub. It’s great; there are no distractions, I’m comfortable, and I only have to worry about running out of hot water or dropping the book in.
** The 7 Habits is required reading at my new job. We have a Tuesday morning book club for it, called "Covey and Coffee", which is brilliant. Everyone should do it.
