The old children’s tale about the tortoise and the hare can be used in so many different ways to provide life lessons. In the investing and business world, it’s no different. There are no get rich quick schemes. Slow and steady wins the race, especially for us full time military members who have a full time job and often are asked to be on call, 24-7.
Darren Hardy’s book, The Compound Effect, provides a very helpful formula that I use in almost everything I do:
Small, Smart Choices + Consistency + Time = RADICAL DIFFERENCE
It may take months, or in some cases years to get the results, but there are so many success stories attributed to following this simple formula. The challenge in today’s society is that it doesn’t bring instant gratification, which is what most seek to find. Yes, it’s hard, but again…the tortoise wins every time.
A tool that I’ve found to be incredibly helpful to keep me on track is also found in Darren Hardy’s book. He calls it The Weekly Rhythm Register. The idea behind the tool is to take a goal, break it down into small actionable steps, and outline it onto a weekly tracking system that you can monitor. In military terms, it’s your personal Plan of the Week.
Here’s an example:
GOAL: “I want to read 6 non-fiction books this year”.
Average number of pages per book: 200
Total pages: 1,200
Total number of weekdays in a year: 260
Total pages you need to read a night (Mon-Fri): 5 (1200/260=4.6)
Actionable step: Read 5 pages a day, per week, in order to meet your goal.
It’s that easy. And it can be done with any goal you set for yourself. Do you want to own rental properties that will have positive cash flow? What’s the average price of a rental home in the market you are looking for? How much cash do you need for a down payment? How much money do you need to save per day, per week, per month to get you there? Break it down, then take action.
Small, smart choices + consistency + time = SUCCESS
My challenge to everyone reading this is when you create your 2017 goals, create your Plan of The Week as well. Hopefully it will help you, like it has me, to track and monitor the small steps that will help you reach the goals you’ve set for yourself. Oh, and if you haven’t read The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy, add that to your 2017 reading list.
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Written by Stuart Grazier