Foundational Thinking

This is something that most people miss.  In all walks of life.  In all areas of expertise.  In all sales environments.  In our North American School Systems.  In most Real Estate Offices for sure.

All of us do this instinctively….We just want to start.  We fall into things sometimes and just kind of keep going down that path until we are in a rut and then it starts to carve deeper and then it’s a ditch and then its like a cavern that we can’t get out of.  We had no idea why we started in the first place.  It gets hard to change paths or climb our way out of that type of “programming”.  We fight against it.  A lot of us do.

Then we hear about someone who will change that, we get so focussed on the supposed outcome.  Getting pulled out of the ditch.  We want the secret sauce and then get to it.  Just give it to me.  Give me the blue pill.  Give me the magical thing that will make it easier for me…..Make it easier….I don’t want to have to change.  I don’t want to learn new things.  I don’t want to have to improve myself.  I don’t want to think about these things.  I am stuck in this deep cavern of thinking and built up habitual behaviours, attitudes and mindset…. Please just throw down the rope ladder and get me out of this…ust get it to me.  Throw it please!!!

We are looking for the next step.  What is the next step?  What do I do now?  Get an injection of information for that moment then try to apply it.  It may work that time.  It may not.  Either we achieve something from that action, or we don’t.  Then we are left scratching our heads wondering what to do and then we either begin to figure things out or we allow frustration to set in and that will either hold us back or cause us pause.

Our minds naturally go into this mode, when we are embarking on something new…

First are the WHATS…

What are the tools you need?  What strategy do I need to employ?  What is the next step?  What do I do with this widget?  What are the right forms?  What are the rules of engagement?  What are the costs? What is my goal?  What is my opportunity?  What is the minimum monthly amount of money I need to survive?

After that the WHO?

Who is here to help me get started?  Who is the boss?  Who is the big dog?  Who is governing me and enforcing the rules?  Who do I need to speak to, to get what I need?  Who am I going to serve or help?  Who should I be careful of ticking off?  Who is my customer or client?  Who do I compare myself to? Who is the person that will help me the most?  Who intimidates me?

Then the HOWs?  

How do I approach a challenge taking into account all parties that are involved?  How do I talk to people?  How do I learn what I need to know to get started as fast as possible?  How do I get started?  How do I fill out these forms?  How do I do a contract?  How do I structure my day?  How do I keep myself motivated?  How am I going to pay for all of this?  How much money do I have to get me through this until I get paid?  How am I going to survive?  How do I trim down monthly costs to get through this?  How do I find a buyer?  How do I meet a seller?  How do I get to know people?  How do I do a listing meeting, an open house, make appointments for showings….?

Somebody please tell me how and I will go and do it.  I need to get to this now.

I totally remember this.  I remember what it feels like.  We have built up this impatience from the way our society functions now.  Everyone wants everything now.  Everyone wants their burger in two minutes….If I want to know something I google it and thousands of answers or suggestions suddenly appear in seconds.

I am declaring that we need to just hold on for a second…..

What about the WHY?

Let’s talk about this.  This is where foundational thinking has to take place.

Ask this question. WHY?  You know my daughter who was always an excellent communicator.  Even as a baby for some reason we always just knew what she needed.  She would make a sound of some sort and we knew – it was either “change a diaper” – “eat some food” – or “she wanted to be held or was tired” and we just knew.  As she got a little older, she actually was talking at 10 months and communicating with us very intelligently in full sentences.  I remember watching her one time in a setting where we were sitting with a bunch of people in a living room having a visit and she was sitting on Nicole’s lap and looking around at everyone and  -she must have been about 8 months old – she was moving her mouth mimicking everyone.  I had never seen a baby do that.  Anyway as she got a couple years older….she began to ask me……Why Daddy?  I would tell her we were going somewhere in the car, and she would ask WHY.  We would tell her she needed to finish her plate or eat her vegetables and she would ask WHY.  I would tell her it is bed time and she would ask why.  I would read the same book to her over and over again and then say that I can only read it one more time….She would ask WHY.  She would ask WHY every single time.  Over and Over again.  Why  – why  – why.

Even though it was coming from a curious child, I remember thinking to myself….you know….every time she asks the question no matter how trivial it is … I do start to actually think about ….Why.  My mind instinctively began attempting to give her an appropriate answer.  Even though this is a 3 year old asking me WHY about some trivial thing….I mentally went into a mode of thinking about the answer.

“Because I said so” is never a good answer by the way….Parents.  I think I may have said that a couple of times but its not a good answer.  I truly believe that if your children understand the impact of their decisions, they will be better decision makers.  When you discipline or enforce some sort of rule, then it is only fair that they know WHY.  IF they know WHY.  If they know the impact.  If they know the pain that will be caused.  If they know how it will negatively effect other people.  IF they know the positive outcome.  IF they know the lesson they will learn from it and how it will apply to their lives when they get older and they are spoken to out of respect…..and they understand WHY…..you will get less friction from them and you will enjoy children that grow up confident in their decision making and they will go into those modes when they eventually have important and life changing decisions to make in their lives.  Something to consider.

Anyway….WHY?  WHY?  IF We ask the question we begin to look for the answer.  Our minds will do that.  Especially on a subconscious level.  This is how we begin to program our minds.  By asking the right questions to ourselves.

WHY?

What a great question.  It is the most important question.  It is the basis of foundational thinking.

In the beginning of the 4X formula course we actually do a deep dive into this.  We spend a whole module on this before getting into the What’s and the How’s because I know that I have all of that information to give to you.  It is all there.  From start to finish.  I go over every single thing  – every strategy, every action step, how to deal with the various situations that you encounter, etc etc…to make you a great 4X agent.  I know it.  Some of you know my story but this stuff is real.  IT is applicable.  It is easy to apply.  I have formulated and created all of the tools.  The building blocks to Real Estate Success are literally in this 4X formula course. Every single module builds on itself.  I have painstakingly taken all of my 22 years of experience and poured it into this course.  I apply all of these principals.  I apply all of the tools and I enjoy the DREAM REAL ESTATE business and I am nothing special.  Truly.  Just a regular guy who failed way more than you.  It is all there for you.  At an affordable cost.  This stuff is absolutely LIFE CHANGING for REAL ESTATE Agents who want to be in the top 20%……it will get you there…..BUT….BUT……..BUT……IT all means nothing!  It is all a waste of time.  It will have minimal impact on your life and your business.  OR it will have a huge impact but then it will fizzle out UNLESS you know with absolute certainty…..WHY you want to build it.  WHY?

Making $100,000 or $200,000 or $500,000 or $1.5Million dollars is not an answer to WHY.  That is not WHY you are doing it.  That is a GOAL.  Goals are great and we need to set them and measure them along the way.  We actually go over this in the course.  We set goals that are applicable to the Real Estate business.  We set goals that have different measures integrated into the goals system.  There are certain goals that impact other goals.  You need information in order to set goals.  We need to take the information that is pertinent to your area of business.  Your average dollar for deal….all of those types of things.  Then we map it out so that we begin to build the belief that it can be achieved….

GOALS are super important. BUT the MONEY GOAL’s or DEAL GOAL’s are just measuring sticks for the ultimate WHY.  WHY.  WHY do you want to earn that money?  Why?  What will it do for you?  How will it effect your family if you achieve that goal?  What does your life look like?  How does that effect you 5 years from now?  10 years from now?  What is the driving burn behind that income goal?  You know the first thing that you may need to accomplish is to get out of debt.  That’s ok.  BUT WHY?  Why is getting out of debt so important to you.  What does that do for you?  How will you feel emotionally when you achieve that.  You need to re-visit that every day and internalize and really feel what that feels like.  This will drive you more powerfully than any goal.  The Power of WHY is so, so, so, incredibly important.

In all decision making of some sort WHY should be there as the foundational question.  I bought a Real Estate company in 2007……in our area the impact of the CRASH of the WORLD Money Market occurred in the Fall of 2008….I had to go into survival mode in all aspects of my life…this is a long story that I won’t go into today but in 2013 – 6 years later, I took an “Entrepreneurial Course” and as I was going through the course I realized that I had to get out of owning this Real Estate company.  I was half way through the course.  I was taking the course in order to apply the principals to my Real Estate company but half way through, I realized that I had literally blown up 6 years of my life running this company.  It was not a waste because the lessons that I learned and the person that I became throughout that is invaluable and I cannot put a number on it….BUT, half way through, I started applying the lessons that I was learning about WHY I was doing what I was doing – About what I wanted to achieve – About who I wanted to impact – About the lifestyle that I wanted to live and it hit me like a MACK TRUCK…..bam.  This vehicle will never get me there.  It will never deliver on that.  I need to design something that will do that for me…..and THUS here we are….The seed – the genesis – the core elements of this whole project that we now call the 4X Formula Real Estate training course began.  That was 6 years ago and now here we are and I am so jacked about this.  It is really happening.  Everything that was in my mind and how I wanted to deliver the information and the value that I wanted to be able to give to people etc etc…..we all conceived in that course.  Pretty cool huh?  It started with the WHY…..

Imagine, If I asked the question WHY – and really went deep into it before buying the Real Estate company?  I had no WHY when I first entered into Real Estate.  None.  Survival.  Let’s try this.  My friend is making money and he asked me….that was my WHY.  Are you kidding me?  ZERO foundational thinking was applied there.  So the result was that I floundered for a lot of years.

The Foundation to everything is so important.  You must build on a strong and firm foundation.

Have you ever witnessed a condo building being built?  It is amazing.  They dig this enormous hole in the ground for the parking areas and stuff….and then there are guys working down there for a long time….Sometime the foundation part of the condo building can take up to two to three years!  But then all of a sudden once that is finished the building is built in a year or so.  A twenty story building goes up in 1 year and the 1 or 2 floors for the foundation area take 2 to 3 years.  The Building Contractor knows, that the foundation is the most important aspect.  The type of flooring, the cabinets and finishing materials are what sell the condo’s.  The location.  The cool color scheme.  The Views are everything that everyone talks about but if there is no foundation, everyone will remember it as the building that collapsed.  The Stupid Builder or the horrible architect or the City that approved the plans will all get blamed.  It would be a mess.  They would forget totally about how beautiful the condo was inside.  All they would talk about was the collapse.

Does that make sense?  You have to take the time to nail down your foundation.  You have to build out your WHY.  I mean really flesh it out.  Lots of details.  Lots of mental picturing.  Before they build the building they design a set of plans right?  They have to create the plan first.  Then they start the foundation.  THEN and only then do they start to build.

I encourage you to take the time.  At least watch Module 1 of our course to help you understand what it is all about.  We are launching soon.  Remember, anyone listening to this podcast will get a super duper discount for being an early adopter….I am so excited for you.  This is going to be an awesome journey that we are embarking on together.

Have a Super day and don’t be afraid to ask the question – WHY.  WHY?  “Because I said so”….just joking.  Have a great day!