197: Be the Captain of Your Own Ship – Friday Fundamentals

Be the Captain

Each and every one of us is responsible for our own actions, successes, failures, and outcomes. You either decide these things for yourself, or give that control to someone else. Wealth and freedom are two things that you’ll have to take responsibility for if you want them. No one will simply hand you either. You have to make your own outcome or be content with the outcome someone else decides for you.

Think of your life like a ship. It can anchor in the harbor, or set sail under the command of a captain. That captain can be you or someone else. If you want to control where your life is heading, then you have to be the captain.

Accountability

This starts with accountability. Hold yourself accountable for your actions and results. If you’ve taken control of your own life, then you are the only one who can be held responsible. Not your employer, not the government, not society, politics, laws, or luck. You, and only you, are responsible for your actions and outcomes.

When you take control of your own life, you have to make decisions. Sometime you’ll make the right decisions, and other times you won’t. All you can do is your best, with the information, tools, and resources you have.

Real estate investors, especially, will have to make a lot of decisions and hold themselves accountable. You have to select a market, search for properties, analyze deals, make offers, and ultimately build a portfolio of income generating rental properties. No one will be there to make sure you’re doing the right things. No one will make sure you are sticking to your investment criteria, buying good deals, placing qualified tenants, and hiring good property management. This is all up to you. Sounds kinda scary, huh?It doesn’t have to be though. There are things you can do to help yourself succeed.

Here are some ways that will help you make decisions along your journey.

  1. Look for someone who is doing what you want to do. Search that person out and learn from them. This might be someone in your local area, a public figure, author, or whomever. Learn from that person. Implement the things they’re doing well in your life.
  2. Vet deals, people, services, products etc. before trusting them with your hard earned money and time. The best way I’ve found to vet these people and things are through referrals. If you have a personal referral from someone who has experience with the person/product/service, that gives you insight and confidence in making your decision.
  3. Do your own homework. Lean as much as you can about the particular subject at hand. Knowledge is power and you need that knowledge to make the best decision.

When things aren’t going your way, it’s easy to place blame anywhere but on yourself. It could be that terrible property manager you hired, the new tax laws, lending rates, or the faceless bad luck. Don’t fall into the trap of blaming others, instead of holding yourself accountable. Remember, if you do the best you can with the information, resources, and tools you have, then that’s all you can do. The alternative is to do nothing at all and waste away all of your potential. Take control of your life. Be the captain of your own ship. You’re capable of living any life you want. You just have to take action and make it happen.