Pressure comes in abundance on your path to financial freedom. You will have to persevere through adversity and be resilient to the hardships and obstacles you face. Resiliency under pressure is the name of the game and it is abundantly necessary if you want to succeed. On my journey and any entrepreneurial journey for that matter, failure is a frequent occurrence. The success at the end of sometimes hundreds of failures is what makes the journey worth the sacrifice. Resiliency comes from the expectation of obstacles and setting realistic and achievable milestones for yourself along the way. Underperformance on your goals can take a large toll on you over time and being resilient through this adversity becomes harder and harder.
Setting realistic and achievable goals
Realistic is my least favorite word when used in the wrong context. When most people hear or use the word realistic when talking about goals and their future plans, it is often used in a condescending way. This is not the appropriate usage of this word and it can really deter you from pursuing your goals. The better use of the word realistic is to help it frame your lofty goals in an achievable way. What I mean by this is the following. I have a goal of owning 5 million dollars of real estate by the end of 2023. Obviously, this is a huge goal and it is going to take some time to complete. To avoid burning myself out and to keep myself motivated on the path to achieving this goal, I have broken it down into much smaller components. If my goal was kept as large and highly complex, I would have a hard time staying motivated and on target. My resilience to adversity would decrease and I would be less likely to reach my goal at all. On a road where there is bound to be countless failures, you need to find a way to add some successes to keep yourself motivated. Breaking a large goal up such as my goal to own $5 million of real estate by the end of 2023 is imperative. To build up my resistance to adversity as well as my confidence, my mini goals are challenging yet achievable in a reasonable amount of time. For example, one of my mini goals in route to my large goal is to have 10 conversations with sellers and/or agents every single day. This goal is extremely achievable and helps me develop the discipline I need to realize my big goal. It also helps me relieve some of the pressure of the big goal and how scary it can seem. I know that doing this consistent action every day will lead me to achieve my big goal and that gives me the confidence and resilience to continue to push forward.
Building upon small success
Achieving mini goals will set you up for much bigger success. Failures will become less discouraging when supplemented with the occasional and timely victory. You can ride the wave of a victory through many failures before the feeling of discouragement gets overwhelming but not forever. This is why building achievable successes into your journey is so important. Without them, resilience decreases, motivation decreases, and the will to continue all but vanishes. Small successes over time yield big results!
When the pressure is on
Human beings typically perform at their peak when they absolutely have to. Pressure is a blessing that might feel like a curse at first, but yields results you would be astonished you’re even capable of. Being in situations where the heat is on and pressure is being applied is often a good thing. When you have to succeed and failure is not an option, most of the time, you’ll find ways to make things happen and succeed. Resilience to pressure and not giving in to its stress and weight and instead using it to unlock your keen instincts to problem solve and find solutions is the way to unlock and optimize peak performance. Embrace challenges and force yourself to dig deep!