Wednesday, January 10th, 2007
The difference between motivation and drive is the amount of time it lasts. Motivation is short-lived. Motivation comes and goes. Drive on the other hand is an entirely different realm. When someone is driven to do something, the feeling they get is a direct result from their actions.
Drive doesn't exist in a vacuum; it exists and is compounded by the persons actions. What this means for you as a person aspiring to be a successful real estate investor or business owner is that your actions will directly effect your drive. Drive only exists in as much as the individual works at it.
The point of this article is to discuss some techniques for you to develop behaviors that will help you turn your motivation into drive! Before we go over some of the specific techniques for turning your motivation into drive, it is absolutely important to begin with one thing, your outlook on life!
If you are a pessimist (someone who complains about things and looks at challenges as painful) you must work to change that pessimism into optimism! We have many articles (and will be writing more) on learning how to improve your higher mind. Read them first before continuing with this article!
So assuming you've read this material or you are an optimist already (excellent!), we can begin talking about some specific techniques to turn your motivation into drive. First, we will begin with a day planner. This is extremely important especially if you work a full-time job currently because a day planner will help you to separate your time in a disciplined manner. I should make a note here of the importance of tracking all expenses. A day planner costs money - make sure you document and track all start up costs. These start up costs are for the business you will create, which will also work to turn your motivation into drive.
As you begin developing the habits of a business owner, rather than an employee of a business, your motivation will begin to turn into drive. As an example, this website generated just over $70 in revenue last month (December 2006). For the entire month, our business earned (from this website) $70. So for the 94 documented hours that I put into this business, I earned about .75 cents an hour.
For the record, at my full-time job, where I am an employee, I earn $190 a day and even though I enjoy my job, the feeling I get from earning just .75 cents an hour from noobdogs.com, gives me so much more satisfaction. That's drive! So get a day planner. I use mine every day by reviewing it, writing in it, putting stickies in it and it helps to remind me to mind my business, constanctly.
The next thing you will need is a simple business plan. As a noob investor, it's important to keep it simple. The more you develop your real estate/business intellect, the better you will be prepared to actually write a meaningful business plan. Business ratios, growth outlooks, and investment options become a reality rather than a guessing game. Remember that every business plan, no matter how much data input and preparation go into it, they are still "a best guess" on what may happen as a result of planning. However, the more effort you put into it, the more you will understand the process of investing and business.
Third, you will need a method for tracking your expenses, mileage, phone conversations, emails and any other contacts you make through the course of the day. Some day planners offer great areas to track time, expenses, appointments, and plans (to do lists). For tracking mileage see our article, Real Estate Investing: Mileage Tracking.
Part of turning motivation into drive is changing what you do. This does not mean changing how you think. You can think about things all day. Things change only when your body follows what your mind tells it to do. If you don't move your body, your mind will have a hard time getting things done! So get up, go out into the world and turn your motivation into drive. Be driven and be successful!
©2007 noobdogs.com
By Thomas McGiveron
Enjoyed your post. I'm definitely motivated. Have drive---apparently not, thought I did but it comes and goes, so...I'm motivated. Ad I read, Ithought ihey, maybe i need drive. It all sounded great till I got to the last paragraph and discovered I was going to need to make changes...aaargh! I guess, I'm still motivated! Thanks for your post.
Marlene,
what type of changes do you want to make. from the looks of your profile (i took a very quick look), you seem to be up and running quite well.
thanks for the feedback.
Great post. One of my favorite posts is by Jim Rohn: "Affirmation without action is the beginning of delusion."
Thanks, Tom (TRCoach)
I wrote this article eons ago (is that spelled right...eons?)
Anyhow - thanks for the comments.
It's tough to continuously remain at a high level of drive because it can burn you out. But that's where living a complete life comes in handy.
There's got to be balance so that your mind can see the whole picture. When you run into a problem, there is an answer. If you're always on the go - your mind will miss things and you will be as useless as teet on a bull.