How do you stay motivated?

[dynamite]

I often have these spats of wanting to get ahead and be in a position to have the residual income to enjoy life without strings attached (and maybe own a porsche ;-p)

I am not a person who needs riches, rather I would enjoy them and think they could facilitate things I would like to do outside working. I also honestly want to be a residential renovator as I enjoy it so much. ie doing something for a living I enjoy.

But my motivation subsides and I sink back into accepting what I have, which is not bad, I dont have wealth but I have a good career. Maybe I just dont want the "more" bad enough? Or perhaps I am just a bit of an up and down person hehe. I think part of it though is getting to anywhere substantial will take a few years work and savings, and that I find demotivating (I should have been a gen y hehe).

I guess what I am asking is, has your motivation for property ever subsided, and if so, how did you get it back on track?

 

[Cdro]

I think people often make the mistake of waiting to feel motivated before taking action. In reality, before taking action, it's really normal to feel a bit scared and ambivalent. Therefore, motivation is not a feeling but a decision to act...

IMHO, taking action and having some success is what leads to motivation. Success is addictive, but you have to experience it to believe it's possible and want more.

 

[daniellee]

I benchmark myself against others way better than myself. When I found out that my Chief Information Officer (CIO) of an global Australian company was only 33 yrs old, I ask myself:

1. What does that person know that I do not that has allowed him to move so far up the ranks?
2. What can I do to move ahead, yet be aligned to my character and interest?

I found property is aligned to my interest, so I keep at it. I keep at it at my job because I enjoy my work, but also because there are others my age who are way, way up there in the career ladder.

It sounds harsh, but it keeps me motivated to march ahead.

Daniel Lee

 

[RumpledElf]

Motivation is one thing, money is another. And so is time.

I'm not sure 'motivated' is even a word you can use when it takes over a year for anything to happen and you spend most of that year sitting on your butt WAITING and then the last two weeks running around like an idiot trying to coordinate everything. That's not motivation, that's desperation.

I've put a dollar value on every day this fortnight. Our cheapest day is $299 and the most expensive, today, is $111,000.

 

[dynamite]

thanks

i find time a demotivating factor. if it takes longer than a year, i lose all interest. sad but true.

 

[evand]

I think motivation comes from wanting/needing it bad enough. If you're not motivated you don't want it bad enough. I've been there many times.

 

[The Y-man]

I guess what I am asking is, has your motivation for property ever subsided, and if so, how did you get it back on track?

We reward ourselves in a small way occasionally with the spoils of battle.


The Y-man

 

[dynamite]

for me to get where i want to be there is a lot of sacrafice needed and sustained for next 10 years. i think i need to modify my time frames so i can enjoy life a little too, otherwise the sacrifice of enjoying life will just demotivate me ie 12 years. makes sense i hope.

i think once i have 2 years of savings under my belt and i am putting my strategy into place, i will feel more motivated and less daunted.

 

[virgo]

Motivating

Hiya

I have 2 good friends who motivate me; like me they are avid property investors; positive both in words and in action....we meet and talk often...

When i was younger, i used to be affected and influenced by other peoples' opinions; if i had followed my own gut instincts, i would have tripled my wealth now!

Nowadays, when someone proffers an opinion; i tend to think first about whether this person has any personal experience to offer; if not, i nod sagely and forget it (and strangely, these are the ones "tied" to their 9 to 5 job; with 1 property with high mortgage and they are TELLING me what to do!)

 

[Aaron_C]

I am motivated by the $$ in my bank account

 

[josko]

Hi there dynamite,

I certainly did lose my motivation for a while there and had to focus considerably on other income avenues.

I lost quite alot of money between 2008-2010 to my gambling...
sorry couldn't resist, no seriously- in the GFC property market.

You guys all motivate me, but for a while there I needed a break from the overwhelming positives!

Regards JO

 

[our obsession]

How do you stay motivated?

I guess what I am asking is, has your motivation for property ever subsided, and if so, how did you get it back on track?

Generally, (life speaking), I do that what I love and am fortunate to love that what I do.

Always seems to have been that way, motivation has never been a lacking force in my life, it's definitely 'within' also, not a dependent upon externals..

Specifically to property, I am determined to be as autonomous and financially independent as possible, Property being the vehicle, the tool of choice from which to do this. And something I happen to love, I love houses. I enjoy the whole process, the learning, the doing.

It's fun.

It wont always be property but it has been the foundation, and am more than likely to always have some property of sorts, motivation (about whatever) is a powerful component of me. Certainly one of my strengths. But again, loving what I do, and doing what I love is the key.

 

[beachgurl]

I lose my motivation for property when I don't have any servicing for another property. Or when money's tight and tenants are either vacating or late-paying. Lol I'd say both of the above are occuring right now.

 

[dynamite]

Generally, (life speaking), I do that what I love and am fortunate to love that what I do.

well this is what it comes down to.

I LOVE renovating houses. I dont mind my IT job, but its uber stressful in an interpersonal context, and there is no real personal reward for putting up with that stress. With property, there are other stresses for sure, but I can see myself baring those stresses because the end result gives me satisfcation.

The point is, I feel like my property goals, of being a developer are so far away that I keep treading water with saving money in my day job, I loose focus. Because things just seem too big and too far away.

Maybe for me the motivation is doing 1 house at a time, and being motivated by a successful outcome.

 

[The Y-man]

for me to get where i want to be there is a lot of sacrafice needed and sustained for next 10 years. i think i need to modify my time frames so i can enjoy life a little too, otherwise the sacrifice of enjoying life will just demotivate me ie 12 years. makes sense i hope.

i think once i have 2 years of savings under my belt and i am putting my strategy into place, i will feel more motivated and less daunted.

We were fortunate that our property adventure started in 2000 when the Melbourne market was rocketing - so the returns came in very quickly - within 3 years the value of our IP had moved significantly - which let us enjoy some of the fruits of success in a relatively short time. If I had to wait 12 years for something to come about - yeah, that's a long wait.

You have to also keep in mind that fear is also an incredibly powerful motivator for many.

For example, our first property deposit was put together out of fear - we had signed an off the plan contract, and then we got scared that the value of the propoerty would not come up to the pruchase prices, that the banks wouldn't lend to us, etc etc. We got real scared and decided we'd need a 40% deposit on a $300k purchase. It's amazing how quickly we put that together (working OT, double jobs etc). When it came to settlement, we easily got over the line with a 90% loan - and suddenly we had a deposit for 3 more properties!

The Y-man

 

[Tigger]

My Nanna was widowed at 29 in the Depression with 2 small kids and nothing else. She found a spare corner on the open verandah of the house her parents rented and raised the kids there. She went to work as a barmaid, which consisted of 6-8am scrubbing floors by hand (unpaid part of the job), then home to get the kids to school, then back to the pub to open at 10am (the paid part of the job). 12 months before she died she told us she and the kids nearly starved before she moved 'home'.

In my 20's I watched Nanna ekeing out a living on the aged pension, living in a bedsitter run by a charity, where the bedsitter would not have passed health inspection if ever any of the health authorities had bothered to check. In my 30's I could see if I did nothing about planning my $$ future I'd end up like my Nanna. Or worse, depending on whether or not we still have an aged pension when I'm in my 80's.

That's my motivation.

 

[Chomp]

Reading books has helped me a lot in the last couple of years,

Think & Grow Rich - Napolean Hill

See you at the top - Zig Ziglar

Some of the stuff is a bit out there but in general makes sense to me.

Boredom has been a good motivator as well if that makes any sense!

Chomp

 

[Belbo]

Simple. Take a job with owners who daily mourn the abolition of legal slavery and marvel at the beautific wonders of China's wage structure, then commit to that being your last posting as a paid employee. That'll motivate you, trust me!

 

[Lou300]

Hi there dynamite,

I certainly did lose my motivation for a while there and had to focus considerably on other income avenues.

I lost quite alot of money between 2008-2010 to my gambling...
sorry couldn't resist, no seriously- in the GFC property market.

You guys all motivate me, but for a while there I needed a break from the overwhelming positives!

Regards JO

Good to see you back Jo. Ive missed the Terrigal meet ups and having that local motivation.

Its been hard to keep my motivation, but at least my husband and I have accumulated five properties (two in the last two years since the GFC). We're not seeing any real CG in any of them, and that's been hard - probably since all properties have been bought since the last big boom around 2003ish. Our yields are getting better, but we're still neg geared and this is very unmotivating especially when property investing is to be our vehicle out of the rat race. I think it would be good if we were old enough to have been in the property game through more cycles so that we would confidently know the eventually prices will move again.

Im still hating my career (although now Im working much closer to home), and this hate of my career motivates me to push forward with our properties so that hopefully soon we will be in a CF position to allow me to cut back on my hours and go study to learn another career path. Although in today's market, it seems like so far away...

 

[kathryn d]

I need my "fix" every year.This was a slow year, as we only purchased one property.

I love finding cheap places, that need very little repairs. I want places that rent easy,and to the average income earner.

I have no interest in buying a property that is NG.I do not plan on living on CG..but only CF+ properties.