This came into my inbox a few days ago, and I thought it was brilliant, and I wanted to share it with this great group of Real Estate Entrepreneurs.

It talks about the necessity of habits, and how pushing ourselves to do things we maybe don’t REALLY want to do, can actually help us, and create a habit. (And we all know successful people are people who create and maintain habits, specific to them.)

Here it is, from Jack D. Hodge, and his book, “The Power of Habit”:

“I chose daily running to help me develop a higher degree of self-mastery. Teddy Roosevelt chose a variety of physical activities and exercise. It doesn’t matter what you choose, but it has to be something you have to force yourself to do. It also has to be something you can do daily. Finally, it should be something with beneficial side effects (e.g., exercise provides the benefit of physical fitness, increased energy, increased confidence, improved cognitive function, etc.).

Your daily drudgery can be any form of exercise such as running, weight training, swimming, biking, walking, aerobics, yoga, or martial arts. The choices of exercise are nearly endless. But it doesn’t have to be exercise or physical activity. It can be practicing an instrument, educational reading or writing, correspondence through letters or e-mail, etc. The act itself is not important; the consistency of the act is. It’s the self-discipline, the resolve, and the commitment that results from consistently doing something you hate every day that builds self-mastery.”

The powers of creating and following habits are enormous. And it starts tough. I won’t sit here and tell you it isn’t hard sometimes. (Like getting out of bed on our cold Canadian mornings…)

BUT – setting systems in place for you follow a structure can be the exact thing you need to get stuff done. Even if its a 30 minute starting point to start researching counties, or an hour after supper looking at properties on the county list, and buying some Tax Lien Certificates from abroad.

OR it could be taking a 15 minute walk every morning before breakfast, or when you get off work. The trick is finding something you know should be doing, and just start doing it.

You’ll be surprised how it gets easier to do the things you set out to do, once you form a habit.

Give it a shot. Pick something. Write it down, and make the commitment to start doing it, no matter what your brain and body says you should be doing.

Get out there, and keep going strong!