So what are your truisms, your mantras? Do you use internal dialogue to help stay the course in your daily life?
My family conversation has always been full of truisms. Little sayings that help make sense of the world. Sprinkled through-out conversation, these gems of world weary wisdom seek to instruct and guide. My grandfather led with the favourite, “Procrastination is the theft of time and diarrhoea waits for no man”. A truism of epic proportions.
Over time I have a developed a kit of these. Stolen from just about anywhere! From Confucius, Book of Proverbs, Book of Mormons, other real estate blogs and shamelessly contorted to suit my needs. These little gems I hold true. I don’t offer them as advice to any but myself. Daily mantras.
“You don’t have to wait to buy real estate, buy real estate and wait” This seems so obvious but I watch people chop and change and incur huge entry and exit costs over relatively short times. Buying real estate should be considered in the same vein as getting a tattoo – for life. Remember tattoo removal is costly and it can hurt!
“He who subdivides last, wins” – this is all about scarcity, they simply don’t make more dirt.
“If you can, always buy the next door property” – in our part of the world lumping blocks together creates opportunity. Extra unit sites, shared access legs, access where there was none to retain homes and unlock subdivision opportunities.
“Buy and hold” – no-one won Monopoly selling all their properties!
“Buy what will sell” – it should be easy to turn your property back into money. This is super important! In hard times if you need an exit strategy, real estate that is easy to liquidate in a tough market is your get out of jail free ticket. This little truism is a variation on the famous “location, location, location”
Of course in the context of day to day work I have a few more…
“Never argue with a fool in public because the crowd won’t be able to tell ya apart…“ (Mark Twain) Pretty self explanatory. Also remember to never try to change , or challenge someone’s deeply held beliefs. Otherwise you are immediately “wrong”.
Or that famous Polish proverb that helps distance you from a problem that is not yours to own, “Not my monkey, not my circus”. Sometimes it is easy to get sucked into someone else’s drama. Stay on track. Keep your eyes on the prize and get the job done!
And a little phrase that I throw about, “Red wine diplomacy”. Never ask, nor demand, nor request something of your neighbour unless you have previously gone to the trouble of establishing a relationship. Dividing fences are always a classic. One neighbour wants to change the fence. The fence may be a perfectly serviceable 50 year old asbestos fence and there is no requirement in law to renew it. Will the other neighbour contribute to the cost of replacement? Well it depends if you’ve engaged in “red wine diplomacy” prior to the fence conversation.
And the big one, “Gloat while you can”. Celebrate your successes. They can be few and far between in life so celebrate the small and large victories. Pat yourself on the back regularly!
Derek Baston
