I have heard a stories from the past, experienced something myself and been in it myself. In order to get ahead you need the big picture. Here is what I mean:
Story:
A friend here in Florida had a dad and an uncle who owned a concrete plant. One day when my friend was there looking at his father and uncle work and it was tough. They told him how they had carried the heavy bags all the way to that loading dock since the 50’s and it was a hard job! My friend then looked at them and asked, was the conveyor invented in the 50’s? -“yes” -“well, why haven’t you installed one of them? The father and the uncle looked at each other for a while and said, -“yeah, why haven’t we?”. Being to far in to it blinds you.
My experience.
I was on vacation on an island in Thailand. As I went for a walk I found their water supply. A big pool on where they gathered rain water. There was only one town on that same island and it was located on the beach. In order to get their water from the pool to the little town the people ran trucks up and down the mountain. For some reason I found it more than crazy that no one had installed a pipeline to cut fuel and labor costs. I mean, this was in 2010. Too busy working to see the big picture.
Me in it.
I struggle with staying out of manual labor. I do feel a form of reward when I put in a good days work, but it ruins my mindset. If I’m busy painting I’m unable to see the bargain that is for sale down the street. It’s from my upbringing on the farm where hard work is rewarded. In business though, it’s done nothing but damage. I know the way to success goes through delegation, planning, efficiency and the big picture.
I have noticed that I can’t shift my mind fast enough. I want to start developing areas, build houses and buy more rentals. When I work I feel like a worker. I lack business confidence and I’m unable to see the big picture. In order to do the business well I need to feel like a businessman. I do so by taking care of myself, act like an entrepreneur, studying, looking at projects and talking to people who has produced results.
That said. Labor was my way in. I restored my first three places myself. The only option since I had no money but a ton of motivation. Now though, I have reached level two and this shift is hard for me. Consider where you are? Would the way you work be scalable?
