7 Steps to Finish What You Start

Hey friends, I hope that whatever you're up to, you're having an easy day. And thank you for spending this little bit of time with me. Now look, if you have ever struggled with finishing something, you start, this podcast episode is for you. So stay tuned.

You're listening to the flip houses like a girl podcast where we educate, empower, and celebrate everyday women who are facing their fears, juggling family and business, embracing their awesomeness and wholeheartedly chasing their dream of flipping houses. Each episode delivers honest to goodness tools, tips, and strategies you can implement today to get closer to your first or next successful house flip. Here's your spiky-haired breakfast taco loving host, house flipping coach, Debbie DeBerry

And if you are an entrepreneur or a creative person, which you likely are, if you're listening to this podcast, if so, you probably have dozens of ideas that are constantly running through your head and you get super excited about these possibilities to do something fun and different. And you feel like if you don't take action on these new ideas, then you'll experience the fear of missing out and nobody wants FOMO, right? Consider these questions for a minute. Are you easily distracted by new things, concepts or ideas? Are you really good at starting new things only to move onto something new? When things get hard? Do you start down on one real estate investing path only to ditch it for something else because of something you heard or something you read or because progress just doesn't happen for you as quickly as you want? Do you jump from one investing course to another? Blaming each one for your lack of success? If any of those sound like you, it is highly likely you have done, done, done shiny object syndrome. Alright. What are you talking about, Debbie ? So as an entrepreneur, we tend to be highly motivated people and we tend to be highly curious people. We crave new technology and new ways of doing things. We crave finding new ways of being even more efficient than we already are. And we're not afraid of starting new projects and creating new things. But what we are not great at is finishing things, particularly if we are struggling with shiny object syndrome. All right, so here are some more signs that you suffer from shiny object syndrome. All right? And this is how they relate specifically to real estate investing. All right? You've wanted to be a real estate investor for years, but you've bounced from strategy to strategy with zero success. Maybe you've got Pinterest or other folders, holding ideas full of interior design projects and creations. By you've yet to flip a house, you go to countless real estate investor meetups and seminars, but you never actually invest in real estate or you try one marketing campaign and decide, Ugh , that didn't work. I didn't get any results from that. And boom, you move on quickly to another strategy and ultimately you're not going to see much success if you just try one marketing campaign one time, right? Because we know that consistency and frequency are key elements of a successful marketing campaign. All right ? So let me tell you a little bit about young Debbie DeBerry. So I definitely struggled with shiny object syndrome. My initial foray into being an entrepreneur, I would say it was my freshman year in college, so around 1994 or 95 is when I got on AOL and started surfing the waves of this new fangled thing called the internet. So my eyes were wide open. Man, there was so much information out there and there were so many business opportunities and my first thing that I got into was buying 1-800-NUMBERS and I just remembered this like I just had this memory of me buying 1-800-NUMBERS and I don't remember what the point of them was. It was something to do with sports. I think maybe it was like sports news or sports forums or something. You were supposed to be selling something on the other end and I just don't remember enough about it. All I know is I was buying 1-800-NUMBERS and I was supposed to be putting the 1-800-NUMBERS out, you know, marketing those numbers to get people to call and ultimately buy something. Well, I mean I don't even remember what it was. I clearly didn't follow through on that, so I bought it and I had these 1-800-NUMBERS, but I don't, yeah , I didn't do anything with it, but it sounded really fine. Right. It was cool and different and make some money. Shiny object, Debbie . All right. Another example is when I got into real estate and I was trying to figure out what exactly I wanted to do, I just knew that I wanted to be a real estate investor and this was early two thousands so I was finding courses again online, but the courses weren't online courses. They were just selling them online and then they would ship you these countless binders of printouts and CD ROMs and just so much information and the quality was just not great. Online courses are, I am so grateful. Online courses exist. It's such a better way for me to learn particularly. So anyway, I was buying courses on things like investing in deeds and lease options and rent to own in all of this stuff. That was really more pushing paper. It felt like to me and just did not resonate with me at all, which was why I jumped around. Every time I would buy a course, I would start getting into it and I would think, frankly, this blows, I am 0% curious about this onto the next course. Same thing, and I'm sure those courses were all great for the people who were actually super curious about investing in those exact strategies in those ways. But for me, I knew that I did not just want to do what I feel like is just more transactional, more paper pushing. I was looking for a creative outlet. I just didn't realize at the time that I really craved the creative expression that flipping houses gives you and allows you to do so. Those courses, while I bailed on them, if I had decided, you know what, this lease option stuff, this is totally me. I am committed to being successful at this. I know that that course would have worked for me. Why? Because I would have been committed to it. Okay, so I definitely have a history of shiny object syndrome. I am not immune to it. I work every single day. I still work on focusing in my various businesses. I have to say, okay, focus and stick to the plan, right? Stick to it. It doesn't matter if something pretty and shiny and with big flashy comes along. I have to restrain myself. So what the heck is my secret? How did I overcome it and how can you overcome it? All right, so that's what we're going to talk about right now. Okay? So the very first thing you have to do is start. That's it. Just start, get into action and start. Okay? The second thing you have to do is you have to decide. Now, man, this is where most people fall short. Keep in mind that even if you refuse to make a decision to start on the path toward your dream, you're making a decision. Refusing to decide is still deciding. And most of the time you're doing this because you're scared to death of the uncertainty. You are still deciding though that is still a decision to stay stuck right where you are and you're going to have to make lots of decisions along the way. So you've got to get comfortable with feeling uncertain and feeling uncomfortable and as I just mentioned, you are going to have to make lots of decisions along the way. The first one you have to make is what form of real estate investing you actually want to focus on. Pick one thing. This is the number one mistake I see new investors make. They don't just pick one thing. They don't just pick one strategy. They decide I want to be a real estate investor. They start going to meet ups. They start reading things on online and they get distracted. They forget that it's not just about the money. I think a lot of people get into real estate investing just for the money and I really truly believe that people who are driven just by the money are not going to make it. They're just not. I don't believe that the universe rewards people who are solely money-driven. You have to have a much bigger why than that you have to operate from a much bigger place than just what's going to be in your pocket at the end of things. Okay, I digress. Alright , so, but really as a beginner, it's super important to pick one investing strategy. Do you want to focus on rentals? Great. Go do rentals. Do you want to focus on wholesaling? Great. Go do wholesaling, but if you want to flip a house, flip a house, don't get distracted by anything else. Why do I say that? Because what happens nine times out of 10 is that this indecision or this lack of focus in one real estate investing aspect for beginners leads to overwhelm. And when you're overwhelmed, you feel paralyzed. You feel like you cannot take any action in any direction because you don't know which way is up. Stop making things more difficult than they need to be. Really just pick one thing, the riches are in the niches. Pick one thing and focus on that and then add another strategy and then add another strategy if you want. Okay. Get really good at one thing first and then start layering. All right? For this example we're going with, you've decided you want to flip a house. It's been a burning desire for so long in your going to flip a house. Okay, great. The second decision you have to make is which areas or neighborhoods are you going to focus on? Now, data drives this decision, right, and it's pretty easy. It's a sellers market. Most areas sell pretty quickly, but again, to avoid overwhelm, you really should narrow down your areas and not just focus on an entire metroplex, but narrow it down to much more manageable chunks. Okay? Now the third thing, once you identify the area you're going to focus on, you have to determine how you're going to market for or find those highly targeted deals. All right? Yes, listened to that qualifying. You're not just looking for deals, you're looking for highly targeted deals. There's a very big difference. Okay? So I really want you to get this because people would rather avoid deciding to take massive action towards something they really super duper want versus just staying stuck where they are totally miserable by, Hey, it least they know what to expect or so they think, right? Indecision leads to procrastination, which leads to guilt about that procrastination, which guess what leads to more procrastination? Okay? The bottom line here is make decisions that will take you a way from what you don't want in toward what you actually do want. Okay? Moving on, that was step two, right? Step one is you start step two of how to overcome shiny object syndrome. You decide on the goal you're going after, okay? And now step three, which is huge, huge, huge. Step three is you've got to commit, make a decision, then commit to doing whatever it takes for however long it takes to actually do the thing, the thing you want to do. All right? The main factor here is action. So do you follow up your decision with action? Because immediate action is critical for momentum. You can't decide, Oh, I'm in a flip a house and then you do nothing about it. No. You decide you're going to flip a house and then you get into action toward flipping a house and that might look different for you. It might be finding a coach that you totally resonate with and that you know can shortcut your path to your dream, the actual fulfillment of your dream, right? The flipped house, or it's reaching out to a friend who's flipped a house before and paying them to teach you how to do it, whatever it is, take action. Now. If you decide to do a thing but you never do anything about it, the actual decision you made was to not go after that thing. You get that because decision without action is ultimately indecision . Okay? Whew . All right. Number four. The fourth step to overcoming shiny object syndrome. You've got to embrace the yuck. All right. The truth is at some point, and probably lots of points, things are just going to be yucky or really want to say another word, but then I don't want to have to put that. It's explicit that I have explicit lyrics Slayman lyrics, but the material is explicit anyway. Things won't always happen as quickly as you want. Things will not go as smoothly or as easily as you want, and I promise you, you are going to be forced way, way, way outside of your comfort zone and you will not know as much as you want to know when you're talking to people, when you're talking to contractors or lenders or other investors, and that never feels good like we do not like sounding like we don't know what we're talking about, okay? But there are ways to feel better and feel more confident. Follow a script and that will help you feel more competent . Know exactly what you're going to ask when you're talking to these people that will help you feel more confident. Here's the thing. Here is the truth. Every single person who has flipped a house, whether they have flipped 10,000 houses or one house, they all started at, I've never flipped a house before they all started there. You're not the first person to want to flip a house who hasn't flipped a house. Every single person before you has been in your exact shoes. Okay? Now I've got to admit the urge at this phase to chase a shiny object is strong. This is where most people quit. This is where most people throw their hands up and give up. Why? Because it's hard. And if it's meant to be, then it should be easy, right? Because flow is easy and if the universe wants me to succeed, if I'm on the right path, then it should be easy. And maybe you have a really good story about why it's hard and why for you specifically. It's totally impossible in all the things are stacked against you. But here's the deal for every story in excuse and reason, anyone can give me for why their challenges are preventing them from going after what they truly, deeply want. I can in turn show them someone or actually more like a lot of people who have had those same circumstances and yet they did the thing. So if you quit here, if you quit when things are really hard, you definitely did not overcome shiny object syndrome and that's the point of this episode. Okay, so let's continue on to step number five, which is you've got to keep going. You've got to keep showing up. As I like to say, when things are hard or not happening as quickly as you want, you've got to lean into it. Lean into that discomfort and that frustration, but that's not enough. Leaning into it isn't enough. You have to keep going. You have to keep showing up because this is when you're not going to want to show up. When you see other people having successes, what appears to be much faster than you, I'm going to say this over and over again because things will not happen for you as fast as you want them to. All the time. Things are not going to be as easy as you want them to be. You have to keep showing up is especially when it's hard. You have to do whatever it takes to make forward progress. As I like to say, you have to keep taking those small calculated steps in the direction of your dream. Alright? Number six, you've got to finish. You've got to actually do the thing. You've got to flip the house. This is crucial. If your dream is to flip the house, then the finish line is a flipped house, okay? And it doesn't mean it's going to be a home run or a smashing success, but if you don't cross the finish line, you're selling yourself short and you have to realize and deeply understand that the finished flip is not the prize. The finished flip is not the point of this whole thing. Get this, really get this who you become along the way. That is the biggest prize. That is the point of all of this, who you become by stretching your comfort zone by wholeheartedly committing to seeing something through, by doing what it takes, becoming the person you have to be to realize your dream of a flipped house. Okay, now we're at step number seven. Step number seven is easy ish. In theory, it's easy because it's just repeat, right? Do your next flip. The goal of your first flip should always be to do it in a way that makes you want to do it again. or if your next dream isn't to do another flip, that's fine too. You've got to follow all of the same steps to keep that shiny object syndrome at bay. Okay, so to recap, the seven steps you've got to take to beat shiny object syndrome. Remember the first one is start. The second one is decide. Step three, commit step four, embrace the yuck. Step five, keep going. Or as I like to say it, keep showing up. Step six, finish and step seven. Repeat. Be mindful of your words. Do what you say you're going to do because people are watching, kids are watching. It's not just about you. Finish what you start, make it happen and just go for it. Alright. Those are the seven steps that I use on the reg to beat shiny object syndrome. All right? I think you'll find that super helpful if you implore the same steps. All right. Keep shiny object syndrome at bay. It's there. Okay. It will creep up on a lot of us. It's a constant battle and that's okay. Look, if you are enjoying this podcast, I ask you to please do me a huge favor. Please help me spread the good word because my goal here is to pay forward all of the love and encouragement my mom gave me and the way that I do that is by empowering the heck out of you and I want to reach as many likeminded women as possible and by you leaving a rating and review wherever you listen to this podcast, that helps me reach more people because if I can instill in just one more woman out there that she absolutely can be successful flipping houses, if that's her dream, then I know that the ripple effect is her kids will see her inspired, motivated, and in action . If it's not her kids, it's her grandkids or her niece or her nephew, whatever it is, there is a child watching. That's creepy, but it's true, right? Kids are creepy, man. They're always watching and listening. My son will repeat things weeks later that I'm like, Oh my gosh, I thought you were playing a game. Anyway, that's my goal, the ripple effect of empowering women and young people, and again, just painful word, all of the love and support my mom gave me. Alright , go out there flip houses like a girl and make it a great day. Bye.