If you recall from last weeks blog post I discussed with you the importance of always doing what you say as well as the need to keep people accountable to what they say they will do.

There are two secrets to making this work for you:
Secret #1 – Don’t say you’ll do something if you are at all unsure that you’ll be able to do what you say.
Secret #2 – Use a Planner

Use a Planner you say?? How is that such a big and all-important secret? Well, I will tell you that once I implemented and committed my self to using a planner in my business and life, not only was I able to keep my promises with ease, but I was also able to remember to keep people accountable with ease.

Now I’m not talking about an electronic planner, blackberry, palm, or Microsoft outlook calendar. I’m talking about the good old fashioned leather planner with a paper and pen. There absolutely is nothing better…guaranteed.

Everyday when I get to my office, the first thing I do is open my planner and place it in a stand on my desk so that I can see my schedule and “to do’s.” If there are any “to-do’s” from the day before that I didn’t complete then I automatically write then in today’s page so that I am reminded to get them done.

You see friends, my planner is my excuse to FORGET! I have a terrible memory and you can ask my wife about that. However because I have established such a good habit of using and implementing my planner EVERYDAY it has allowed me to be a better business person and appear as though I have a memory of an Elephant.

Not only this, but my planner is my “idea center.” If you are an entrepreneur like me then you probably also have tons of NEW and GREAT ideas on a regular basis about how to make big bucks in real estate or any other business venture. The thing about me is, I write these ideas down in my planner and then once they are in my planner I automatically know that the idea will get IMPLEMENTED.

If you are not using a good old fashioned planner to organize you personally in your business and life then I believe that you will likely struggle with keeping your commitments and keeping people accountable to their commitments. No matter how big or small these commitments are.

I am a firm believe that the more organized and systemized you get, the faster your business will grow and the more money you will make! Your planner is your secret weapon, your friend, your memory box, your idea center, your accountability partner, your implementation device.

Put it this way, if there was ever a fire, and I had seconds to grab something and run, you’d see my laptop in one hand and my planner in the other. It is invaluable to me as a business owner and entrepreneur.

I hope you enjoyed this short article. If so, please post your comments below.

To your real estate investing success,

Brian Evans

This week’s Real Estate Business Tip is something that is extremely important on many levels (Business and Personal). And this tip is, “Do What You Say.”

Sounds simple and miniscule doesn’t it? Well it is far from it. How many times has someone told you that they would call you back, or get back to you about something, or keep you in the loop, or let you know, or shoot you an email, or whatever and NOTHING HAPPENED? Better yet, how many times have you said that to someone and then not followed through with what you said?

Of all the pet peeves that I have, this one might top the chart. There is nothing that is more annoying to me than someone who says they’ll do something and then not do it! And 90% of the time I would venture to guess that they knew when they said it that they weren’t going to do anything, however they said it anyway. Why?? Because you didn’t want to hurt my feelings or let me know up front, and perhaps I’ll forget about it? Makes no sense does it?

Confession time…I was once guilty of this habit. And that is exactly what it is by the way, a BAD HABIT. In my earlier investing days I can recall times when I said that I would call a seller back or a buyer back and then not do it. Why did I do this? I think at the time it was just the easy way out and the easy thing to say to not disappoint the other person. Well, eventually I was called out on it and I was embarrassed. From then on I committed my self to ALWAYS do what I say, and on the flip side of that ALWAYS keep people accountable to what they say. Funny thing is, once you make this commitment you’ll be surprised how many other people DON’T do what they say.

Although breaking this bad habit wasn’t easy, once I committed my self to it, it wasn’t long before I was Always doing what I said I was going to do. Am I perfect now? Absolutely not, but I guarantee that I am better than 99% of other real estate investors and business professionals out there when it comes to doing what you say.

There are two secrets to making this work for you:
Secret #1 – Don’t say you’ll do something if you are at all unsure that you’ll be able to do what you say.
Secret #2 – ……..To be continued…….

Stay tuned for next week’s follow up article to this one where I share with you Secret #2 to being able to always do what you say and always keep people accountable to what they say. You won’t want to miss it!

I hope you enjoyed this short article. If so, please post your comments below.

To your real estate investing success,

Brian Evans