Episode 48: Creating Space to Multiply In 2020

And at the end of the day, if you don’t get anything out of this episode, do remember this, before we multiply, we have to simplify.

Hi, I’m Michelle Bosch, real estate investor, mom, wife, and host of the “InFlow” podcast. And I’m passionate about helping women invest in land and apartments. Join me each and every week for real estate investing strategies and interviews with thought leaders who will leave you inspired and ready to step into flow, for inflows of cash, inflows of ease, and inflows of grace in your life. Now, here on YouTube, are the video versions of my podcast. And in order for you to get my latest information, please go ahead and subscribe. And now, let’s go. Welcome to the “InFlow” podcast. I’m your host, Michelle Bosch. Excited to be here with you guys on the last week of 2019. I am excited about today’s episode because specially on this week when we’re finalizing 2019, it is very, very, very important to do some necessary breakups, some necessary cleanups before we head into 2020. I know everyone is talking about, “Oh my gosh, we need to be ready for 2020.” You know, luck comes to those that are prepared to take opportunities. And in order for us to be prepared, you know, to take opportunities and be ready to, you know, hit the ground running when 2020 comes around the corner, which is we’re just a few days away from it, I want to say that it’s sometimes not just a matter of adding things into our life in order for us to be ready for new opportunities to arrive. But sometimes in order for us to find success, we don’t need to add more things but we actually need to subtract some things, you know, so it’s like a, almost like simplifying first in order to be able to multiply. And so, what I wanted to talk to you today in today’s episode is about a simple tool that we use almost every quarter and we certainly use, you know, at the end of Q4 and at the end of the year. And that is called a stop doing list. We like creating a stop doing list that helps us really prune back on anything that has gone on our plates, on any messes that we have created over the year. And in order for us to basically move forward, this is the tool that we use to create the space, create a clean slate for us to move forward into a new vision into a new year. Yeah. And so, if you think about it, you know, our time and how we talk about time is linear. And there’s things that, you know, happened in the past that believe it or not affect your future vision and your ability to take, you know, on opportunities and seize opportunities in the future. There’s also things about the future, which is what we’re living right now, that we also need to address in order for us to move into the future. And I like to think about things about the past as opportunities for us to clean up, you know, a stop doing list that we do every quarter, and at the end of every year, and we start with the past. What do we need to clean up? What do we need to clean up in our house? In our physical surrounding and space? You know, is there any clutter, you know, around your workspace, your life at home? Do we need to clean that up first in order for us, you know, to have a clean start and a clean beginning? And I cannot emphasize how important it is, or at least for me, and I don’t know if you’re the same, how the environment and cleaning up your environment and making sure that you’re in a clean declutter office space, you know, declutter desk and, and so on and so forth. So, the very first thing I look up is physical space. You know, what in my physical environment and space do I need to clean up? What are some tolerations in my physical space that I need to clean up? You know, is it, you know, it goes down to even like cracked, you know, cracked glasses, cups, plates, like no tolerations of any kind. I want to start the year with clean things, with everything in working order. So I look at, you know, from my physical, you know, standpoint, physical space standpoint, what do I need to clean up in my life? The next thing that I like looking at is people. Are there people, you know, are there any breakups that I have been dreading this year and that I should, you know, go ahead and move forward with in order for me to create space and a clean slate, you know, to really not have anything that is heavy, you know, pushing me down and have the burden of that extra weight coming with me? And so, when it comes to, you know, circle of friends, acquaintances, partnerships, you know, maybe it’s an abusive relationship that you have been in, you know, right now. It could be a number of things when it comes to relationships. It could be what messages do I need to clean up in terms of parenting, you know, have I been not so kind, you know, to my kids? Do I need to make amends? Do I need to apologize for certain things, you know, do I need to, you know, create a fresh new start when it comes to relationships, you know? So that is so important, you know, to clean up as well any messes that are in the relationship department. Are there any things, you know, that, as a result of, you know, us investing, whether in land or in real estate…you know, we run businesses. Are there any messes in our business as far as system processes that are right now creating, you know, bottlenecks in our companies? You know, is there anything that I need to clean up, you know, on that end as well? So, there’s a lot of cleanups and those cleanups, like I said, is about things that have occurred to us and that have occurred to us and that are in the past. But that past for some reason, you know, is creating a heavy burden that we’re bringing with us if we do not clean that up. So, that would be my very first stop doing is to go and look at my past, look into relationships, look into my, you know, physical space, look into systems, processes, you know, in my business that I need to clean up and bring into order, and whether it’d be me or it’d be someone in my team that is going to help me do that because you are not supposed to do everything. You are supposed to have, you know, build a team around you, especially if you’re an investor that can help you, you know, clean up some of those messes. So, as far as the present, so moving along to the present. Before starting anything into the future, you know, I need to look at, you know, what do I need to stop doing right now that in order for me to realize the vision that I have for 2020 is bogging me down? Are there things on my plate that I’m doing that I shouldn’t be doing that are not part of my genius? You know, there’s this concept that we should be spending 80% of our time in activities that are in our genius, where we actually excel, where we have like a superior competency that we love, that we’re passionate about doing. Those are things that are being, you know, that are in your genius, where you have the skill set, you have a superior skill set, you know, and you are amazing at it and you love doing those things. So, things about the present that are in my physical space, in my calendar, or in my inventory of activities that I have to do on a weekly basis but do not fall into the genius zone are things that I usually write down and I’m like, things that I need to stop doing and that I need to start delegating. So, the past is about cleaning up messes. The present is about delegating things in order for me to have the space, the time, you know, the headspace, the time in my schedule, and frankly the energy and the effort to go after the things that I’m looking forward for 2020 and be ready, you know, for opportunities and so on and so forth. Because if I don’t do that, you know, if I have a ton of things, projects, you know, that are halfway done, you know, and just involve in too many things that are eating up at my energy mentally, emotionally, physically, you know, I’m just not going to be able to be there for the things that do show up that require the best of me to show up, because I’m bogged down by things of the past and things of the present that perhaps somebody that is better, that has a superior skill and a superior competence than I do in certain activities should be doing. You know what I mean? So, this is where you want to seek support. Not just at work, but at home. Are there things that you’re doing right now that are not revenue-generating activities that you’re doing right now that are not part of your genius? My goodness, if you don’t love laundry, perhaps you shouldn’t be doing laundry. Perhaps you need someone to come in and help you, you know, three, four hours a week and get the laundry done. You know, if you’re gal at home, you know, with something at home, maybe, you know, if you don’t need to do it, maybe if you have to do it, I’m sorry if you have to do it, because you cannot outsource it, you cannot afford to outsource it, then perhaps what do you need to do is you need to create a schedule to start freeing yourself up. Maybe every other week somebody else in your family, you know, takes over laundry, whatever it is, you know. I’m just using an example, you know, at home of something that I absolutely do not like and that is for sure not in my genius because I end up shrinking, you know, our clothing and sweaters and things that I put in the dryer that I shouldn’t because that’s just not my forte, in any case. So, you then want to start looking into things, you know, in your business that you can delegate, again, activities that you’re doing over and over that perhaps you can hand over to somebody, giving them some parameters, you know, in what success looks like in order for you to be able to delegate something successfully, an activity to somebody successfully. So, and sitting down with a person and training them and so on and so forth. So, maybe right now when it comes to the present, maybe there’s some delegations that you can think of that you can start writing down on your stop doing list, you know, for things that are of the present. So, there’s stop doing things of the past, there’s stop, you know, doing things of the present. And, you know, you can start with your physical space all the way to, you know, your schedule, your time, your energy and effort into activities that you’re pouring in. It’s just basically having some reflection time and looking at those buckets and really cleaning and clearing things up in order for you to move forward. So now, once we’ve done that, really, and, you know, and we’ve looked at our physical space and delegations, I think the next level, at least for me, of things that I like to stop doing is I know that I have, and this is not easy, but I know that I have thoughts that are constantly coming back again into my mind that I know do not serve me well. And it’s time, at least for me, to stop, you know, to start doing some of those thoughts because we are doing them, if you think about it, you know. And so, one of my, you know, resolutions for 2020 is to be much, much more mindful and aware of certain defeating thoughts, thoughts of doubt, of confusion, of fear, you know, and come up with a strategy as to how can I, you know, change either my physiology, my language, the meaning that I give to certain things in order for me to stop doing, you know, some of those thoughts that are not helping me. Yeah. So, that’s another recommendation, you know, to take it into a deeper level of the stop doing, you know, of your stop doing list of past and present. And what you’ll find is, and we’ve been doing this now…I’ve been doing this with my husband for almost 10 years now. And what I have found is that every single year I have things that, you know, have come into my schedule, have come into my plate. And the moment I clean them up, I have now a different…it’s almost as if I’ve shifted, you know, and I have put myself just by doing that, you know, halfway into the future vision that I have. And then the next step for me is like, “Oh my gosh,” so I’m halfway there. So, what is the next thing? And almost always for me it is because I’m an absolute life learner, it is about what new skill sets and capabilities do I need to gain in order for me to, you know, achieve my goals for the coming year, for the vision that I have over the coming year. And it’s usually about new capabilities, new things that I need to learn, new things that I need to master, new things that I need to, whether I feel ready or not, be brave about and go ahead and do them anyways because, you know, the universe listens to brave, you know. So, for me, like I said, I’m a life learner, so it’s usually about future. For me is about capabilities. I know that there are certain visions that in order for me to close the gap between where I am right now and where I want to go, require me to go ahead and step out of my comfort zone. You know, ask for help, look for a coach, starting new relationships, get into new environments that will help me become the person, the type of person that can produce the vision and the goals that I’m setting for for the future. Yeah. So, what are some of those things that you need to do, you know, whether you’re, you know, a land investor, do you need to invest in a coach? Do you need to invest in a program, invest in a software, do strategic investments that are as far as systems go or people go, going to really help you multiply your business and scale in 2020, that are going to be pivotal for you to become that person that achieves those goals? Of whether it be retiring from a job that you hate or retiring a spouse or buying a new car or buying your second home or sending your children to private school or traveling wherever it is that you’ve been looking forward to travel, or starting your ministry or being able to help friends and family or take care of your health or whatever that may be basically, you want to start thinking in these ways, you know. What capabilities do I need to gain in order for me to produce that vision of multiplication that I’m looking for? And at the end of the day, if you don’t get anything out of this episode, do remember this, before we multiply, we have to simplify. And that’s why I’ve spent the first few minutes, you know, or first half of this episode explaining to you a simple exercise that we go through, which is called creating a stop-doing list, in where we look at our past, you know, what do we need to clean up, whether it be in relationships, in partnerships, in team, in systems, in processes, you know, of the past, of decluttering my physical space, in order for me to move forward. What are some, then I move to the present. What are some things today that I need to, you know, that I need to delegate in order for me, activities in my calendar in order for me to have the, not just the time in my schedule, but also the headspace and the energy and the effort to go after the things that I know I’m amazing at, I have a genius in, and that are part of my genius zone? So that I can become that person, you know, that I want to become in either 2020, or if your vision extends far beyond that, it does, at least for me, I always like looking a decade out. I’ve trained myself to look first pass, you know, a month out, then a quarter out, then a year out, then 3 years out, then 5 years out, then 10 years out. You know, and we’ve been doing this exercise over and over again that we’ve extended our time horizon of, you know, a vision that we create for ourselves. And so, I know that in order for me to achieve certain things on a 10-year vision, that there’s major cleanups that need to be happening, you know, of my past and present consistently, you know, that I need to plan to create, you know, moments of reflection, times of reflection where I can go ahead and prune things off, you know, and repeat this process every quarter. You know, it’s planned repetition and repeated planning of sitting down and clearing up space and having those necessary breakups with either, you know, with either team members that I don’t feel are bringing their A-game. And this is a hard one because it’s family. It’s usually people that I care about, that I know their families, that I have, you know, that share my, in some way shaped my core values. But for some reason, you know, in spite of, you know, feedback and constant training, you know, we cannot, you know, align ourselves. And so, at that point, you know, it’s important to ask, you know, “Would I enthusiastically, you know, hire this person again right now knowing what I know and seeing the performance that I’m having?” And so, sometimes it’s hard. It’s hard breakups that we have, you know, that we have to make because sometimes we stay either in partnerships, you know, at home or at work longer than we should out of habit, out of, you know, not wanting to be brave and really take the next step that would make everyone, you know, feel better or, you know, because all of a sudden if it’s a team member, that person is going to be liberated to go out there and find and work in an environment and in things that absolutely, you know, align with them and so on and so forth. So, I hope this episode serves you well, that it really gets the ground prepared, like, you know, moves the soil around and cleans up any of the weeds, so to speak, and helps you then be able to, once you’ve done all the cleanup, you know, allows you to go ahead and plant your little seeds of the capabilities of, you know, of the things that you need to invest in yourself. Because that’s the number one investment really, you know, in order for us to grow is an investment in ourselves, banking in ourselves, whether it be, you know, with coaching, whether it be, you know, by deciding that I’m going to start investing and setting, you know, some money aside in order for me to start either working, you know, on those financial goals. But you’ll be able to plant, you know, that little seedling but you can’t just plant it in any space, you know. You have to first, you know, prepare the ground soil. You know, like I said, clean up the bad weeds and have nice, fertile, you know, soil in a fertile ground, a clean slate in order to be able to move into the new year. So, thank you so much for spending time with me. I would love it if you please give me a five-star review if your listening to this on, you know, on iTunes or however you get your podcasts. Leave me a five-star review, a written review is even better. It helps me reach many, many more people. And so, or pass it on, you know, to someone, to a friend, to someone that you love, you know, to an important person in your life that needs to hear this as well. Thank you so much and I hope to see you on the next episode of the “InFlow” podcast. Thank you. Bye-bye. I hope this episode left you feeling inspired and ready to get inflows of cash, inflows of light, and inflows of faith in your life. I welcome your reviews on iTunes. Please leave me a review and help me create an amazing community of women in flow. Thank you, as always, for sharing your voice by going to michellebosch.com and joining the conversation about this show. And while you’re there, grab a copy of my “Ten Commandments to Living a Life Inflow.” You can also follow me on Facebook at Michelle Bosch and on Instagram at Michelle Bosch Official. Thank you very much, and until the next one.