I-A-Q #27: 🛫 Speed Is Life
Happy Monday!
Here is an Idea, an Action, and a Question to consider this week.
Idea
In the fighter pilot community of the Air Force, we say that Speed is Life:
The faster I fly, the quicker I can be of service.
Troops in danger are less vulnerable if I can get to them quickly.
The faster I fly, the safer I am.
It's quite difficult to successfully target a fast moving jet.
The faster I fly, the farther I can fire a missile.
Missiles need less energy if I go fast, meaning I can drop bombs and shoot missiles from farther away.
The faster I fly, the more options I have.
I can trade speed for altitude if I lose an engine while going fast, an option I don’t have if I’m flying slowly.
In the investor-agent community of real estate, speed also matters:
The faster you go, the more momentum you build.
With momentum, you attract more deals, more partners, more opportunities.
The faster you go, the more residual income you can produce.
With money coming in, you can focus on growing and thriving rather than stressing about your next paycheck.
The faster you go, the less likely you are to quit the game.
Speed keeps you from falling prey to the Law of Diminishing Intent: the longer you delay taking action on a goal or idea, the less likely you are to actually pursue it.
The faster you go, the closer you are to reaching financial freedom.
If you’re slow-moving, it’ll take you a long time to get to the point where your money’s creating time independence and financial freedom.
Speed gets derailed when you’re solely focussed on results. When you have a bad week, month, quarter, and you’re primarily results-focussed, you can lose motivation easily.
Results are important, but your focus shouldn’t be on the outcome of your efforts––your focus should be on your efforts themselves.
So to keep your speed, and stay in the game, focus on your lead measures instead of your lag measures:
Lead Measures: Actions we can affect in the present, which will have an impact on our future results. They are predictive and influenceable. (For example, the number of calls made to potential customers can be a lead measure because it directly influences the outcome, and it’s within the control of the salesperson.)
Lag Measures: Measures that indicate the result of the actions taken. They’re always tracked after the fact and are hard to improve directly because they reflect the status of a goal or objective after the outcome has occurred. (For example, the amount of sales made in a quarter is a lag measure. It shows the result of the lead measures, but by the time you see it, it's too late to influence the result.)
Judge yourself on your lead measures, not your lag measures. Eventually, the lag measures will be exceptional. Have patience and focus on what you can control.
