Livin' La Vida Luna y Luca
Luna turned 5.
We're not talking about it. 😢
Motivation ➡️ Systems
"We don't rise to the level of our expectations, we fall to the level of our training."
-Archilochus
Motivation is a funny thing. When you have it, taking action toward your goals is fun and exciting. When you don't have it, taking action toward anything feels impossible and it's status quo for days.
When I was a bit younger, I relied on sheer will and determination to brute force my way to what I wanted when I lacked motivation.
Now that I'm more weathered, I've learned to exploit motivation when I have it, and be patient when I don't. The simplest way I've found to take advantage of motivation is by creating systems that get me closer to my goal.
For example... At the turn of 2025, I was highly motivated to experiment with weight loss as a potential solution for my high cholesterol. My annual physical was in late Feb so I had about 60 days to do some damage. During that time, I set up a system for nutrition, exercise, and sleep that would make losing weight pretty straightforward. I literally ate the same meals every day, did the same 4-5 workouts every week, and went to bed at the same time for like 10 weeks straight.
I ended up losing 10 lbs in 2 months and then surprisingly lost 2-3 more lbs after my physical. The expiration date of my motivation to lose weight was my annual physical appointment in late Feb. But the systems I put in place allowed me to continue losing weight well into March and April.
More recently, I've been motivated to "work harder" or "produce more" because we just moved into a new home that costs quite a bit more than our previous one.
With this motivation came a lot of luck. I feel like I've been pulling rabbits out of a hat every other day for the past few weeks.
A lot of it comes down to having more conversations to increase serendipitous outcomes. So I'm trying to have at least one conversation per day about new business. Whether that's talking to someone for the first time, or talking to someone I already know about a new opportunity.
I've taken this approach over the past few weeks and the amount of dots I've connected is surreal. I got a new deal under contract from someone on Twitter. Now I'm selling that house to a competitor, and that competitor handed me an opportunity she didn't want to take advantage of, which I'm likely going to sell to another developer.
In another instance, we followed up with a homeowner who wasn't ready to sell to us a few months ago and found out she gave our phone number to someone who is ready to sell to us now. We're making an offer on that property this week and will likely offload it to someone we haven't even met yet.
I know this momentum won't last and my motivation will fade so it's my hope/expectation that this daily bizdev habit keeps the ball rolling until the next time motivation knocks on my door.
I guess what I'm trying to say is Motivation is fleeting, which makes it an unreliable ally in trying to achieve our goals. But if harnessed correctly, it can be a great tool to develop a system or process that will carry you forward long after it wears off.
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What I'm Working On...
