Author: Freedom Land Capital

We believe that, like us, most people set goals, and in the process of doing so consider all the steps they’ll have to take to achieve them. They ask themselves questions like, “What are the actionable steps to take?” and “How long will it take to achieve these goals?” By answering these questions, they can start to make plans, asking “If we want to achieve that goal in 3 years, what has to happen in the first year?” To better define the steps, they may break them down further, determining what has to happen in each quarter, or even what they should be doing each week.

For what it’s worth, these are all sound ideas; after all, if you want to achieve your goals, you must take action and be prepared for hard, diligent work. But what if we told you that putting in the work is just one piece of the puzzle – and that it’s the easy part? Wrapping your head around the amount of time and effort you will need to invest to make an endeavor successful is definitely a step in the right direction – but it’s not the whole picture. 

We have found that there’s another piece of the puzzle that often gets missed: the other side of the equation that’s equally important, if not more so. In this article, we will be looking at a shift in mindset that allows you to leverage an inevitable part of each venture, turning a common obstacle into your biggest motivation.

The Other Side of the Equation: Giving Up

This missing part of the puzzle that is so rarely discussed is the ‘risk’ of pursuing your goal. In addition to what you’re willing to do to get to where you want to go and achieve your goals, you must also consider what you are willing to give up. 

These decisions might range from leaps that are as big as a lifestyle change for you and your family to something as trivial as giving up the time you spend watching your favorite TV show, and everything in between. Most times, if you believe your risk to be greater than your possible reward, chances are you won’t take the leap.

What are you willing to give up?

After you have gone through the first step committing to a goal, it is time to get into the second step: deciding what you’re willing to risk. Will it be worth it if you lose those things in the process of obtaining your goal?  These risks take different forms for different people depending on the circumstances and what you need to give to achieve your goal:

1. Stability

As humans, we have a natural tendency towards stability rather than leaping into the unknown. This comes in different forms, including job security and financial stability. People may not be willing to take risks at the expense of their stability such as:

• Giving up the comfort and security of a solid-paying job in pursuit of more entrepreneurial endeavors.
• Giving up their preferred place of residence to move closer to opportunity. 
• Investing a huge amount of money for the possibility of greater returns. You might have big dreams, but you aren’t prepared to risk your financial stability by potentially losing money in a new venture.

2. Relationships

Some decisions call on us to sacrifice our relationships. Maybe this is a current business partner who won’t step with you into your future plans. Maybe it is the time you normally spend with family and friends, which you now need to invest in your business. We sometimes have to make the difficult decision to be less invested in certain relationships, whether for the short term or the long term.

3. Leisure / Instant Gratification

There are few endeavors that do not involve giving up your weekend plans, social life, extra sleep, hobbies, and vacation plans for a period of time.

Other Things We Have to Give Up/Let Go:

There are also many bad habits that we have to let go of to attain success. Although we can all agree that these are things we ought to let go of, it can feel like taking a risk because they are the norm we are used to. But change is a risk we must all take if we hope to get different results. In reality, holding onto these bad habits is the greater risk, as it jeopardises your ability to achieve your much-desired rewards. These things include:

Worry

There is so much we have no control over, and simply can’t influence no matter how hard we try. In such moments, or on such days, learning to let go of your worry and leaving it to God is the healthiest decision you can make to grow.

Fear of Failure

As humans, we have an innate desire to succeed. While this propels us to strive to attain the highest level we can, it can cripple us in one spot when we concentrate more on not failing than on doing what we can. Letting go of this fear of failure will help you to give whatever you are working at your best shot.

Regret

One constant in our life is the past and all of us have parts of it that we would rather have handled differently. Unfortunately, the truth is that we can’t go back to the past, and holding on to it can never help you achieve a better result: it simply leads to a downwards decline. Today, decide to let go of your regrets, while reflecting on what you can learn from the experience and changes you can make to become a better version of yourself. This helps keep your focus on the future, and draw you forwards to your goal.

Why is Risk Analysis Important? 

You might think that the idea of sacrifice is a given. When you say you’re committed to doing something, you’re automatically committing to giving something else up. But, in our experience, something happens when we fully acknowledge the sacrifices (big and small!) that we’re about to make, and realise that we’re still willing to pursue that particular goal. We are more dedicated and more likely to succeed when we are fully aware of all the sacrifices involved.

We have also realized that the process of naming the risks that come with pursuing certain ventures helps us decide if they are worth pursuing. When we decide the venture is valuable but the risks are too dear to take, having the risks identified in this way helps us come up with a point of compromise for the risk and the venture.Final Thoughts

What we are willing to give up to achieve our goals varies from individual to individual – we each have different definitions of needs and values. Despite these disparities, next time you set your goals and think about what you’ll have to do to achieve them, and don’t forget about what you’re prepared to give up. When deciding on the risks you are willing to take, we hope that you stand firm with your values and the things that matter the most to you, as nothing is worth risking them for.

Final Thoughts

What we are willing to give up to achieve our goals varies from individual to individual – we each have different definitions of needs and values. Despite these disparities, next time you set your goals and think about what you’ll have to do to achieve them, and don’t forget about what you’re prepared to give up. Become clear minded about the sacrifices necessary,yet stand firm with your values and the things that matter most.

At Freedom Land Capital, we believe it is truly vital for any company or individual to define their purpose – aka, their ‘why’ – when embarking on any new venture. As Simon Sinek puts it: “Very few of us can clearly articulate why we do what we do. The WHY is the purpose, cause, or belief that drives every organization and every person’s individual career.  Why does your company exist? Why did you get out of bed this morning? And why should anyone care?” 

Answering these questions helps to determine the value of your actions. With a clearly defined ‘why’, you can decide whether or not a venture is worth continuing, and you can set up milestones to make visible progress over time. With Sinek’s words in mind, let’s dive deeper into finding your purpose in everyday endeavors.

Prioritize Your Activities

Nothing kills a new venture faster than a lack of focus! The time you spend defining your ‘why’ will give you a clear aim and focus, ultimately saving you time in the long run, as you will be far less inclined to procrastinate. When you have a lot to get done, ask yourself: What tasks on my to-do list most directly contribute to my purpose and my long-term objectives? This way, you can prioritize your tasks in a way that maximizes time and shifts the focus on to your goals.

Say No to Other Opportunities

Seeking out fresh opportunities is both exciting and fulfilling. It’s rewarding to remind yourself that you have the skills and the capacity to face a new challenge. Taking on more than you can handle, however, is detrimental to your productivity. 

At times, what looks like a good opportunity is actually a distraction in disguise. Deciphering opportunities from distractions becomes a challenge when you don’t have a clear understanding of your purpose – when your actions are not aligned with your goals. This highlights the necessity of defining your ‘why’ and sticking to it; in doing so, it will be easier to tell which new opportunities are for your benefit, and which will only prove distracting.

Stay Motivated By Your Why

Our excitement about a new venture is generally short-lived. Bursts of motivation aren’t enough to keep us focused, either – so when our work starts to look like a monotonous daily grind, it can be a real challenge to keep pushing onward. This motivation burnout happens more often than we’d like to admit. By reminding ourselves of our purpose and goals, however, we can tap into a consistent supply of inspiration, creativity, and motivation!

Be Consistent

Successful businesses understand that consistency truly is key to reaching and surpassing your goals. Without consistency, growth is slow and stagnation is imminent. Your staying power determines your growth rate; the more you stick to those monotonous daily tasks, the more progress you will see. Defining your purpose can help with this consistency, as it brings you a clearer view of your goals and consequently bolsters your grit.

Define Your Relevance

Optimism is rarely lacking when starting a new venture – and positivity is a great thing. Without defining your purpose, however, you risk overlooking the significance of your business and its relevance to potential customers. Relevance is very important to every venture as it affects its sales and its continuity.

Boost Your Confidence

Sometimes, we avoid defining our purpose out of fear. Fear is the destroyer of progress: it talks to our subconscious, asking, what if you’re just not good enough? This self-talk dissipates once your purpose is defined – you just need to take the leap of faith. While your fear may still linger at first, defining your ‘why’ reminds you just how important your contribution and your business is to society.

The key points discussed here are intertwined: They work in synchrony to form a solid platform for your venture. Neglecting any one area can lead to instability of that platform. If you are motivated but inconsistent, for example, there will be no significant progress – it is only a matter of time before your initial motivation is lost. Conversely, strengthening one area will help to strengthen the others: Prioritizing your activities gives a clearer view of your timeline and helps you choose which opportunities to take on. Underlining each of these tools is the need to define your purpose – why you do what you do!

Identifying an area of specialization is critical to success as an entrepreneur. We have found this to be especially true in our real estate investing careers. Over the years, we’ve had exposure to many other asset classes – far too many to become experts in all. We intentionally chose a niche to enter and familiarize ourselves with, and we are encouraging you to do the same.

As an individual or business, it is important to understand the difference between a distraction and an opportunity. Once you resonate with a particular investment strategy and business model, don’t get sidetracked by the shiny object! Remember the famous saying, “All that glitters is not gold”. This is not to say that other opportunities are not worthwhile, but time is a fixed asset. Delving into too many areas prevents you from specializing in one specific niche. 

To operate at peak performance, you have to know your trade inside and out. Your niche needs to be your area of total expertise. This takes a lot of time and money, and as such, you can’t afford to be investing your time elsewhere. Let’s discuss the reasons why this level of focus leads to success so you can realize its necessity.

Six Reasons Why a Niche can Save Your Business

1. It allows you to conduct thorough due diligence (properties, partners, deal structures). When you are only focused on your niche, there is little to no distraction so you can meticulously consider every detail. This, of course, leads to risk mitigation and ultimately a sustainable business you can be proud of.

2. More efficient operations – When you’re focused on one niche, you can create a team and systems around that particular model for an optimized workflow. You will deeply understand the needs of your investment or business, allowing you to resolve issues and come up with solutions. Focusing on your niche facilitates “Rinse and repeat” – repurposing your system for a more efficient workflow.

3. It sets your business apart – As we earlier mentioned, focusing improves your efficiency and thoroughness, thereby positively affecting the overall performance of what you do. This helps you stand out to clients or customers and facilitates your becoming a brand. You are then memorable and less likely to be forgotten.

4. It fosters reliability – Everyone wants to work with someone they can trust and rely on, and this includes your clients (customers). Niche-focused businesses are thorough with their dealing and prove to be very reliable. You can broaden the narrow path of your business, discover all the holes that need filling, and then work towards doing so. It is only natural that niched businesses would be relied upon, as they have all the information needed to cater to the needs of their customers.

5. It attracts the right customers – We live in a time where we are bombarded with too much information and too many choices. A niche-focused business will thrive on the demand for clear and concise information. They allow their customers to find what they need more easily, creating shortcuts by using their expert knowledge within a specific niche.

6. It grows competitive advantage – The world is moving very fast, and technological processes are constantly advancing. If you’re in one specific niche, it’s much easier to stay on top of current trends and tools, giving you a competitive edge against your diversified competition.

Focus Point

Knowledge is empowering, but there’s no need to be an expert at everything. A master of one trade is most certainly better than the jack of all! It’s infinitely preferable to focus in on your chosen niche, whilst being open to learning about others. This knowledge might come in handy as you flourish and excel in your own niche. 

“The shortest way to do many things is to do only one thing at a time.” – Mozart. 

Evaluate your current position, align your focus, and discard the extras today!

We land investors operate in a specialized business model within a very niche real estate asset class. With the ever-increasing number of entrants into the space, one might ask, “What is it exactly about the vacant land niche that attracts so many new investors?” “Is this a hidden honey well we’ve been missing?”

We’d never be able to capture all the reasons – there are far too many – but here’s our stab at the Top 6 Reasons why people enjoy investing in vacant land.

1. Risk/Return Profile

The first thing an investor notices in this niche is the potential ROI that one can achieve. Buying from motivated sellers creates an incredible amount of margin, even when selling at a slight discount to retail market rates. In other asset classes, the investor would have to assume much greater risk to achieve similar ROI levels. With land, however, you can acquire property on such a low basis that your risk is significantly mitigated. Additionally, because the purchase price per property is typically lower with vacant land, the investor can spread his or her risk over multiple properties across several counties/states. With vacant land, you can purchase more and risk less.

2. Low Barriers to Entry

Land is relatively cheap. Be it a $1,000, $10,000, or $100,000 acquisition, there’s a low barrier for investors to acquire property relative to other asset classes. Similarly, land investors can maintain a thriving business with minimal operating expenses/ overhead. It’s difficult to pass on incredible benefits like this!

3. Efficiency and Automation

The incredible software tools available today allow land investors to streamline the full lifecycle of a transaction. From sourcing, due diligence, and closing, through to marketing and selling, the operator’s efficiency is limited only by his knowledge of the right tools and proper execution. With the digital world as it is today, it simply makes sense to opt for an automated investment.

4. Scalability

Unlike many other business models or investment strategies, vacant land investment is extremely scalable. The operator can increase his or her production/profit while changing their structure or processes by a relatively insignificant degree.  They may need outside capital, but internal processes should always remain relatively unchanged.

5. No-hassle inventory/property

Unlike single-family residential or other commercial asset classes, vacant land is simple. There are no tenants to deal with and no property maintenance to worry about, saving you a huge amount of time and money. This benefit thrives on what makes it cheap – its vacancy!

6. It is a Finite Resource

This is one of the most persuasive reasons to invest in vacant land. As vacant land supply is limited and becoming more so each day, its demand is bound to increase enormously. An investor can buy vacant land in an area for a cheap price and see its value skyrocket in the years that follow.

A Sound Investment

Land investing favors those with strengths in diligence and organization. Those who are naturally process-minded and detail-oriented tend to be successful. We like to think our strengths are in line with these characteristics, so we find particular fulfillment in this space. Additionally, we enjoy the people in the land investing niche. Especially compared to other asset classes, we have experienced a collaborative and friendly bunch of like-minded investors and entrepreneurs.

We Americans love our rights spelled out in the Declaration of Independence – Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness! We defend them and hold them close to our hearts, and for good reason indeed. Today, we want to focus on the Pursuit of Happiness. What does it mean to pursue happiness and meaning in life? Where, or to whom, do we turn for guidance?

As with most things, we at FLC like to consult God’s Word and lean into His wisdom, because the wisdom that comes from the world will often fail us. In this case, we will try to glean as much as we can from one of the wisest men who ever lived, one of the greatest and most successful Kings of Israel – King Solomon. 

We begin unpacking true happiness and the search for meaning in Ecclesiastes. This book has been called “The search for happiness under the sun”, so it seems like the perfect place to start.

We acknowledge that not many people study Ecclesiastes for insight and wisdom. Stylistically, the book is quite difficult to understand due to its rambling monologue, not to mention Solomon’s statement that “everything is meaningless” which appears more than a couple dozen times throughout. We wouldn’t blame you for skipping to the more palatable books in the Bible. Today, however, let us dig into the book and pull out some applicable truths for our businesses and our lives.

Where Not to Look

First of all, let’s debunk the myth that happiness and fulfillment can be found in material or superficial things. Despite what the world tells us, happiness is not found in:

Intellectualism

Solomon learned all he could. He educated himself in all things, but still, he wasn’t satisfied. He may have been the wisest man on earth in his time, but no one would claim he was the happiest. It’s questionable whether he was often happy at all.

Having fun and seeking pleasure

This is what worldly wisdom would call happiness. According to worldly people, having fun equals happiness and fulfillment – but Solomon says that this is not the case either. If anything, it is a paradox of pleasure where the law of diminishing returns applies; the more people seek pleasure, the less they find it. It’s like trying so hard to fly and always falling to the ground – the higher you climb to jump from, the more painful it is when you fall.

Wealth

Acquiring and growing wealth, seeking money and the things that it can buy, and everything else that materialism consists of can’t give you lasting happiness. Even Solomon wasn’t satisfied with the things his riches could get him. We often think that happiness goes hand-in-hand with financial stability, but that is only half true. Your happiness will be fleeting and momentary if monetary gain is your only goal.

Lessons from Solomon

It’s clear that Solomon tried – and failed – to find happiness in many of the places we commonly search for it. Let’s take an extensive look into the life of Solomon and what we can learn from his time testing the various ways men seek happiness.

• Wealth – He was one of the richest men who ever lived, so he could buy anything he wanted.
• Power – He was the King and had tons of power, so he could do whatever he wanted.
• Gratification – He had the means to get whatever he wanted, and he did just that. He was married to 700 wives and had 300 concubines.

Solomon had tried all the worldly things that was possible to try and did everything that he could do, but at the end of the day, he felt just as unfulfilled, tired, disappointed, and unsatisfied as he was before. At the end of his lifelong search, he had come up empty – and that must have hurt a lot.

All these things we mention above are not bad in and of themselves, but we know they shouldn’t be the sole target of our lives. We also know they don’t lead to happiness and fulfillment by themselves.

Our Discovery

From our journey through the book, we find that Solomon doesn’t give solid conclusions, unfortunately. It seems his goal for the book was simply to illustrate our inability to find meaning and purpose in the world around us. Solomon’s findings were that ‘everything’s boring, utterly boring – no one can find any meaning in it,’ (Ecclesiastes 1:8, MSG).

• Solomon refutes our expectations that we can live our life on our own terms and be satisfied.
• He asserts that true peace and purpose can only be found in the Lord, seeking His Glory and the advancement of the Kingdom

Where Does Happiness Truly Lie?

If we can’t turn to money, and we can’t turn to material things, where do we search for happiness? Is it our careers; our loved ones; our possessions? You might ask, what do we do here on earth? How do we live a happy and meaningful life?

First of all, Solomon says we need to enjoy our work. 

• Eccl 3:22 (NIV) says that Solomon “saw that there is nothing better for one than to enjoy their work.”

His response is so simple – you might have expected more from someone who had tested and tried everything. Work hard, enjoy the journey, but don’t expect this to satisfy the soul. 

• Eccl 3: 12-13 (NIV) says that there’s “nothing better for people than to be glad and to do good while they live. That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift from God.”

This response reminds us that our satisfaction does not come from what we do to gain happiness, but we should still enjoy the things that bring momentary joy. It is all that we can do – it is the most we can do! While we go ahead doing what we can do, being good, eating, drinking, and relating with people – all while looking to God for support and guidance – we will find satisfaction with all we do.

The Home of Happiness

We have understood that no matter how far we search, so long as we are searching among the things of this earth, we will not find lasting happiness. We have also established that we should do what is within our power and aim to do it well. 

In his book, Every Good Endeavor, Tim Keller let us know that a biblical perspective of our work improves our desire to make value from the resources that are available to us. “A biblical understanding of work energizes our desire to create value from the resources available to us. Recognizing the God who supplies our resources, and who gives us the privilege of joining in as co-cultivators, helps us enter into our work with a relentless spirit of creativity.” 

If we truly desire happiness, then we should go straight to its source – our amazing God. Recognizing the Giver of all things and constantly seeking Him are all steps in the right direction. When we make our home with God, we are also building our home into the source of everything else we could possibly desire. It sounds so simple, yet it is so tasking; one of the hardest things we can do as humans is letting go and trusting God when we know we can’t help ourselves. Seek God in all things, and satisfaction will flow abundantly from your cup. 

Bottom Line

From Solomon, and maybe some of our personal experiences, it is clear that our meaning, purpose, and happiness cannot be found in this world. We are to take a lesson from Solomon – the man who tried it all – to save ourselves some time and not search for happiness as he did. Do your work as best you can and leave the rest up to God. Take comfort knowing that it’s our privilege to work, and that we’re to use all that God has given us to do it well. We hope you are encouraged by this, and that it prompts you to lean into God for your truest sense of happiness.

Recently, I listened to a sermon by Tim Keller on “A Biblical Perspective on Risk,” and I appreciated the content so much that I decided to write on it. Tim Keller is an American Pastor and Christian Apologist who has authored many books for Christians and anyone looking for God. In this particular sermon, Tim explained the concept of risk and classified risk for better understanding. He then approached the discussion from a Biblical perspective, and I will be doing the same thing in this article.

Before we make the discovery about that specific perspective, first, we will start by defining the word.

The Meaning: What Is Risk?

Risk is defined in very similar ways by many people. To put it simply, it is the chance that the return on an investment made will be lower than what you expected. Once you know the risk, often expressed as a percentage, you can weigh it against the rewards and decide whether or not you would like to continue with an investment. 

Two Types of Risks: External versus Internal Risk

When discussing risk related to starting a new venture, there are two types of risks that should be analyzed before making any final decision.

The first is the external risk. It is determined after careful evaluation of the venture – this risk is calculated by running the numbers. For the second one, we have the internal risk. The internal risk here comes from within you and how you feel about pursuing a venture after carefully considering of all the external risks. This internal risk is your inner attitude towards the risk you are about to take. For example, if you have no fear of failure, chances are that your internal attitude towards the risk will be positive. In contrast, having fears or concerns will make you a bit more hesitant.

Now, these two possible states of internal attitude to risk are good in themselves.  However, being on the extreme of either can cause a lapse in decision-making. We know that we cannot sail on two rivers at the same time. One must choose on which road to take.

For instance, having no fear or being overconfident makes one less cautious and could result in making the wrong move. On the other hand, being crippled by worry which stems from a fear of failure, makes you unable to take smart risks. For some people, previous failures make them take on too few risks, while for others, it makes them take on bigger ones as they are looking for their big break.

Regardless of the category you fall into, you need to find a way to balance out your fears or overconfidence.  A balance between the two will help you make objective decisions about the risk you are about to embark on. This decision boils down to your internal attitude to risk affecting how you perceive the external risk.

History of the Concept of Risk

While it might seem that risk has been an integral part of life forever, it may surprise you that the word risk was not used in the English language until the 1600s. Before that, the concept of chance was strongly influenced by the belief structure of fatalist Greek and classical Roman societies. 

According to the Greeks and Romans, the idea of risk simply didn’t exist because they believed in the acceptance of fate, or predestination. In other words, what was going to happen would happen, and all things are inevitable. This, of course, means that there is no point weighing up risks: ultimately, the result has already been pre-determined and you have no control over anything.

After that, the general idea of risk was first brought about through capitalism, as the capitalist society was very different from the ancient one. This was because deism developed around that period (between the 1600s – 1700s), making people less dependent on God supporting them. People began to understand and realize the need to get things done – by themselves. As the belief in predestination shrank, the understanding that they could make decisions brought about the need for people to calculate and manage those decisions. People began to believe themselves accountable for their own growth.

The Difference Between Christianity Today and Fatalism

As Christians, we believe in the sovereignty of God, but in a different way than the Greek and Roman fatalists did. Christianity is of the “despite what we do” belief, whereas fatalism believes in “resigned fate.” 

What this means for Christians is that we put in our very best and depend on God to make it work – we plant and water, and He causes them to grow. We know we are to take responsibility, and for every action we take, there will be consequences that will unfold. For the fatalists, however, God’s sovereignty includes predestination, and nothing we do makes a difference in how things develop. 

As Christians, we should strike a balance between our responsibility and God’s sovereignty. God is not a puppet master. Instead, He is a loving God who sent His son to die for us that we might be saved. 

Personal Note on the Impact of Deism

Deism served an excellent purpose of bringing to the consciousness of many the need to make decisions knowing that there are consequences to them. However, as with all extremities, this led many people to dismiss the need for God.  Unlike the black and white expectation that we either need God to spoon-feed us or, don’t need Him at all, we as humans need to understand that we should do as much as we can, while acknowledging that God crowns our efforts.

A Biblical Perspective on Risk

The bible doesn’t expressly talk about risk, which is not surprising, seeing as the concept of risk wasn’t in practice during that time. Despite this, the bible teaches us how to approach new ventures or investments and, as Christian entrepreneurs, guide us on how we access and undertake risk.

To be a smart, savvy, and courageous Christian entrepreneur, there are two things you need to know about: fear and control. Fear and control are mentioned often in the bible and, by understanding them, you will be taking steps in the right direction.

1. Fear

Fear is an emotional state of anxiety caused by either the awareness or the anticipation of a dangerous situation. The bible addresses this emotion many times, but the passage we will be focusing on here is Psalm 3. In Psalm 3, we read of David’s worries about his enemies who were trying to bring him down both physically and psychologically. Like many Christian entrepreneurs today, he had people who poked at his identity, questioning if God was with him (Psalm 3:1-2).

However, from verse 3, we saw a shift in the words of David, and those are what set a foundation for how we are to deal with fear when it threatens to cripple us.

How to Deal with Fear

To effectively deal with fear, we should take steps to handle it healthily and prevent recurrence.

1. Admit Your Helplessness – The first thing David did at the beginning of the chapter was acknowledge the fears that were trying to swallow him whole that he could do nothing about. To deal with fear, you have to first admit to yourself that you are afraid and have no control over it.
2. Acknowledge God – Relocate Your Security to Him “But you, Lord, are a shield around me, my glory, the One who lifts my head high.” – Psalm 3: 3. This verse guides us to the next step to take while dealing with fear: handing over what worries us to God. In handing over, or relocating our security, we are also acknowledging that we had put them in the wrong place before. Our fear arose because we were resting our security on our own frail abilities. Relocating your security to Him entails realizing during each episode of fear that God’s love for you, His grace, and your identity in Christ are your strongest and most valuable assets.

Why Should I Relocate my Security to God?

When you make your identity in Christ your most valuable asset, your head is held high in God.  What others say matters less, regardless of your achievements or failures. This does not mean that caring about your ventures is unimportant, but it is no longer your focal point. When you get to this point of relocating your security, you will find your fear of failure dissipated because your real assets are in God. There is nothing to fear if what you value most will never be affected.

Another major thing that a Christian entrepreneur will achieve through this practice is striking that balance between crippling fear and overconfidence that we discussed earlier. When you relocate your significance to God, you will discover that the fear that once crippled you has drastically reduced. Now, you can make more clear-headed decisions about your venture. 

How do I Relocate my Security to Him?

Relocating our security and significance is not as easy as simply deciding to. It takes singing, worship, repentance, prayer, and consciously sticking to it. All of this, of course, is built by being consistent over time.

2. Control

This is the second thing discussed in the bible that should influence how we take risks. James 4: 13-15 reads, “Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.  Instead, you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.’”

This passage reminds us that we have no control over what happens at any point in our life. It reminds us of our insignificance in a world as vast as ours, and this revelation should greatly humble us. Today, our society encourages and even requires us to make plans. The problem is making plans often leads us to making mistakes.

Mistake and Self Overestimation

With planning comes the likelihood of overestimating the knowledge you have. You’ve run the numbers and believe that you can handle taking a risk from your calculations. But, we fail to realize that we don’t know what we don’t know, and there are many possibilities that we never even dreamed could occur.

Does this mean that planning is bad? No, far from it! Make the plans you need to, but always remember that the right circumstance, timing, and opportunities ensure our success, all of which we have no control over.

How to Relinquish Control

The truth is that we have no control to relinquish. So when we talk about relinquishing control, we mean accepting that we have no control and trusting God to fulfill our needs as He is the one who knows all things. 

Bottom Line

Fear of failure and wanting to control everything about our ventures are not foreign concepts to us Christians. But if we agree to let God take the reins and pioneer what we do, we would realize the things we do have control over and be wise, courageous, and bold in fulfilling our part. Therefore, I pray that you learn to trust God’s direction for your life and worry less, knowing that He cares for you.

A friend sent us a link to a YouTube video.  We’re always hesitant because a.) don’t want to spend the time and b.) often good advice out there, but there’s also a lot of noise and don’t like to get pulled in a bunch of different directions.  

But, we’re glad we clicked on this one though:

Mel Robbins offers very simple advice to help us break out of our routine. While we don’t agree with everything said, generally, we think her advice is sound and that there’s a lot of truth and its worth a listen.  

Here’re our notes/summary:

Most times, our body sends us signals based on what we need. When you need food, you feel hungry, so you eat food; in the same way, you feel thirsty, so you take a drink. Each time the body sends its signals, especially those with solutions within our reach, we find it easy to fix those issues and satisfy the need. 

But what about when you feel stuck!? In business, we all feel this way at some point, but this doesn’t mean your life is broken; rather, it just might mean your needs are still not being met. A need that we don’t always consider is the need for growth and exploration! Everything is constantly growing and changing in life, and our soul is no different. It needs development and exploration. 

Step #1 Acknowledge you’re stuck and try to identify the reason why.

Step #2 Take Action. Forcing yourself to be uncomfortable is the only way. Beyond your comfort zone lies the growth zone, and while this is an opportunity to grow, you certainly won’t enjoy the process.

It’s easy to fall into a routine in life and drift along on autopilot. Our brain and body prefer autopilot because it’s easy and comfortable. But getting what you want takes effort. You have to force yourself to do things. Following your feelings is a trap; your feelings are not a good guide.

Bottom Line

Feeling stuck could result from compounded problems like getting tired of a routine, low mental stimulation at your job, or even not having enough rest or nutrition. Don’t wait until you feel like doing something — it won’t happen — instead, try to eliminate the negative feelings while reminding yourself of the resources available to you and then get to work. 

As Mel put it, achieving your goals and aspirations is simpler than you think, but it’s never easy!

If you look at some of the most successful companies, you will notice that they aren’t constantly changing their strategies and reinventing themselves with every market change. Instead, they relentlessly build a repeatable approach to every department within their business.

Compared to other business models, land investment may not strike you as being repeatable or scalable. But in fact, it is both! That is exactly what we have done with our land investing business model–and we can teach you how to do the same.

Scalability and Repeatability

In order to scale your land, you first have to understand the concept of land scalability and repeatability:

• Scalability is your business’s capacity to grow when faced with increased production without being limited by the availability of resources and/or structure. 
• On the other hand, repeatability is the ability to perform the same sales processes over again and establish sustained growth. 

These two terms go hand-in-hand: the true test of whether your business is scalable is if the processes you applied when scaling it can be repeated, and lead to growth. 

A scalable business model yields more returns as more resources – capital and labor – are invested in it. When this can be repeated, the business model is said to be both scalable and repeatable. 

Why are scalability and repeatability important?

From the buy-side to sell-side and everything in between, our land investing business model is built around repeatable systems and processes that are never changed, only improved upon. We simply alter the software we use as needed, and we adjust offer prices based on the current real estate market: those are the only things that change.

One of the foundational pillars of scalability is building a business on repeatable processes that don’t require you to be involved in every step as the owner. The result is simple: if you focus on a specific strategy with well-defined acquisition criteria, then build out repeatable processes for acquiring and reselling land at a profit, you will have a business you can be truly proud of. Not only that, but you’ll be able to step away for months at a time without seeing any dip in your bank balance!

How to Scale your Land Business

While life sounds so much better this way, scaling your land business doesn’t happen by itself. It takes conscious, intentional, and well-thought-out plans to achieve. In this article, we will be sharing with you some of the steps we took to scale our land business, and how you can do the same for an equally rewarding outcome.

Find your Niche

The very first step in building your land business is finding and developing your specific niche. Developing your niche promotes the positive budding of relationships; people love to work with whom they are comfortable. Niching also builds your credibility in the industry and helps your business reach household name status.

Have a Clear Strategy

Defining your goals and having a clear strategy on how to achieve them is absolutely essential. Not only do goals help in limiting redundancies, but they also improve productivity in areas that need focusing on. With a clear strategy, you will find it much easier to remain dogged in your journey of scaling your land business.

Having a clear strategy involves:

Building the right structure. Your business needs an adequate personnel structure to function properly. When structured well, members of your team will be better positioned to perform at their very best, as their roles will be properly defined.

Delegating tasks. Delegate responsibilities to members of your team; don’t try to do everything by yourself, as it won’t be sustainable in the long run. Delegating tasks boosts productivity and saves you time. It also fosters creativity in your business, as each member of the team will have a unique idea to contribute.

Delegating can be difficult, especially when you are someone who likes to control the quality of all aspects of the business–but if you can learn to trust the team you’ve built, delegating will help to grow and strengthen your business from within.

Be Committed

Commitment yields favorable results over time. One of the major impeders to success is the lack of commitment. If you don’t commit fully to your cause, you’ll never know how far you might have gotten if you’d dedicated more time and energy. The results you achieve by being committed to your goals and strategies will astound you.

Find the bottlenecks in your business

It is never easy to accept when things don’t go as well as you’d planned or envisioned. It may lower your morale and keep you down for a while, and that’s okay. The important thing is to bounce back as soon as possible. Instead of wallowing, identify the areas that need improvement, then take action to resolve the issues. Hire professionals to fill particular roles and responsibilities that need attention. Once you fix the pain points, you can sit back and watch your business flourish.

Hone in on Your Strengths

At this point in your career, you may already be aware of your personal strengths and weaknesses. If you aren’t sure, or you suspect they may have changed, it’s worth taking the time to explore your strong points and pitfalls.

Once you’ve identified your weaknesses, improving in those areas is obviously going to be your next step. But what of your strengths? Those need to be developed, too–you will be outperformed by others if you do not continue to hone your skills and talents. Ask yourself how you can perform better, find creative ways to do things, and use your identified strengths to boost productivity.

Stay on top of new efficiency software

The world is moving quickly, and things are changing all the time–especially in the tech world. You can’t afford to remain where you started, or you’ll be well and truly swept away. Staying up to date with the latest software and technologies helps you to:

• Stay abreast of trends as they come and go
• Make informed decisions on how to go forward with your business
• Boost efficiency

The latest software and technology will often provide you with more efficient ways of getting things done.

Measure your Growth

As other successful businesses do, you should take inventory of your process. Proper documentation of the steps and decisions being made in your journey will help define:

• The steps you are taking, both right and wrong
• Changes that need to be made to ensure more growth
• Areas that need to be worked on and redundancies that should be removed

This process also ensures that you take into account any changes that have occurred in the market, thereby allowing you to devise ways to implement them in your model. Not engaging in the periodic measurement of your processes reduces the pace at which you can scale your business.

Stay Connected to Other Land Investors

Get involved in mastermind groups and training groups that allow you to interact with others in the space, especially those who are performing better than you are–this is one of the best ways to learn. Be mentored by them, read their books, and watch their videos. Staying connected will speed up your learning curve tenfold.

Don’t be scared to send more mailers!

If you find a good deal, you’ll be able to find the capital to purchase. Do not limit yourself by the amount of money you have in your account. If you only mail counties or target properties based on how much money you have in your personal bank account, you’ll never scale as fast as you probably want to. Push your financial boundaries! With high risks come even higher rewards–and investing in land is one of the most high-risk investments you can make.

Use Funding Partners

Many businesses will provide financial contributions if you request funding from them. When choosing a funding partner, you’ll want to find one that aligns with your goals and needs. Your choice of funding partner greatly affects the scalability of your land business, so be intentional about your choice and make informed decisions. If you are looking to get a funding partner, reach out to Freedom Land Capital to find out how we can help.

Bottom Line

When done properly, scaling a business will reduce your workload rather than increase it. The scaling process involves more work to begin with; however, you’ll need to sort through your internal systems and create a progressive dynamic that stimulates business growth. Following the steps outlined above will help you live the life you want to and build the successful business you always envisioned for yourself.

Don’t be afraid of failing–just take it one step at a time. We’ve done it, and you can too!

“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the ax.” – Abraham Lincoln

When starting out on any new venture, many have preached that being prepared is an absolute necessity. Even Benjamin Franklin said, “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” Most people make some kind of plan before they launch into action. But what if we told you that too much of a good thing can turn into a bad thing, and that preparedness isn’t everything?

The intention here isn’t to confuse you (though it may seem that way at first!) Indeed, preparation is important for success – but a lot can happen between preparation and getting started. Even with the most thorough planning, there are some things you simply can’t predict or prepare for. Things like:

Failed Plans

As Mike Tyson infamously said, “Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth!” Nothing is completely within your power to achieve, and unfortunately, this means your plan could blow up in your face when you least expect it. 

Try as we might, being prepared cannot guarantee our success. There’s something to be said for preparing to fail; you need to accept that your first, third, or even tenth attempt could result in failure, and that doesn’t necessarily mean you didn’t prepare enough.

Over-Analysis and Over-Planning

Attempting to cross every ‘t’ and dot every ‘i’ can delay your progress. It can cause a lack of action, slow starts, paralysis, fear, and anxiety. If you’re anything like myself, a fear of failure may cause you to consider every possible angle before proceeding. 

The downside to this is that you will likely foresee many potential problems which cause you to doubt. You will find yourself anxious and less excited about getting started, and with that, you will lose much of the vigor you initially had.

The Question

The preparation phase is important, but it can be overdone. So how do we navigate this somewhat paradoxical advice? 

Of course, you should always prepare to a certain extent – just not to your own detriment. It is up to you to determine for yourself what over-analysis means for you and your business. Try not to let preparedness get in the way as you take a leap of faith and step out of your comfort zone. 

Contingency plans are an example of this; having them is a wise thing to do, but creating contingency plans for your contingency plans is probably going overboard.

Problems With Over-Planning

Like anything we overindulge in, over-planning comes with a number of problems. Rather than propelling you forward in your endeavors, it can stagnate your progress, and will often lead to issues such as:

You May Become Inflexible

Just as ballerinas must be flexible to create their beautifully choreographed dances, you too must practice flexibility in order to succeed. 

If you set your mind on certain plans and do not allow room for the unexpected, challenges and setbacks that arise may throw you off your course. You may find yourself unable to redirect to a new route if need be; your mind will become stuck on the timeline you have worked towards, rendering you incapable of forging ahead. 

Make plans, certainly – but don’t set them in stone straight away.

It’s Hard to Anticipate Your Pain Points From The Outset

Irrespective of the time you spend planning before getting started, it’s impossible to know the bottlenecks until you stop planning and start acting. Over-planning will simply prevent you from accepting the unexpected.

If you are prone to over-planning your projects or ventures, you may be familiar with one or more of the following:

• You are afraid of imperfection.
• You have a lot of abandoned projects.
• You bother about the littlest details.
• You are afraid of change.
• You have little to nothing to show for all the extensive planning you have done.

If you identify with one, some, or all of the above, know that this is completely normal. There are plenty of steps you can take to reframe your thinking, starting with these:

Acknowledge the Act

The first step to changing your habits for the better is to realize and accept your flawed thinking. In other words, acknowledge that you are over-planning. 

You can do this by taking note of what activities you spend the bulk of your time on. Doing so will allow you to allocate your time more effectively, as you will be able to see what activities to cut down on and which to dedicate more time to. 

It is also a helpful exercise to identify your reasons for over-planning, whether that be fear of failure, resistance to change, or something else.

Filter The Information That Gets In

It’s smart to keep informed about the industry you are getting into – after all, knowledge is a pillar of success. As with all things, however, consuming too much information can be a bad thing. It can overwhelm you and cause you to doubt yourself. Over time, your voice may be drowned out by the many pieces of information you have floating in your head. 

When you find yourself unable to start because you are scared of accidentally deviating from all you have learned, that is your sign to stop researching and start working. Put a limit on the amount of time you can spend planning; then once that window is up, it’s go-time!

Set Deadlines and Launch Dates For Your Projects

Many of our best laid-plans end up stagnating, sitting in the ‘work in progress’ pile for far too long. One way to avoid the slow death of your project is to set a launch date for it. As the launch date approaches, you will find yourself putting the finishing touches on whatever plans you have underway. 

If you are prone to shifting deadlines, you can also enlist the help of accountability measures. For example, if you already have a business and you are in the process of launching a new feature or service, you could set a launch date and announce it to your existing clients. By making things public, you will have no choice but to work towards your goal.

Break Bigger Tasks into Smaller Tasks

Breaking your project into smaller, more actionable tasks will help to encourage you forward. This way, you can have small milestones to check off as you progress toward the launch of your project. Each little victory will help to motivate you and push you onward. Breaking things down will also make the project feel a little less overwhelming. 

Learn to Accept Imperfection

If you have set a public deadline for your project, there’s still no guarantee it will be perfect – even the night before launch. The only way to press on with your project, and any projects to come, is to make peace with imperfection. 

When you challenge yourself to stop planning and start acting, you will find yourself in a much better position to adapt to unexpected situations and changes. Planning is important, but it should never get in the way of executing your ideas. Even as your plan unfolds, there will always be more to do, more changes to make, and more unexpected hiccups to adapt to.

Bottom Line

At the end of the day, it is God we have to depend on. He’s the one in charge – in fact, He is the only one who can predict every challenge and possible outcome. This does not exempt us from being prepared, however; we are still tasked with making decisions and taking action. Knowing that God is in control serves as an element of faith and a source of courage. This we can see in the Bible, in which it tells us that “You can prepare a horse for the day of battle. But the power to win comes from the Lord” – Proverbs 21:31.

The truth is, we will never have all the answers. We should rely on God rather than acting solely on our own wisdom. Even Solomon said so in Proverbs 3:5-6 – “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.”

Our prayer and hope for you today is that you make the necessary preparations for the business or project you want to get started on, then take the leap of faith and go for it. There’s nothing stopping you from reaching your full potential today – only you stand between yourself and the realization of your goals. Trust in God to be with you as you fulfill each task. You can do it!