‘Life is a curved construction; time is its builder, and choice its master architect.’
Jeff Olson, The Slight Edge
In this article, we’re talking about something that’s very close to our hearts and an integral part of our philosophy in property investment. In fact, it’s so ingrained in us, that we assumed everyone was doing, but it turns out that almost no one is.
It’s what we like to call ‘living by design’, and at its core it’s a way of thinking that will allow you to live the lifestyle you want by taking practical steps in the right direction.
Now, before we get started let’s just clarify that living by design is a philosophy that’s achievable for anyone – you don’t have to be rich, have a certain status or a particular profession. You just have to have the dedication and patience to see your dreams realised.
Living by design is all about figuring out what you want from life and coming up with a plan that will allow you to do it. This means building a structure and design that will give you the money and time to live that dream lifestyle. And the reason we’re talking about it here is that property investment is one of the best ways of doing that. We already wrote in a previous article about how wise investments can lead to giving you time and money, and here we’re going to talk about what you can do with it, and how you can start planning for it today.
So, these are the steps that we go through with our clients, and you probably won’t be surprised to hear that some of them are skeptical when we say that investing in property can lead to your dream lifestyle. They sometimes think it’s an unrealistic claim or a little woo-woo, but when we walk them through the figures and practicalities, they see how real it can be in the long-run.
Live by Design – Imagining Your Perfect Day
Often, when we’re trying to show someone the benefits that come with investing in property, we ask them to imagine their perfect day – to really picture what it might involve. More often than not, this perfect day is spent in a relaxing setting with loved ones. By showing people how much time and money can be gained from investing in property, we also show people that this perfect day could a regular reality if they’re willing to put in the groundwork now.
The Roadmap
Living by design is a roadmap. And if you don’t have a roadmap, you wander aimlessly. In order to be successful in property investment and achieve your dreams, you need to take it one step at a time. This means having a very clear idea as to what your next objective is, exactly how you can achieve it and where you plan to go from there.
Doing the Maths
This is where it gets a little less romantic and a lot more brainy. However, it’s also the step that convinces people just how feasible it is to live their dream lifestyle.
You can put together all your figures and data, and get to the bottom of exactly what you can achieve and in what timeframe. This might be calculating what your first property investment could be, at what point in the future you could replace your day-to-day job with your work as a property investor, and what type of lifestyle you could have as a result.
Of course, these can sometimes be tricky to work out on your own, so it might be a good idea to enlist the help of a financial planner or independent property investment advisor. (Check out this other article we wrote about keeping the right company and building a solid team of experts around you.)
Identifying the Areas That Are Important
Often in life, we have goals and ambitions that aren’t all they’re cracked up to be, and we only find out once we’ve achieved them. Of course, there’s no way to totally safe-guard against this. Sometimes you have to live the dream to realise it’s not everything you want from life. However, this doesn’t mean that you can’t gain the best possible idea of where you want to be going.
One of the most straightforward ways of doing this is identifying the areas that are most important to you. These might be family, holidays, financial security, autonomy or all of the above. The point is that once you’ve given your ambitions a good deal of thought, you’re better placed to actually pursue them.
You will find that many of these things will become more evident as you continue along your journey into property investment. As your time becomes freer, you will get to know yourself more and more. Your dreams and values may change, but that’s OK. Keep your options open, and don’t put all your eggs in one basket.
You can be sure that by investing in property you’re giving yourself the best possible chance of making these dreams a reality, and achieving an autonomy that will open all sorts of doors for you.
We’re going to leave you with this quote in the hope that it will inspire you to chase your dream lifestyle in the same way it did for us:
‘If you don’t design your own life plan, chances are you’ll fall into someone else’s plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not much.’
Jim Rohn
