Have you ever sat around surfing the internet, coming across a website, a blog, a YouTube video, a Facebook site, or any other, thinking that’s something I could do also? Have you stared at your computer or mobile device binge surfing or watching, and next thing you know 2 hours have passed and nothing has changed? Have you thought about doing a project, doing your research, continuing to research, and making excuses that you’re still doing research and the project never gets started? If you have, you’re not alone. I’ve been there. It’s a never ending battle. Whether it’s a home project like painting, fixing something, exercising, learning a new hobby, or whatever it may be, there has to be a point where you execute. If there’s no execution, then nothing has happened. Overcome, execute, persist!

I just had a discussion with a family member about losing weight, how difficult it is, and how hard it is to maintain. I think many of us can relate to this. One thing I noticed that both of us had in common is that we both like to analyze and research. We like to hear from others to get motivation. We like to hear stories from other people and their journey. We like to say “I know I know I know” when someone says “Why don’t you start?” There’s no execution! Execution not only means one-time but ongoing execution. I can personally relate. I was overweight and have been for much of my life. I’ve tried so many plans, diets, exercises, but nothing really stuck because I was so up and down with my execution and would give up. One day, it really hit me that I needed to stick to something. I had to overcome the complaining and excuses. I needed to execute fully 100%, not 80% or 90%, but 100%. And I needed to be consistent and persist healthy eating habits and exercise. I finally did it, and I lost 60 pounds and kept it off.

There’s a couple of things I learned from my conversation with my family member that allowed me to reflect from my own experience. Nothing is easy and having the will to overcome just the mental state is hard to get over. There has to be execution and there has to be consistency. Take this blog for example…I wanted to create a blog for a while but never did anything about it. I liked reading other blogs, but I never started one of my own. I asked myself should I do a Facebook page, a YouTube channel, or Instagram in addition to the blog? I had an excuse for everything. Enough with the excuses so I started the blog. Let’s take one step at a time. Will this blog be successful? Only time will tell but if I didn’t execute, there wouldn’t be a blog to talk about.

I’ve had so many excuses from no time, no energy, other priorities, I’ll get to it, not now but later, and the excuses never stopped. How does this apply to my early retirement portfolio? How will I reach financial independence? Well, it’s not going to be by sitting around binge surfing the internet. I have to research where my investments can return positive and execute, whether that is investing in real estate, individual stocks, mutual funds, REITs, 529, or anything else that can generate money.

The economy changes everyday and I have to stay abreast what is going on in order to make sound decisions. With the COVID-19 pandemic, I bought into a new investment by opening a 529 plan for my children. Was it the right time? I did my research and took a risk but I believed the economy will bounce back. So far, my investment is up 10%. Another example, a number of  years ago, I believed that Google was going to grow big and it sure did. At the time, I only had enough to buy 1 share of Google but it worked out because Google had doubled it’s share price. One might say, 1 share? I see it as having a 100% return.

My point of this article is that nothing will happen without taking steps forward and this requires you to

1. Overcome (whether it’s your mindset, will, or other objects preventing you from take the first step)
2. Execute (take that first step and just do it)
3. Persist (stay on track, don’t veer off or take your eyes off the goal. You may fail but learn and get back on track)

I plan to keep these steps in mind, apply them to my life, and hopefully to reach my goal for early retirement. If you are interested in following my journey, email subscribe to get alerts of latest posts.