David: Alright guys welcome back to the Discount Property Investor podcast. I am your host David Dodge, joined by co-host Mike Slane.

Mike: Hey guys, how is it going this morning?

David: Going well, Mike. How are you doing today, buddy?

Mike: Doing good. I say 'this morning' because it is 5am here at the office. David and I are already here recording a podcast for you. It is only appropriate because of today's topic which we will get into momentarily.

David: That's right.  Mike had to drag me out of bed to get me here this morning, but I'm here.

Mike: He had to set two alarms, it's no big deal. Alright guys, if you are a first time listener; we focus a lot on learning to wholesale and... for the new investor it is how to get started. One of our things that we offer to everyone is called the free wholesale course. So if you go to freewholesalecourse.com you can check that out. It is going to give you everything you need to get started. We just had someone else mention to us... we were just talking about wholesaling and he is trying to get started. He said the course really clarified. Like I knew a lot of the pieces but that course put everything together for me.

David: Yeah. That is a great point, Mike. Go ahead. Well the feedback I have been getting is; all the information is out there, but it's not put together in a nice easy to follow, step by step place or checklist for the most part. That is... the course that we have done... be able to organise it for people so they can follow it, they can learn it quickly and efficiently.

Mike: Yeah. So anyways; if you haven't listened to the podcast; check out the first ten episodes. Those are really primer for the free course as well as check out the freewholesalecourse.com.  You will be able to really jump start your investing career.

David: That's right.

Mike: Back to today; so today we are going to talk about morning time.

David: Morning time.

Mike: So the importance of waking up early really. That's what I wanted to talk about because I have been really jacked up in the mornings lately... getting started early and it has a snowball effect on the rest of your day. I think... God I can't even remember the quote right now; but... you really sell the tone for the rest of the day by how you start the morning.

David: Uh huh.

Mike: So a lot of times you get out of bed, you are super groggy, hit the snooze button, finally drag yourself out of bed... you are just kind of... need the coffee and fall back onto the couch, drink a glass of coffee, watch the news.

David: Not wine?

Mike: Well it's the morning. Come on, Dave. Yeah so you drink your coffee... okay maybe Irish coffee whatever it is.

David: There you go.

Mike: And you are just kind of dragging. That in my experience kind of sets the tone for the rest of the day in that... if I wake up and it takes me an hour to really wake up and get going...

David: Yeah.

Mike: That's time... that I am... I mean you are just mentally setting your pace; you are setting your clock for how things are going. So you drag butt for an hour, then you rush around to get started. Oh shoot, now I have to be at the office at eight. It took me an hour to wake up, then I have to shower, got to do this.

David: Yeah... starts off your morning in a rush if you are not early, that's a great point. It sets the stage for the rest of the day... to kind of be in a rush for the most part. There is a great video on Gold Cast, I know you watch those.

Mike: I love those videos.

David: It's like a military guy and he says if you want to change the world, start by making you bed.

Mike: One of my favourite ones.

David: Isn't that a good one?

Mike: I want my wife to watch it because she never makes the bed, and I just want her to make the bed.

David: There you go. The whole point... I don't know if I have even seen the whole video, but I have seen that part. He says... if you want to change the world; start by making your bed. Reason being because... you have completed your first task of the day. Even though that was a simple task, and it was something easy to complete; it was completed. So the rest of that day... you have set the stage to complete tasks and no procrastinate, not half ass...

Mike: Also you have done something... simple as making the bed, but you have accomplished something and you have done it well. That is the whole point... again I am jacked up because it is morning time. I read [00:04:39.25 - inaudible] two times through in the past two weeks. I am implementing it so... I am on the first three days. I have read the book in the past. But for whatever reason it has really got me right now. He emphasises the savers program. Dave we can talk about each one of those things and... the importance each one has. So... setting the stage; savers is an acronym for... oh jeez, now I am going to test myself here because I didn't look it up ahead of time.

David: Uh oh, savers. It is the acronym from the 'Miracle morning' book.

Mike: I'm going to look it up.

David: Look it up.

Mike: I don't want to mess this up here.

David: Miracle morning is a great book. I have read it...

Mike: Here it is; this is the one...

David: ... I have read it in the past, probably been 7-10 months since I read it...

Mike: There you go, Dave.

David: ... but it's a very good book. Go ahead, Mike.

Mike: So starting with the Miracle morning; basically... the whole idea... Dave you actually bought a map. I was wondering if I could talk to you about that; the alarm clock mat... forces you to get up. Have you started using that?

David: The alarm on it is so annoying; my fiancée is not happy.

Mike: That's the whole point!

David: But what I like... what I was thinking... I haven't done this yet; what my problem is when I wake up in the morning is I hit the snooze button or I will just turn the alarm off. This mat I bought on Amazon; it was like 60 bucks... I can't remember what it's called, look it up. Anyway it is something you have to stand on for ten seconds in order for the alarm to stop going off. I thought on mornings I really need to get up... I can't afford to hit the snooze...

Mike: We appreciate you using it this morning.

David: Right. Put the mat on the shower; then I have to get up and get in the shower to step on it. At that point I can either walk all the way back to the bedroom...

Mike: So that mat itself has an alarm to?

David: The mat itself is an alarm.

Mike: I thought it was connected to your phone or something.

David: No, it's totally disconnected. You set it on the mat; it has a little battery pack in there. It has a sensor in the mat... maybe like... a little floor mat. But it's called... I can't remember what it's called.

Mike: Or a door mat.

David: A door mat, exactly. It's real light, put it in the shower. So you have to step on it to wake up then toss it out the shower, then you can start your morning. But it keeps you from hitting snooze, gets you out of bed.

Mike: That's crazy. I thought it was connected to the phone.

David: No it's actually not that smart, but that's a good thing because it stops you from hitting snooze on your phone. You have to stand on this mat; you can set the timer to three seconds, five seconds, ten seconds, even thirty seconds.

Mike: That is awesome. So a free hack to do that though is what I always tell my wife; because she is one of those that hits snooze all the time is... set your alarm to loud and set it across the room so you have to get out of bed. The whole point is when the alarm goes off; what is the point of hitting snooze? You hate waking up in the morning, you are so tired, what do you want to do that over and over?

David: Why do you even set it?

Mike: Why do you want to do that over and over?

David: To hit snooze, that is so true. If don't want to wake up don't set the alarm.

Mike: If I don't like waking up, why do that three times in the morning?

David: That's a great point.

Mike: Just wake up and get out of bed.

David: I need to implement that.

Mike: There is no reason for that. So get up and out of bed when your alarm goes off, that's the first thing. The next thing is go splash some water on your face it helps wake you up. Some cold water if it warm out, some warm water if it's cold. Whatever you like, just splash some water on your face to help you wake up, then brush your teeth.

David: It's called the Ruggie.

Mike: Love it.

David: It's a great little tool.

Mike: Put a link in there to.

David: Sure.

Mike: We are not getting any commissions off it. So anyway, the Miracle morning; just get your butt out of bed, splash some water on your face, brush your teeth so you are awake, then drink a big glass of water.

David: That's a great point having the water.

Mike: There is like an ancient Chinese thing... they are healthy, they always drink a glass of water right when they wake up, it helps promote blah, blah, blah.  Well it's true, your body... you haven't been able to drink water the whole time you were sleeping. You sweat and you breathe and every time you exhale you are letting out some of the water that's in your body. So again; there are eight hours or so you haven't had a chance to replenish that water. So wake up, splash some water on your face, brush your teeth, drink a big glass of water. That is going to help you get going, help you wake up. Then you go through the savers. The savers is an acronym for silence, affirmations, visualisation, exercise, reading and scribing. Scribing being writing but he couldn’t fit the 'W' in, at least that's what he says in the Miracle morning book.

David: Right.

Mike: So these things are...

David: Which is just basically journaling, right?

Mike: Exactly, keep a journal...

David: Let's run through these steps one by one. So savers; S.A.V.E.R.S. Silence is the first one, silence is pretty easy, I imagine that means meditating, breathing, stuff like that, maybe even prayer.

Mike: Exactly.

David: That's silence.

Mike: Again, the point is the calm your mind, to set your pace for the day so that you are... you know you are in control of your life.

David: Like we talked about earlier, Mike; waking up in a frantic rush, being stressed, upset and probably even angry. Sometimes I wake up a little...

Mike: A little bit angry, depressed...

David: All of those emotions by just taking a minute to breath and... I am not a religious person and I don't meditate, but I would like to start meditating. But really just breathing exercises are so important and so...

Mike: You know Oprah mediates.

David: That's right.

Mike: And she is way richer than you.

David: Way richer than me, that's right. But really just breathing though; it helps elevate a lot of the stressed and depressions that anybody may have, or any emotional thought they may have in the morning.

Mike: It is and meditation... the value of meditation I don’t think we need to argue about the benefits of it, because they are numerous. But my thought it controlling your thoughts. So if you can just learn to control your thoughts; you learn to control your life.

David: Right.

Mike: So it is extremely important to sit in silence and just... simplest medication just to think about your breaths.

David: That's right.

Mike: Think about breathing in, and breathing out.

David: Just thinking about it.

Mike: Just focus on it.

David: Right, right.

Mike: See how long you can do it. I know it sounds stupid...

David: Ten minutes of breathing is a long time.

Mike: Dude! 60 seconds... of just focusing on your breathing and not have any other thoughts pop in your head is impossible.

David: It is... without having other thoughts come in, you are absolutely right.

Mike: For somebody with ADD...

David: Like me, whoo!

Mike: ... to be able to get to...

David: I am lucky to get to ten seconds.

Mike: ... to get to two or three minutes to focus on your breath is... so again this is... I am super jacked up about it.

David: What's the next one?

Mike: The next one is affirmations.

David: Okay, what's an affirmation, Mike?

Mike: An affirmation is going to be different for everyone.

David: Uh huh.

Mike: I mean your personal affirmations are going to be different. I guess the easiest way to describe it... who is that? Stuart Smalley; the Saturday night live skit. I am good enough... and gosh darn it... people like me.

David: People like me, that is basically an affirmation.

Mike: It sounds silly especially when you put it in that tone. But it is whatever you tell yourself becomes true. So we have mentioned that quote before... if you think you can, if you think you can't; you're right, by Henry Ford I believe. So that is also the whole thing. You are setting the stage for... hey I am good enough I have the ability to accomplish anything anyone else in the world has accomplished. I am human, they are human, they have no other skill set that I don't have or that I can't develop. Again, something like that, you repeat it to yourself. Again, I encourage you to check out the Miracle morning book. He gives out a whole bunch of examples, really good things to say if you are struggling... with depression is a great one. If you are looking to be level ten leader... there is a whole bunch of really good affirmations in there as well. So really struck home with me...

David: Cool, so we got silence, we got affirmations. What is the next one here?

Mike: Visualisation.

David: Visualisation.

Mike: Dave, you know you like this one...

David: So visualisation is...

Mike: The vision board, bro.

David: I actually have like four of them; I need to get rid of a couple of them.

Mike: Just make one big one.

David: I need to make a bigger one. But visualisation... I have trouble pronouncing that word... is a great thing to do in the morning. It essentially puts out things you visualise yourself doing, being or having.

Mike: Exactly, very well put.

David: I like to look at it that way. So my vision board... at this point is filled with a lot of material possessions... which I kind of need to change that up a little bit. But I have things on there that I visualise myself owning down the road. By looking at that and visualising myself touching, feeling, or holding, or being inside of these things... inside for example like a house or a boat or something along those lines. It makes me... put into perspective what I am working towards.

Mike: That's the whole visualisation point of it; if you feel yourself in that spot, it is more powerful than just saying you would love...

David: I would love to have that someday.

Mike: I would love to have yacht.

David: Visualise yourself in that 75,000 square foot house.

Mike: Just a mini mansion.

David: Just a little mini mansion house but yeah absolutely.

Mike: Visualisation is important.

David: But you can do that mentally, you don't have to have a board. I think really... something to do in your head, on your own. Affirmation something you speak out loud or even say to yourself. But I think the power is actually to say it out loud. Affirmation is the same thing... you have to imagine yourself in the environment, doing the thing or having the thing that you want in this life.

Mike: Yeah, that is exactly it. You don't even have to go that far. He even talks about visualising how you are going to accomplish what you want to accomplish that day.

David: That day, that's a great...

Mike: Just thinking about your day, what you have to accomplish, and visualise yourself... I am having trouble with that one to.

David: Right.

Mike: Visualise yourself completing all the tasks that you need to complete to have a successful day, and to feel good at the end of the day, that I did what I wanted to do. It's really powerful.

David: While we are sitting here talking about these and I am looking at the acronym and I am looking at the six different things; I am trying... in my own mind determine which of these is the most important. They are all equally important.

Mike: That’s the problem...

David: All equally important.

Mike: That is the problem...

David: There is nothing you can really say... if I can only do one or two of these I am going to do that... that you can just pick from. They are all equally important.

Mike: I will say I pick one over the rest.

David: Which one?

Mike: It's the next one which is exercise.

David: Okay.

Mike: The reason I pick exercise over the rest, is because without a healthy body you can't do everything else you want to do.

David: Okay.

Mike: I think your health is your most important asset. It is something I have neglected.

David: Right.

Mike: So again that is part of the reason this is hitting home...

David: 'E' of savers is exercise.

Mike: 'E' is exercise. Again, I think to me... maybe it's just me; but I think it is the most important because again... you don't have the energy to get up and do the other things you want to do if you are kind of fat and out of shape.

David: Right. Your wealth and happiness and everything else goes by the wayside if you don't have your health.

Mike: Right, you lose that motivation. Again, we put all this poisonous food in our bodies... the fast-food and I don't want to go down that...

David: Absolutely.

Mike: Processed foods and sugars... if you are not eating healthy things and exercising, taking care of your body; you are not able to do as well as...

David: That and you can't enjoy the wealth you care creating for yourself.

Mike: Another saying is that... you spend your youth chasing wealth, then you spend your wealth chasing health.

David: So true.

Mike: So that is what a lot of people end up doing... they go after money... then shoot i'm old, I got all this money and I am starting to get sick and you have to start spending all your money on your health.

David: Such a great point.

Mike: Don't do that; take care of your body first and everything else will fall into place.

David: One last thing on the whole exercise topic here is; I think a lot of people get caught up in exercise in the event that... they tell themselves that... even going for a 10-15 minute walk... isn't enough for them. Whenever they think of exercise; that means going to the gym, lifting weights, swimming laps or something over the top. That is not the case; if you just implement a short 10-15 minute walk into your morning every morning...

Mike: That's huge.

David: That is huge.

Mike: If you are...

David: You don't have to get your heart rate up to 1200 beats a second to get an exercise in. A little exaggeration but... yeah just going for a walk in the morning; that's a great way... helps with some of the other things. You can do your affirmations; you can do your visualisations even on a walk. So you can combine a couple of these together

Mike: The next thing is reading.

David: Right.

Mike: Dave and I are probably as guilty as everyone out there else listening to our podcasts of listening to books, to listening to audio books.

David: I listen to books.

Mike: ... instead of reading... I am not 100% sold on the fact that I need to read. So I still consider listening to my audio books beneficial.

David: Me too.

Mike: Close to the level of reading...

David: In this day and age in 2017 October... it's... the fully [00:18:18.15 - inaudible] car isn't here yet. If it is I would love to read while I am in the car and I can't do that. In the nature of our business unfortunately is a lot of running around. A lot of looking at properties and being on the highway, being on the road and... the audio book audible. It is an efficient way to get the information. But reading I think has a powerful set of characteristics that... you don't get from listening.

Mike: It does, you engage more... of your brain obviously.

David: Comprehension is a little higher with reading.

Mike: I don't listen to my books at 1.5 speed or 2x speed like I do most of my podcasts or audio books.

David: That's true.

Mike: So gives you more time to actually think and digest it.

David: Great point.

Mike: I say that and I am actually going back and re-reading a couple of books right now and actually taking the time, because I am actually doing the Miracle morning. Ten minutes every morning to physically pick up a book and read it. Because... I do, I believe there is some value in it.

David: Right, so... let me ask you this, Mike. If you are reading ten minutes per morning. Can you get through a book in maybe a 2 or 3 week period?

Mike: Yeah, it's a couple of weeks probably.

David: Couple of weeks? Okay. But... that's fine, if you can read 15 books a year let's say...

Mike: Let's call it 12, let's say you get through one a month, 300 pages or so.

David: But do you know what though? Honestly? That's 12 more books than the next person's reading.

Mike: More than anybody is reading.

David: So true.

Mike: Very few people read...

David: I try to get through I would say two books a month on audible. That is even difficult but... yeah starting to read I think would definitely help a lot too.

Mike: Yeah, next is scribing. Again he cheated as writing so journaling. This one I have not been doing to my full potential. But again, it is really just to reflect on your goals, your progress throughout your day, your past day, just to track it.

David: Yeah and scribing could be as simple as writing your goals down. Doing that on a daily basis. We just did an exercise here in our office... where we pick three main goals, break those down into three sub goals, then break each sub goal down into three more sub goals. So we essentially have quite a few of them but... we wrote those down on index cards and... the purpose of the exercise is to read those cards and night. Every morning and every night. Scribing is very similar; write down your goals. You can even write down your affirmations... or visualise them. It doesn't necessarily have to be a reflection. I think that is probably what he is getting at here. But any type of journaling. It's good for the brain, good for the mind.

Mike: Also think about... he even says you can type it. A lot of people like to type it now. But think about physically writing. How often do you sit down and physically write?

David: Not very.

Mike: Never! I don't even think they teach [00:21:27.11 - inaudible] in schools, I heard that. I mean... it is a lost art. It engages motor skills.

David: Teaching 8 and 9 year olds how to type now.

Mike: It's kind of cool but kind of... the world we live in.

David: Right.

Mike: Anyways I was really jacked up about the Miracle morning so I forced David up early on a... weekday here to...

David: I'm happy to be here. It is going to be one of the best days of the week.

Mike: Exactly, guys. So again, if you are looking to jump start the rest of your day; which I think is going to help boost your productivity and your success levels, check out the Miracle morning book, absolutely loved it. Start implementing the savers. Again, you can just Google the Miracle morning savers... and start with the landing map, you don't even have to read the book. But again, these are all different things that will help you be more successful. Oh! Regarding time too. This doesn't have to be a three hour process. Each one of these things can be two or three minutes.

David: Oh wow.

Mike: Even exercise.

David: One thing I forgot about exercise is that you can stretch. Stretching is considered exercise really; look at yoga.

Mike: One of his favourite exercises was yoga.

David: You can do a two to three minute stretch, full body.

Mike: Right. So again, this can be a 15 minute process in the morning. It doesn't have to be all morning. But again, these are things other people don't do, or you just don't take the time out of your daily life to do. Think about... I don't even know what it's called. Sharpening the saw though. This is the thing that is going to jump start everything else. If you... again if you know what your goals are, you think about them every day and you put them in front of yourself, you reflect on them, you exercise a little bit, work on educating yourself through reading. Think about if you did all the day; how much further you would be next year.

David: That is so true. Well I am going to implement this to, Mike. I have read the book and... I enjoyed it but I didn't really take it to heart and actually do it. But I am glad that we are reviewing and doing this podcast this morning. Are you two weeks in at this point?

Mike: Yeah.

David: That's great, man. Keep it up.

Mike: Second week of doing it, I am in my workout clothes, heading to the gym.

David: Go to the gym, man. That's great.

Mike: Alright, guys. Thank you guys for listening. I think we gave you plenty of quotes throughout the episode.

David: I think so.

Mike: We are not going to end with one. Again, if you are a first time listener please go check out our free wholesale course. We would love for you to get started in real estate, even though this was not 100% real estate focused in this podcast today. We would love for you to get started in investing through wholesaling. Reach out to us with any other questions you have. Again, thanks for listening guys.

David: Thanks guys, until next time.