Zen & The Art of Real Estate Development
How Property Developers Can Gain an Unfair Advantage in Real Estate Development with Mindfulness
Happy New Year! 2024 will be a great year, and we look forward to staying in touch with you.
The Line Up newsletter focuses on things developers like us care about, such as intentional development, performance optimization, placemaking, development best practices, and, of course, basketball insider color from yours truly.
In this issue, we tackle a topic to help alleviate the heartburn and stresses of today's market. We take on how to optimize your performance using meditation, visualization, and exercise. We hope you enjoy it as much as we enjoyed writing it.
How We Resolved an Approvals Nightmare
Recently, my partners and I navigated the approvals process for a project that involved getting permits in two cities simultaneously. At the beginning of the process, one city official, the person meant to lead the process, refused to speak with the other city's leader to coordinate. Little did we know this was the beginning of a series of roadblocks she would throw at us. A few months later, she attempted to change the zoning on us--in the middle of the approval process. It was highly stressful.
My partners and I had all our money on the line, with personal guarantees on a bridge note. So, if the project failed, we would be totally out of money and out of business.
As we proceeded through the process, the city official set us up in a way that required us to file a lawsuit against the city. She used it to keep us off the agenda for future approvals committee meetings. As a result, we were stuck with no means of moving forward until we ran out of time on our purchase and sale agreement.
To manage this stressful situation, I began meditating regularly and working out every day, sometimes twice a day. (This is something I learned when navigating the stress of graduate school.)
About two weeks into this regular practice, I woke up in the middle of the night with my mind churning, trying to figure out what we could do to move the project forward. And then it hit me; I asked myself, "What do we have control over?" I identified our main leverage point, and we used it to restart the process and ultimately close the deal with a successful outcome.
Key Takeaway: Meditation and exercise can pull you out of a stressful situation and allow you to gain insight you might not otherwise see. Whenever you encounter a challenging situation where you are uncertain, take a step back, then exercise and/or meditate. This process can help you to refocus your mind and to release preconceived notions about a situation.
Choose Your Next Project Mindfully
So much of real estate development focuses on production, speed, decision-making, and building a better product. Produce, produce, produce. This hyper-competitive landscape creates burnout and stress. Those working in the industry are constantly looking for an edge and trying to improve their processes and health.
The one thing many real estate developers lack is clarity about what they are building and why. That doesn't mean they don't have a strategy, many do. But the idea of mindful real estate development comes from a place of recognition that what you build will likely be around for many years, and your output represents who you are as a person. (This, of course, assumes you have control over what you are building.)
So, to practice mindfulness in your development practice, regularly ask yourself:
Does this align with my vision of what I want to create?
Is this something that I am doing intentionally?
Am I just being carried along by partners?
Am I building this just to make money financially?
Many times, when you use money to drive your decision-making process, things don't end well. Of course, every project needs to be economically viable. But only pursuing a strategy of "making money" will lead to outcomes you might not like or can drive you to get involved in deals you regret.
So, when considering a potential real estate deal or development partner, be careful and intentional. Is this a deal I would do even if I didn't need to make money? When considering a development partner, ask yourself, Is this a person I share common values and priorities with? Do they care about our product as much as I do? Are they interested in serving the customer?"
These questions allow you to filter out those projects and individuals you may not align with.
Key Takeaway: Be mindful about what you're building, who you are working with, and how it is getting done to help mitigate stress and drive your motivation.
Visualize Your Way to Success
Michael Jordan used visualization to take his game to new heights. His mind would create a picture of what a successful season would look like. Daily, he visualized successful practices and game situations.
You can use visualization to produce two things:
1. To define what success is and what success is not.
2. To imagine how it feels to be successful.
This technique will motivate you daily and help you stay focused in your real estate practice and "game" preparation.
While playing professional basketball in Australia, I was fortunate to learn about visualization and meditation for focus and clarity. I used it as a means to optimize my performance on the court.
After the first two weeks, I noticed little changes in my life. I was no longer worried about certain things. I could focus on the present moment instead of having my mind wander. I no longer felt the need to drink or smoke. I began to focus on improving my game and very quickly found myself playing the best basketball I had ever played.
A wandering, restless mind is called "a monkey mind" in Buddhist philosophy.
Key Takeaway: Whenever you are stuck or feel you are not at your best, consider committing yourself to a practice of meditation and visualization. This could allow you to expand your perspective and improve your outcomes.
How to Find Your Flow State
Flow State is defined by Headspace.com as a sense of fluidity between your body and mind, where you are totally absorbed by and intensely focused on something beyond the point of distraction. In other words, you're "in the zone.". The flow state connection can be profound, allowing you to navigate challenging discussions and major decisions easily.
Finding your flow state in real estate development can enable you to perform at higher levels and produce outcomes you might have previously thought impossible.
Key Takeaway: You can achieve a flow state through a command of your everyday workflows and self-mastery gained with meditation. This level of being can lead to extraordinary outcomes. Everyone does this differently. How could you do it, and what might those outcomes look like?
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This week's notes from Halfcourt
Ja Morant is back! In the past 48 hours, he has not brandished a firearm on Instagram, so maybe he can play 4 to 5 games before that happens again. I hope to see more of him on the court, but showing off his gun collection online doesn't speak well for his decision-making abilities.
Anunoby debuted with the Knicks the other night, and it was a glorious 17 points and six rebounds. I'm excited to see what he can do to help them grow, though I am a fan of Quickley and Barrett.
Finally, Joe Lunardi didn't pick St. John's to make the NCAA tournament in his most recent bracketology update. Since I'm an NYC basketball fan, I hope they play well enough to make it and shake things up.
References, Links, and Books on our Newsletter Topic
Tony Robbins Gratitude Article
Deep Meditation Awareness Article
Success Magazine - New Year's Resolutions Including Mindfulness
Books I've Read and Recommend on Meditation and Mindfulness
Complete Idiot's Guide to Meditation - This is the first book I read on meditation.
The Power of Now - By Eckhardt Tolle - This book focuses on living in the moment and releasing the past and future.
Enjoyed the thoughts on de-stressing. 40 years in engineering and business taught me how to manage stress. Exercise brings stress relief and long lasting physical benefits. Lower blood pressure and released endorphins, which produce positive feelings. Then thinking about your issues of the day can be dealt with with less emotion and more logic. Your meditation does this, enabling you to focus on what you can control and noting those you can't! Thanks for sharing.