Don's Thoughts

Living Fully in 2023

For many of us, a new year means creating resolutions like prioritizing our health, reading more books, and so on. While I appreciate the well-intentions behind creating resolutions, I also recognize that most are rarely achieved and often forgotten by February 1. Within days, or even hours, our drive and motivation dissipate, and we are back to square one. This is why I’ve spent a significant amount of time researching and creating tools to help me live fully while keeping my eyes on concise goals throughout the year. By sharing these with you, I hope you find some use in your personal life as you integrate Living Fully at home and at work.

Personal Compass

Over the years, I’ve developed the Personal Compass. Those of you who have known me for some time may be familiar with this concept and hopefully have integrated it into your lives. My Personal Compass keeps me on track and ensures my focus remains on my core values, personal mission, and perfect life numbers. Utilizing this powerful tool helps me break the cycle of chasing resolutions by creating clear goals with conviction. Creating a Personal Compass involves a significant amount of self-analyzing as it also addresses your strengths and weaknesses, so being honest with yourself is crucial.

I want to share access to my Personal Compass here. You’ll see my priorities for 2023, and my long-term goals, how I integrate the areas of my life—what we call the 8 F’s (family, faith, freedom, fitness, fun, finance, friends, and fulfillment), and my strengths and weaknesses. I’ve used my Personal Compass for many years now and it has helped me Live Fully, and pursue my multiple passions and goals. This is a tool we provide and train on at DLP and with our elite and prosperity community members as well. The results for so many people have been truly remarkable and now I’m sharing it with you, too. I can’t wait to hear how it benefits you in the coming months and years.

Personal Compass

Vision Day 2023

Vision Day is usually held at the beginning of each year with the purpose of sharing the direction and vision of the organization with the entire company. We lay out our compass and One-Year Bull’s Eye for the new year, share our strategy statement, and get the whole team excited about the journey and the march we are about to set out on. We also tell our story of how we got to where we are to date.

We held Vision Day early so our team could jump right into 2023 with clear company goals in mind. On December 22, we introduced DLP’s 2023 Compass, including updating our Purpose, Mission, and BHAG:

Our Purpose: DREAM. LIVE. PROSPER. Passionately making an extraordinary impact by transforming lives and building thriving communities.

Our Mission: To become the largest investor in rental housing communities and camps in the world.

Our BHAG: Provide housing to 1 million people, and positively impact and transform 10 million lives leading to a spot on the Forbes list of top 100 private companies in America.

In addition, we rolled out our updated tagline, “Building thriving communities and transforming lives,” along with our three-year aim, our three non-negotiable goals, and our 2030 check points. These clearly-defined goals help our entire team and me as a leader as we continue to build DLP Capital’s legacy.

What makes Vision Day extra special, however, is being given the opportunity to grant several Dream Ons for many team members and their families. We granted 16 dreams ranging from providing event space for a nonprofit organization to helping a dad get back his freedom by adjusting his truck to hand controls. Being able to give back to those who make such an impact on our organization and communities is truly a highlight of the day.

You can experience our Vision Day by watching the video below.

Watch Vision Day

Driven for Greatness

Driven 4 Greatness (D4G) is a DLP firm-wide meeting we’ve conducted for over a decade, and it all started as a book club. I was reading a book called "The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership," by John Maxwell, and loved it so much that I invited teammates to read it with me. This led to biweekly meetings to review another book together, and another. To date, we’ve reviewed more than 150 books, some of which we’ve read multiple times. D4G has remained a voluntary group at DLP Capital and, as we’ve grown, meeting membership has expanded to more than 50% of our team members. With 200 people now in attendance, we have conversations that are more engaging and diverse in their opinions than ever. Two DLP members volunteer to lead us through separate presentations and discussions on the chosen book, with the group meeting a half-hour before the usual workday begins.

Last month, we read “Discipline is Destiny” by Ryan Holiday.

• Self-discipline is essential for achieving greatness.
• Never settle and always live with passion.
• Self-discipline isn’t about deprivation; it’s about being in control of your actions, thoughts, and emotions.
• If and when you fail, you’ll be okay.

“Discipline is Destiny” is a great read for:

• Anyone who wants to achieve greatness in life and wants to maximize their opportunities and gifts.
• Teenagers/young adults—the book is a roadmap for success and fulfillment.

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