What Internal Obstacles Did You Overcome to Be A Successful Investor?

[Jonathan Twombly]

All of us who have started getting deals done had to master their internal psychology to do it.   When I first started out, I did not believe I was an investor, because I had not done a deal.  I did not believe people would ever want to invest money with me because I was not experienced.  I did not believe that anyone would take me seriously.  I got intimidated every time I met someone ahead of me in the business because I thought they were a "real" investor, and I was just an imposter.  I had a lot of internal scrips and obstacles to overcome.

It took time, but I overcame them all.  I received good advice, like "If you are investing significant time learning this business and looking at deals, you are an investor, even if you have not closed a deal yet."  I began to realize that, even though there were people ahead of me in the business, my hours and hours of work and study mean that, as compared to a lot of other people, I really was an expert.  When people were willing to take a chance on investing money with me because they trusted my integrity and my business plan, even though my experience was light, that helped clear away more of the obstacles to my success.

What internal obstacles have gotten in the way of your success as an investor?  How are you working to over come them?  What has been your recipe for defeating the inner Parasite that says you aren't good enough, experienced enough, smart enough?  Lots of people here are struggling with these issues.  Please help them by sharing your experiences.