Fear of Failure - How Do You Deal?

[Jason Merchey]

It has taken me this long to get to Ken McElroy's seminal book, The ABCs of Real Estate Investing. I'm late to the party, I think! But as they say, slow and steady wins the race!

Here is a good quote, taken from pp. 14-15. 

"Show me an entrepreneur who says he or she isn’t afraid of failing and I’ll show you a liar! A bold statement, absolutely, but a true one. Everyone is afraid of failing. The difference is that some of us let that fear of failure hold us back. …I admit, when I was starting out I had an acute fear of failing. The difference is I knew that if I did nothing and remained frozen in fear, I would fail. I felt I had a better chance of succeeding by just going forward one step at a time to make some opportunities pay off. That’s the thing about fear of failure: if you don’t use it to your advantage as a motivator, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy." Ken McElroy

How do you deal with fear of failure in real estate investing? 

[JD Martin]

Exposure therapy. Do a little deal. Then another little deal. Then a little bigger deal. Then you find out all of it is no big deal.