Success is in the Eye of the Beholder

[Don Johnston]

Some people will read this and say, "What?  That ain't no success story!"  And others will say, "Wow, I hope to get there one day!"

I have passed two mile stones in the last two weeks.  1) I flipped the switch in my brain from "I can't do that" to "Now...how can I do that!"  And 2) I pulled the trigger and upgraded to the annual Pro account here on BiggerPockets (but not without putting in the promo code that got me a 20% discount and a bunch of bonuses :-)  )

For those of you who might be in the first category (that ain't no success story) I will quote to you a saying from a linguistics teacher of mine who was a real stickler for being grammatically correct (no saying ain't, or "got no..." etc).  She would say, "Remember the pit from which you were digged!"  

For you category 1 folk, remember that you too were in my shoes at one time and that many, many others on BP are in those shoes.  Remember how you felt just before making those first infant steps before you were brave enough to take those baby steps.  Yeah, you remember...scarey, then BAM! excitement that you did it.  

Now you category 2 folk, just take that first infant step and flip on that switch in the brain so you start thinking "I will!" instead of "I hope to...".  KNOW that the answers are here on BP from your peers.  When you start thinking "now, how can I do that...", stop and go to the appropriate forum and type that in on a post and add whatever "that" you are trying to figure out.  Your next baby steps will soon follow as you get involved here.

Success is not an "end point" but the whole journey.  

Hi!  My name is Don Johnston and I have taken my first two steps on my journey of success.

[Don Johnston]

@Account Closed Thank you very much.  I am trying to analyze 3 properties a day for a month (suggestion by @Brandon Turner I believe and if not he will correct me since I tagged him here).  I have talked to a real estate agent in Tallahassee today.  I am working on putting financing in place (baby steps in that direction but working on it none the less.)  These are all proactive steps heading in the forward direction.

I will continue to post in this thread as I move forward in my journey of success because this is probably what the majority of the success stories of the members of Bigger Pockets looks like.  We all love the Fabulous and Gigantic success stories AND we NEED them because they motivate us but they aren't the norm.

To all you "norms" out there, keep taking that next step no matter how small.  THAT is success, too.