It's Lonely At The Top... Part 2

In Part I of It's Lonely At The Top, I shared with you my view that every real estate investor starts out as an entrepreneur.  In fact, there is no other way to get started.

Think about it… one day you are in a job taking direction from someone, working to support someone else’s visions, not having to worry about where the next pay check is coming from… and then the next day… you have nothing.

No boss.  No co-workers.  No one to give you direction, guidance, support, keeping you accountable and moving forward towards your goals… assuming you even know what those are, how to develop them, and most importantly what steps or actions you need to take to achieve your goals.

The simple truth is this… It Is Lonely, Damn… Lonely At The Top!

And that, in my opinion is why so many entrepreneurs, especially real estate investors, fail.  Without any forethought or discussion they rip themselves from an environment that was developed to support their specific job functions and threw themselves into an environment where they are on their own.  And they just have not been taught how to function in a world where they are “on the top” and alone.

I would bet a great deal of money that everyone of you reading this blog article can relate, through your own personal experience, to what I am talking about here.  I think this would be an easy bet to win!

Oh… and just to be fair… there isn’t a person alive who has achieved great success, making it to the top, who hasn’t found themselves at one time or another, very, very alone.

“OK… Pete…” you might be saying… “enough already.  I get it… running my business and being in charge and responsible for everything is a huge challenge.  What do I do about it?”

For many of you my first couple of recommendations may be coming too late.  But for those of you who are currently working full-time and have visions of becoming a real estate investor or entrepreneur pay very close attention.  Here they are:

1.  Take some time to determine how internally motivated you are, or if you need external forces to keep you motivated towards your goals.

2.  Determine your ability to function, consistently, in an environment where you might not have routine interaction with others or be able to talk or communicate with others like you would in a W-2 work environment.

3.  You need to practice being disciplined.  By this I mean establishing specific tasks and then staying focused on completing those tasks until they are done… regardless of the number of interruptions, disappointments, setbacks or triumphs you may be experiencing.

4.  You must be able to look in the mirror every day and truthly say to yourself… “I did the very best or I did everything I could today to accomplish my goals?”

If you are able to be honest with yourself while you still working, you will be able to better gauge the level of your success once you go out into the real estate investing world on your own.

While those items above are a great start for those still working a 9 – 5 job, there are a few more recommendations I would like to share… but I will wait for the next and last installment of … “It’s Lonely At The Top”