How to Overcome Failure and Succeed In Real Estate

Do you want to be a real estate investor? Have you been studying everything you can get your hands on? Do you feel like you have the tools to get started? Are you having a hard time getting started? I have bad news and I have good news. The bad news is that your lack of success is your fault. The good news is that your lack of success is your fault.

America today is many things. One of those things is a land of political correctness and participation trophies. This is still the greatest country in the world but we are becoming a population of people who believe everything is someone else's fault. Life experience has most likely shown you that it is impossible to control other people's actions. So, if we cannot control others and everything is the fault of others, where does that leave us? Fortunately, though the former is true, the latter is not.

The thought that most things in our lives are our own fault is hard to swallow for some. Many have been raised from infancy believing most things are not their fault. Although the likely reason for this teaching is noble, it has bread many who will never reach greatness. Yes, the teaching designed to make us feel better about ourselves has made us weaker. Our school systems condone this teaching. Schools allow students to succeed within this paradigm. Is the real world so nurturing? The fact that most Americans do not have the resources to scrape together $1,000 in an emergency seems to show the answer is no. We are witnessing the first generation in our nation's history who will fare worse financially than their parents. Though many things can be blamed, blaming is a major contributor to that statistic. What does this mean for the budding entrepreneur?

There is hope. Step one is a paradigm shift. Paradigm shifts are difficult to grasp and even more difficult to enter. This concept is best understood using illustrations. Imagine you attend an event in which a new device is to be unveiled. You are excited to be there because you are a fan of the device's technology and have studied it for years. You even attend a monthly peer group to discuss this technology and it's uses. You pride yourself on the fact that you are considered one of the most knowledgeable members of your group. You greatly admire and have followed the writings of a Dr. Smith, the inventor of the technology, for years. At the event, you meet a young woman about the same age as yourself and you strike up a conversation. You quickly learn that you both have a passion for this technology. You begin to show off what you know by regurgitating data you learned from Dr. Smith's writings. This young woman corrects you on one point. You take some offense that she dares correct you and you explain that you are by no means novice. You let her know of your high status within your peer group and tell her you have read everything Dr. Smith has written. Just before she has a chance to respond, the chairman of the event steps on stage. You both turn your attention to the stage as he welcomes everyone and announces a very special guest, Dr. Smith! Filled with excitement you turn to the woman expecting her to share in your excitement. She looks at you and says, "excuse me." She calmly walks to the stage and takes the podium. You just experienced a paradigm shift. You instantaneously go from thinking this woman is an uninformed newbie and you are clearly the superior intellect to feeling like the biggest moron in the room.

Another required shift in thinking is that of seeing the opinions of others. F. Scott Fitzgerald once wrote "The test of a first rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function" ("The Crack-Up", Esquire Magazine, February 1936). Imagine arguing with a colleague that your proposal needs to include option A. Your colleague insists the proposal must include option B. You go back and forth until you decide to check the original proposal request. You realize that the request asks for both option A and B. Were you correct? Was your colleague correct? The answer is yes and no. You were both right about which option to include. However, you were both wrong not to see the opposing point of view and in thinking there was only one right answer. Two people holding opposing views may both be right. This is difficult for many to grasp. The sooner you do, the sooner you grow.

The first paradigm shift required to succeed is to realize that "it" is your fault. If you are struggling financially, only you can change that. If you are failing at your investment goals, it is your fault. Until you believe that, you will likely continue to fail. Most people who try real estate investing fail before reaching their goals. There is no shortage of failed investors stating that real estate doesn't work. They have found that deals are too hard to come by, tenants are too difficult to deal with, buildings are too expensive to maintain, money is too scarce, banks are too demanding. However, none of these things are true for those who take responsibility and act to make things happen. If you blame others for your failures you will never take steps to correct the actions that lead to those failures. If failures persist you will most likely give up. Many would-be investors give up long before they have the chance to succeed. There is a commonly told story about Arctic explorers who gave up and died within yards of the camp because a blizzard blocked their view of the camp. If they were able to see the camp, the sight of it would have given them the strength to continue. You must always see your “camp” in your mind.

The second shift you must execute is realizing that there are more ways to make things happen than you can currently imagine. You don't know what you don't know but if you know that you don't know then you have the ability to know in the future what you don't currently know. If that sounds confusing then keep reading it until it does make sense. The last thing you need is a know-it-all attitude. If there is anything that everyone knows it's that no one knows everything. Acting as if you know all there is to know limits you. It shuts your brain off to new knowledge. It also repulses people. Anyone who has knowledge to share will most certainly withhold it from a know-it-all. You may be an expert at a given task but there may be new and better ways to complete that task. It is quite a shame to let arrogance cost you relationships and money. Listen to others and learn from them. Use your ears and your mouth in the same proportion as they were given to you. You will draw more people to you. That will help you tremendously. If you already know something that you are hearing, there is no shame in listening to it again. Act interested in others and they will take an interest in you. Share knowledge freely but listen intently when others speak. Consider their viewpoints and open your mind to possibilities outside your current experience or knowledge.

Shifting your thinking takes time and effort. The power of positive thinking and the law of attraction are amazing things. If you haven’t discovered these concepts, learn them and believe in them. Every formerly impossible thing that we know today as reality started out as a belief in someone’s mind. "Where a calculator… is equipped with 18,000 vacuum tubes and weighs 30 tons, computers in the future may have only 1,000 vacuum tubes and weigh only 1.5 tons" (Popular Mechanics, 1949). Imagine what the author of that article would say if you told him that in 60 years computers with astronomical capabilities would be carried in millions of pant pockets around the world. It takes people with extraordinary dreams and the belief that they can succeed to make the impossible reality. Fortunately, the people that we all admire and imagine are gods among us are, or at least were, quite normal. What is not normal is their understanding of the power within their minds and their determination to do what needs to be done. Everyone with ability to read this blog has the same power. The most difficult part of the process is believing it. Once you believe it, you can achieve it. Your mind is the most powerful force on the planet.

Belief is the first and most important step. It is not the only step. Action is the force that allows the power of the mind to manifest into great things. Action is a difficult step for many. It can be scary. Many people know what needs to be done but something inside keeps them from doing it. This is quite normal. It stems from how Americans are taught by parents and teachers. We are taught that mistakes are bad (think getting grounded for breaking your parent’s rules). We are taught that there is only one right answer (think test questions). In the real world neither of these teachings are accurate. We have already established that there is rarely only one answer. People learn by making mistakes. We fall, we get up, we make a slight correction, and we try again until we succeed. This is how we learn our most important skills. Take the example of learning to drive. We tried, we failed, we adjusted, we tried again until we succeeded. At the time, it was difficult. Our parents and teachers helped us believe it was possible by continually encouraging us. As difficult as it seemed at the time, is it difficult today? Most likely it has become habit and you do it without a thought. Another issue many have is the fear of not seeing the path in front of them clearly before they begin. This fear keeps them from starting their journey. Fear not, this too can be overcome. Once you learned to drive, did you stay parked until you could see the entire route ahead of you. No, instead you drove ahead only being able to see a small portion of the road. As you continued you could see more of that road until you finally reached your destination. Similarly, your investment journey can be taken one step at a time. You do not need all the answers to get started. You only need to know the step immediately in front of you. You don’t need to be an expert to begin, but you do need to begin to be an expert.

Success is possible to all who believe and act. There is more free knowledge available today than any time in history. Take advantage of that. Accept that your failures are your fault and you can overcome them. Do not fear failure. Learn from it. Finding an investment property and closing the deal is a major step in learning the small details that aren’t written in books and in allowing your mind to see that you can do it. You are better off buying a mediocre or even poor investment than you are getting stuck on the education and analysis stage. If the deal costs you money, consider it the cost of education. It will most likely be a cheaper and better education than you can buy elsewhere. Be smart, accept responsibility, and believe that you can accomplish anything you set your mind to.