Don’t Let RE Investing Defeat You.

Meet Cat. He was a stray who walked into a friend’s house and wouldn’t leave. He has since turned into a total character and my friend is always sending me pictures of him. His “defeated” look here is the inspiration for this post! Wanted to give credit where credit is due.

I was at the gym the other day lifting weights when I started thinking about the similarities between going to the gym and real estate investing. I know it sounds cheesy, but hear me out.

10 Things to Always Remember

 

1.   You have to do it regularly to see results.

Learning real estate investing, as many other professions, is a building process. You have to lay the foundation, then add a little experience, followed by more foundation, more experience, and on and on. Like building a layer cake. To build a whole cake, you have to keep doing it without stopping because otherwise one layer will go stale and you’ll have to start over. If you don’t work on investing regularly you won’t get to the top because you’ll have to keep working backwards.

2.   Doing it as a New Year’s Resolution won’t work.

Becoming an investor is no small task and it requires a lot of dedication. The reason most New Year’s resolutions fail is because they are usually too big of goals to be feasibly accomplished without focusing on smaller goals first. Smaller goals need to become habits which can then lead to the bigger goal. If you want to become financially free through rental properties, your first goal may be to buy one rental property in your first year. Even that will take a lot of learning steps, so it really could take a year. Step by step, goal by goal. Not straight to the big goal. It won’t work.

3.   There’s no such thing as a bad class.

Even if a class is horrible and you don’t resonate with it, you can still learn something from it. If nothing else, learn what you don’t like. There is probably at least one good new idea that can come from even a bad class so stick it out and you might be surprised! Either way, you’ll feel good for finishing it. Or, the class is phenomenal and becomes your new favorite thing.

4.   You have to push yourself past your comfort levels.

Or you won’t get stronger. Just working to what you know won’t help you get further. You have to get uncomfortable at times. When you’ve reached your max comfort level, take just one step further. Keep doing that enough times and you’ll eventually be miles ahead from where you started!

5.   Meet with a trainer every so often.

It doesn’t matter if you usually work by yourself, or even better by yourself, it never hurts to get a small change in perspective. Even if you are doing amazing on your own, it’s always good to touch base with a mentor or a trainer to shake up your normal routine a little and to see if there is some new information you can learn that may be helpful with your current systems.

6.   Lots of programs work but they may not for you.

I don’t believe there is really any program out there that just simply doesn’t work. Not even just in real estate, but online marketing, workout programs, whatever. They all worked for someone at some point, but the chances are it’s not what will work for you. I don’t believe anyone’s program for anything is a complete solution for anyone else. No two people are the same therefore everyone has to have their own “programs” to make it work. Take bits and pieces from several different programs, or stick with those that do work and add some tweaks, or some combo of those two.

7.   Realize that you won’t succeed overnight.

I’ve written an article on BiggerPockets about this (3 Reasons Why Successful Real Estate Investing Doesn’t Happen Overnight)  so will avoid doing it here, and this one is very related to my cake analogy above, but the point is that there is so much learning required to succeed in this industry that it just can’t happen overnight. If you are hoping it does, I do hate to burst your bubble. Sorry. I heard a famous entrepreneur say that he worked 17 hours per day for 7 years before he ever made a dime. Now he is a billionaire. You may not be shooting for that high of goals, but you get the point. It can take a while.

8.   Inevitably there will be smelly people around you.

You just have to dodge them. There are some bozos out there. Some people are in it for the show and want you to believe they are some master of their craft and the smartest person in the world, but the reality is they just aren’t. Ignore them, do your own thing, and stick to the people who are really doing it and are encouraging and supportive of you doing it.

9.   You always feel better once you accomplish it.

Getting started is the hardest part. Once you do force yourself to start, accomplish each individual goal required to get you to the end, and then once you’ve accomplished your goal you will be on top of the world! You need that motivation to keep going. So just stick with it!

10.  Don’t forget to breathe!

Believe me, you may have actually stopped breathing and not noticed it! No wonder things were getting harder. Pause, focus on your breathing, regain, and finish it out. Chances are you have more in you than you think!

What do you think? Works for real estate investing AND working out! Tell me that isn’t awesome.