The real reason that people don’t start investing earlier is fear. Fear takes many forms but the three most common forms are:
Fear of Failure
Fear of Success
Fear of the Unknown
When I first thought of investing, my father told me I was crazy. As a matter of fact, most of the people that I shared my dream with warned me about Real Estate investing. Of course none of them had done it themselves, and all of them were willing to share their horror stories of a “friend” who tried to invest in real estate.
They filled my head with “what ifs”. What if you cannot resell it after you buy it? What if you cannot do the repairs? What if someone gets hurt on your property and you get sued? What if you cannot make the mortgage payment? What if . . . What if . . . What if . . ..
I’ll have to admit. I was getting pretty nervous.
When I bought my first property, the fear of failure was pretty high so I decided to reduce that risk by learning as much as I could before I bought that first house.
Another common fear is fear of success. For many reasons, and almost all of them deal with the past, the fear of success haunts many people because they feel undeserving of the success.
I can remember many times in my own life, before I started investing in real estate when each time I got close to grabbing that “brass ring”, I always managed to find a way to sabotage myself.
I did this subconsciously because in my mind, I was not worthy or deserving of the prize. After closer analysis, I realized that these feelings originated from things that I had done in my teenage years that made me feel undeserving as I went through my twenties.
It was only after I confronted these demons, came to an understanding, and accepted them for what they were was I able to fulfill my true potential and begin capturing and enjoying success.
Mistake: Waiting Too Long to Start Investing
If you suffer from the fear of success, it’s time to face whatever problem you had in your past, understand what it is, and why it happened. Come to terms with it so it doesn’t continue to affect your future.
Each and every one of us has had struggles in our past. What we have to realize is that the past is the past. To re-live it and let it affect your life future is counter-productive.
It’s your life and life is for living. To allow your own, or someone else’s action in that past to continue to haunt your future is like suffering a slow death. The most powerful thing you can do for yourself is . . . Forgive.
Whether it is yourself or someone else, all of your power is in your ability to forgive. Forgive and move on. Forgive today and enjoy your success tomorrow.
The fear of the unknown is the last of the big three. Who wants to go into a dark room? Who wants to go to a party where you don’t know anyone? Who is not nervous about buying their first investment property? Whenever the outcome is uncertain, fear rears its ugly head.
Prepare Yourself for Battle and You Will Be Victorious
In real estate investing, the way to conquer fear is through knowledge. The way to get knowledge is to read books, listen to podcasts, and network with people who are already doing what you want to do.
These are the reasons why so many investors did not start earlier. The reason that they consider their delay a mistake is universal amongst them all. If they had started earlier, whether it is six months, 1 year, 2 years or more, they all realize that they would be much wealthier today.
They realized that after they took action, their fears went away, they learned what they needed to learn to successfully invest and became wealthy as a result. If they started earlier, their lives would have been easier faster. So don’t delay, start today!
Did you know that there can be no courage without fear?
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