Real Estate Investor Magazine South Africa April 2014 | Page 22

COVER STORY
event commented that the tactics of one organisation
smacked of the hard, high-pressure one-on-one sales
common to timeshare consultations.
The most frequent questions I get from people
attending these events are: “Are these gurus for real?”
and “Do they really change
people’s lives to the extent
that they promise?” The
short answer is yes, some of
them do. But the reality is
that there are no guarantees.
In fact, the success rate of
delegates who sign up for
these courses is less than 5%. And this is often because
only 5% of people will take the action required: if you
don’t really commit to the process and take action, it will
fall flat quickly.

Many people hope that they can simply sign up to the
guru’s courses or programmes, and then sit back and
watch their lives change. The reality is very different:
absolutely nothing will change if you do not apply what
you have learnt from a guru, replacing your old habits
and rituals with the new, more effective methods you
have learnt to transform
your financial and personal
life. I have realised that this
is not an easy journey: it
requires great commitment,
dedication and discipline,
which are all attributes of
successful people.

“The real solution is to invest
time and energy to develop
your own personal property
investment strategy.”

Are you willing to commit 100%
While many so-called gurus promote their systems as
such, the reality is that there are no quick fixes to fame,
success and massive wealth.
However, you can fast-track your success by learning
from people who have already achieved incredible
success, by applying their knowledge, insights,
experience and systems yourself.
It is important to understand, however, that there is
a big catch: if you want the results produced by a
system, you have to follow the system. You have
to commit 100%. If you fail to follow the system stepby-step, you cannot expect the same result. Just like a
recipe, a system will only produce a certain result if you
follow it to the letter.
If you do not follow the system, or omit certain steps or
change some of the steps, and you do not get the results
you expected, you cannot say that it is the system that
does not work.

In fact, the reality is that the journey is fraught with
struggles, challenges and life lessons. However, if you
do the hard yards, you will discover new abilities and
achieve a new awareness about yourself, and this can
take your personal, business and financial results to the
next level.
There is also a real danger in putting all your trust and
confidence solely into one person and closing off your
mind to the rest of the world.
Investors are different, markets are different and the
dynamics of local areas are different. It is not always
possible to replicate precisely an investment strategy
that worked for one person, or in one market or in one
localised area to every situation.
The real solution is to invest time and energy to develop
your own personal property investment strategy. This
is done by listening to many different gurus to discern
the strategies and methods that have been successful for
them, to learn from their mistakes and to evaluate their
advice and then to develop your own strategy. Acquire as
much knowledge as you can from multiple sources and
then develop a methodology that works best for you.

THE REAL SOLUTION
I have found that the real key to success is to take personal responsibility for your
actions and your own destiny. There is no magic wand that allows you to sit back and
watch your financial situation turn around, just because you attended a course or
seminar or training session.

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April 2014 SA Real Estate Investor

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