New investors, or those that tried investing but gave up, always ask me what the best way is to start investing successfully in property. Most start by learning the hard way, by trial and terror and making lots of arbitrary mistakes. This is what we call an autodidact or self-taught person. They eventually reach the point of making small breakthroughs but tend to get stuck all the time and they tend to give up too quickly. The quicker, easier more successful way to start investing is to educate yourself with the right information, right partners and work alongside somebody who has done it already who can guide, mentor and coach you to become successful.
Successful investors who have built wealth in property have either made their money in real estate or invested in real estate while building and operating businesses. Real estate investing is not only what wealthy people do but, in many cases, investing in real estate is how their wealth was created in the first place.
Wealth is about having an abundant mindset; however, achieving financial freedom is a longerterm game, which requires a specific plan and a strategy. Financial independence is the state of having sufficient personal wealth to live on, without having to work actively, and having the luxury of choosing to work when you want to. Kim Kiyosaki says,“ the true reward of financial freedom is a process of growth, improvement and gaining spiritual and emotional strength to become the most powerful, happy, and successful‘ you’ possible”.
Statistics show that only around 4 % of people worldwide become financially free. The question is what are they doing that others are not?
Here are six best practices I can share from personal experience, interviews with successful and wealthy businessmen, sportsmen, celebrities and investors, which you can implement to become a great real estate investor.
Lesson One – Develop a growth mindset Having a strong, growth mindset is the most important element in helping you to push forward in your investment ventures, so that you keep focused and determined rather than just giving up when the going gets tough. Mindset is about taking lots of action. If you are not clear as to what you want to achieve and are not positive, inspired, solution orientated, and confident, with a burning desire to succeed, then you just won’ t be motivated enough take action.
Mindset is all about your belief systems and your attitude. You may have heard of Pareto’ s 80 / 20 principles, where 20 % of the effort produces 80 % of the results. Tony Robbins, international personal development strategist applies this to success, where he says 80 % of success is psychology ‒ made up of your attitude, beliefs and emotions ‒ while only 20 % is strategy, the knowledge, skills, plan and action steps needed to achieve the result. Having a growth mindset gives you all the right reasons to take action and propel your investment strategy forward beyond your beliefs.
Lesson Two – Invest in yourself first The starting point is to understand what investing actually means. The first part of the definition is directly related to making money. Investing is officially defined as,“ putting( money) into financial schemes, shares, property, or a commercial venture with the expectation of achieving a profit.” The second part of its meaning is related to investing in yourself as a person and is when you“ provide or endow someone or something with a particular quality or attribute”. These are two key attributes of investing that are critical for your success.
To create wealth in real estate, investors need to constantly update their knowledge, skills and reinvent themselves to become financially intelligent. It was the great personal development legend, Jim Rohn, who said,“ Don’ t wish it was easier, just wish you were better. Don’ t wish for less problems, wish for more skills.” The learning and investing process should never stop.
Wealth is about having an abundant mindset; however, achieving financial freedom is a longer-term game, which requires a specific plan and a strategy.
Lesson Three – Information or influence? Do you have the right information and legitimate facts or is it just hype and marketing influence? We are living in a period of information overload, noise
www. reimag. co. za MAY 2017 SA Real Estate Investor 55