You know, a lot of people can tell you how to be successful. There are thousands of books on the subject of achieving success. Without a doubt, there are many books on how to be successful as a real estate investor. The blueprints and formulas are there for you to follow.
What you don’t find very often is a set of instructions on how to fail. Each of us has the talent to fail. Some of us are better at it than others. And if you’re going to fail as a real estate investor, you better remove all doubt and be a complete failure.
So let me help you become a perfect failure by offering you these tips on how you can absolutely sabotage your future as a real estate investor. In fact, if you only follow one or two pieces of advice, it can seem like failure is eluding you. But don’t give up! If you discipline yourself to take advantage of all the advice, you will begin to experience real progress, not just movement that seems to be going nowhere.
Tip #1: Don’t. Just talk.
Because talking is easier than acting, this first tip will put you on the right path to failure. Try to fill most of your day by doing as little as possible. Putting off things that need to be done is even better. Doing what’s important right now will only get you one step closer to achieving your goals, and you certainly don’t want that, do you?
Instead, talk about all the houses you’re going to buy someday or wholesale last week. Talking about what you are going to do is easier, certainly less stressful and something you do simply to occupy your time and not have to think about what you should be doing in your business. Just make sure you don’t mess it up by doing something productive.
Action is your enemy. Go ahead and talk about what you are going to do!
Tip #2: Be afraid. Very scared.
We all have occasional doubts because we’re not sure we can handle the challenges that surely come with rehabbing ugly homes, dealing with contractors, or meeting code compliance issues. For some, however, the doubts can be exaggerated and literally have a crippling effect on their ability to get ahead with their business.
If this describes you, why not make today the day you actively strive to fail? After all, successful people overcome their fear of failure, but fear disables unsuccessful people. It is time for you to take any criticism and any failure personally and as something permanent.
Decide today that you will never believe in yourself or what you are truly capable of achieving. Decide today that you will continue to set unrealistic expectations for yourself. If you can’t be perfect and better than other investors, you’re just not going to do anything.
So go ahead. Take the easy road. Stay comfortably hidden within your comfort zone. That’s the best way to fail in record time.
Tip #3: Assign blame. Be a victim.
You must be careful to take responsibility for your actions and results because that is what successful people do. Successful people are victorious. Instead, you must believe that for some strange reason, bad things happen to you that are out of your control.
Nothing is ever your fault and you absolve yourself of any responsibility if a course of action doesn’t work out as planned. For reasons you cannot fully explain, you are always a victim of circumstance.
Like many victimized people in life, you should never be held responsible for your actions, even if you are unaware of the consequences of your actions. You will have to be creative here. You can blame his failures on the fact that he didn’t get enough Girl Scout cookies when he was a little boy. Or you can make excuses and blame the economy, the president, maybe even being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Just make sure you believe it. If you need more ideas, try blaming your failure on your parents, your spouse, your boss, your lack of education, your age, or his appearance. It doesn’t really matter who you blame or what excuses you make, as long as nothing points to you.
The goal is to blame someone else so you can feel better. Probably the more people you blame or the more excuses you can make up, the better you’ll feel about yourself.
Tip #4: Talk to yourself. Be negative.
The starting point of all success is to have a positive attitude. But failure is our goal here. If you can master this final tip, you’re on the fast track to failure. Why developing and maintaining a negative mindset is probably the single most important thing you can do to fail as a real estate investor?
If you don’t believe you deserve to be a successful investor, you never will. You can become your own worst saboteur if you have a negative attitude. He thinks and speaks negatively about your goals. Using words like “I can never find good deals” or “Investing will never work here” is a good start.
You probably haven’t taken the time to think about it, but having a negative attitude has a double benefit. You feel bad about yourself and make others feel the same.
The good news is that with conscious effort, you can master when it comes to negative thoughts. If you get really good at it, you’ll instantly repel people. Realtors, wholesalers, subcontractors, and just about anyone else will avoid it like the plague. This can be a very good thing and will help cement your failure.
I know you may be a little overwhelmed with all the work you have to do to avoid being successful. You might think that’s even more work. Never fear! You can do it. Internalize these tips and you can reach depths of failure that you may never have imagined! You can be a perfect failure. But you’ll have to “fail” over and over again to achieve that distinction, so take care of failing!
Then when it does, you can mark it as a success!