You are programmed to NOT make mistakes… why it’s bad for your success
You heard me right… we are all programmed NOT to make mistakes… and this is 
TERRIBLE for your success! It’s not bad for your success… it’s a SUCCESS KILLER!
Think about it for a minute here. In almost every aspect of our lives we are taught to do things perfectly and to not make mistakes.
- We are given grades in school that punish us for mistakes
- We are given tickets by not following the exact traffic laws
- We are fired at work for making mistakes
- We were grounded when we were kids for not doing what our parents say
- We are benched in college baseball for making a couple errors in a game (happened to me once or twice
- We are chastised and teased when we do something that goes against the grain for 90% of people
- Our credit score is knocked because we make a mortgage payment late
- and on and on…
What does all of this do for us? Well, as a society it helps keep order and helps measure us on different metrics. In that respect… from a societal (is that a word?) perspective it is awesome that people are taught not to make mistakes.
But… from a personal success perspective the “don’t make a mistake” mentality is a poison to your success. Basically, the “don’t make a mistake” mentality ingrained into us from a very early age is meant to keep us in line with the majority of society. The rules and punishments keep us in check and help us to follow (or be graded on) the norm.
We as entrepreneurs and real estate investors can’t live based on the norm. We can’t stay in line with the majority of society because the majority of society isn’t successful and living their dream lives. Of course, I’m not saying to ditch the common laws and rules of society… I’m just saying to break out of the mindset that failure and making mistakes is a bad thing.
Let me clue you into a little secret (it’s actually not a secret at all)…
… mistakes only happen when you actually go out and try something… and it’s from these mistakes that you learn from.
NO MISTAKES = NO SUCCESS
That’s right… you cannot and will not reach your goals and become a complete success without first making mistakes. Mistakes are all part of the game. You just need to reprogram your brain to realize that mistakes are not a bad thing at all… mistakes are a step toward a better you.
Think of mistakes as an advanced class in (whatever that mistake was in). So… if you make a mistake in real estate investing by paying too much for a property… you just took probably the best course you can take on “not paying too much for a property”. The wisdom you gained from that “course” is far more valuable than any book or course you will ever read.
In my opinion, people who don’t make mistakes shouldn’t be envied at all. I never will envy someone who doesn’t make any mistakes. Why? Because they never put themselves in a postion outside of their comfort zone or tried something new… and gave themselves the opportunity to make a mistake. That’s right!.. the “opportunity”. Mistakes are simply opportunities to learn and grow… and will only result in moving forward… not backward (for those of us who recognize mistakes as a good thing).
If you are reading this post and are looking for the one single best tip on how to get started in real estate investing that I have to offer… it is that you need to kick your fear of making a mistake and embrace the opportunity to make a mistake.
Mistakes made means that you took action and learned from those actions. Mistakes avoided means that you took the easy route and didn’t do a damn thing to progress toward being a successful real estate investor.
So… get out there and make some mistakes.
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Hey, my name is Trevor and I'm the founder of The REI Brain and a real estate investor since the age of 21. Right now, my focus in real estate investing is multi-family income properties and I have plans on moving more into the commercial real estate investment world in 2008 and beyond. 
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