Overcome The Challenges To Success

Let's address a really important issue; how to achieve the success you want in life, using property investment as one of the major routes to deliver it.

For most of us there is a gap between what we want to achieve and where we are now - that's the 'creative tension' that keeps us motivated and moving forward - or at least it should be!

I’ve spoken, over the years, to hundreds of ‘would-be’ property investors who can see that a solid portfolio with good equity and positive cashflow could transform their life over the next 5-20 years, but have never got started.

Is this you?

If it is, then you are similar to many other people! But frankly that's not something to be proud of. The reality is that most people never get to achieve their goals in life. What is worse, at least for me, is to talk to people that live in a world of make believe, thinking that they are on track to their goals when actually they are not taking the steps that are needed.

It’s the difference between thinking and doing.

I repeat. Success is in the doing, NOT in the thinking.

Of course the thinking has to come first, but then the doing has to take over. So if you are not doing the doing, you will NEVER achieve the success you deserve and end up where you want to be.

If you agree with me so far, then the solution is to take ACTION. But this is where all the problems lie. The challenges that hold us back are mostly not practical ones, they are emotional / internal issues. Let’s take a look at the five issues that hold us back and what we can do to overcome them.

What Gets In The Way?

Here is my list of the top five challenges that stop us taking action. You might well have another one.. or two… or even three that are holding you back. No matter. Address them in the same way that I discuss the points below and see if you can put them behind you.

Inability to make decisions
Fear of failure
Procrastination
Perceived lack of resources
Uncertainty

Before we look at each of them in turn, let’s examine a key point that underlies every single issue that holds us back from achieving our maximum potential. Until we make the absolute commitment to move forward and leave behind our existing situation, nothing will change. The level of commitment required is frankly exceptional… here’s a ‘made up’ story to illustrate the feeling of commitment that you need to have inside every core of your being:

Imagine your closest loved one. They are seriously ill. You are told that they have to have medicine in the next 24 hours to save their life. But it costs £100,000 to buy. And you have no money. If they don’t have the medicine they die!

Here’s the test. How committed would you be to getting the money? 20%, 50%, 100%. Will you act as if someone’s live depends on it? (It does!). Is there room for doubt that you will get the money? I hope none at all.

Here’s the point. When someone gets totally committed to what they want to achieve, the world moves aside to make it possible. Possibilities that had never been considered come to mind. People step outside their comfort zone and stretch themselves in many ways to achieve what they want.

The lesson is simple… to make anything happen full and complete commitment is a pre-requisite.

Inability to Make Decisions

Guess what. I here the words ‘not sure’ so many times from potential investors it’s amazing. And then nothing happens. What it comes down to is an inability to make positive decisions. In fact every investor who says ‘no’ to a deal is actually making a decision although they often don’t realise it. They are making a ‘no’ decision.

The problem is that once this pattern starts it’s difficult to break. The first part of moving forward is to appreciate that you are in a pattern of ‘no’. The second part is to identify your strategy and have a model of what you WANT to invest in. Then the decision changes: does this deal fit your strategy or doesn’t it?

If it does, then it’s a ‘yes’ decision automatically. If it doesn’t, then stay with your ‘no’ decision.

Remember that Axis offers you a strategy consultation with me or David Ball at zero cost for investors with at least £25K to invest. Call the office on 01273 447 300 to arrange.

Fear Of Failure

This is a big one. Suppose you invest and something goes wrong? Better not to do it than risk failure! Problem is, no decision to invest means no way to move forward and change your life. In fact if you do nothing then you have definitely failed to reach your goals. That’s sad.

My suggestion. Get into the detail. Look at the risks and rewards. Learn as much as possible. Work out a strategy. Work with Axis who have the skills and experience that you may be lacking.

The great thing about property is that you are unlikely to make any mistakes that are terminal provided you take modest precautions. Time tends to heal all mistakes with property. So long as you are buying below market value and you are reasonably confident the property will rent, little else is likely to get in the way of a profitable investment.

The biggest challenge about ‘Fear of Failure’, is the emotional challenge to overcome – you will probably recognise the problem in other areas of your life as well.

Procrastination

Good investment deals don’t hang about. Last Friday I was sitting with a client in my office and we were discussion a particular investment. I knew we had just one unit left from seven originally, and that there was a lot of interest.

When we finished the discussion an hour later my client said that he would like to take the unit. At that point one of my staff told me that they’d sold that unit 1o minutes before! My client was really upset because it was a truly exceptional investment – but it was gone.

The problem with procrastination is that it keeps you from making your mind up for too long – in fact for much of the time it keeps you from ever saying ‘yes’ because the delay is so long that the deal is no longer available! Very sad.

For cautious investors this can be a real challenge. Some people like to have days to make their minds up… but in the process of giving themselves the time they want they lose deal after deal after deal.

My suggestion is to get much clearer about exactly what you do want – write it down – put in place the key numbers. For example, are your comfortable buying at the £100,000 price level, the £200,000 price level, the £300,000 price level? There is no right or wrong, what matters is that you can define what you want so that it is easy and quick to make decisions.

Perceived Lack Of Resources

I chose my words with care. I said ‘perceived’ lack of resources, because the reality is that the resources are all around us. It’s just a matter of harnessing them. Remember back to the lesson that focused on the OP Formula – “Other People’s” – money, skill, experience or whatever?

Use your commitment to drive you to find the resources you need. Remember that Axis has a packaged solution that brings you all the resources necessary. It’s a quick and easy approach to investment that means you can get started with confidence and extremely low risk!

Of all the resources, money is perhaps the most perceived as missing. Consider our Low and No Money Down deals and apply for our portfolio finance giving you up to £1,000,000 instant facility!

Refresh your memory, download these documents if you haven’t already done so:

No Money Down Smart Guide: http://www.axispropertyinvestment.com/smart-guide-no-money-down.html

85% Finance Facility Information Pack: http://www.axispropertyinvestment.com/no-money-down-loan.html

Uncertainty

Many of us are not good at dealing with uncertainty. We’d all love to know what the future holds, what the increase in our property value will be in the next 2,5 or 10 years. But we can’t know these things… at least with any certainty.

Where does that leave us? With a difficult choice. Either we stay where we are with absolute certainty that we won't achieve what we want in the future, and our financial wealth will NOT significantly increase… or we decide to embrace uncertainty and move ahead.

Investors who never do anything, and cite uncertainty as the reason, get me pretty annoyed. They think they live with certainty but they don’t. No one can know what their health will be in 10 years time, whether they will still be married, or indeed alive. No one can know exactly what they will earn or even if they will be in the same job or business.

The only certainty that there is, is that in this moment we exist. And in the next moment we exist. And so on.

Everything in the future is uncertain.

For me, the big issue here is simple. It’s about weighing up the likely outcomes of any course of action and considering the risks and the rewards.

If you haven’t invested then you can be certain that you won’t have a portfolio unless you do.

And if you do have a portfolio, using the risk management techniques such as buying below market value, buying with positive cash flow, what is the most likely outcome?

A hugely profitable property portolio in 10 years time.

By the way, the risk element is massively reduced by investing NOW, roughly at the bottom of the property cycle. In every previous cycle prices have doubled in about eight years. And if you buy below today’s market value you will have a built in 40-50% profit on the net price even if prices do not increase at all.

The measure of a smart investor is their ability to deal with uncertainty by balancing risk and reward. You can’t eliminate risk completely any more than you can assume you will never have a car accident. But you can take positive steps to swing the risk/reward ratio massively in favour of excellent rewards. It’s no surprise that virtually all the wealthiest people in the world choose to invest a good part of their wealth in property!

Summary

Whatever the challenges holding you back, you CAN overcome them.

The first and most important step is to get committed, really committed as if your life depends on it.

The second step is to take an honest look in the mirror and decide exactly what is holding you back. This article may help identify areas of concern.

The third step is to find ways to overcome each challenge. This will be partly emotional – issues you have to deal with internally, and partly practical – steps to take to learn more, find more resources and so on.

The final step is to take action and make that first investment, totally accepting that there is a degree of uncertainty.

Ready to invest now?

Call our UK property hotline on 0333 444 0034 or email ukproperty@axiscontact.com

Call our USA Property Hotline on 0333 444 1440 or email usaproperty@axiscontact.com

Like to discuss any of the issues raised in this Lesson with me, email rod@axiscontact.com

Many thanks for staying with me whilst we take this journey together through the first learnings about successful property investment. I’d like to end by sharing a story about one of my clients (name changed for personal reasons),

The Story Of John

John worked in a warehouse as a floor manager. Earning an average salary, no great prospects of promotion. But John was determined to change his life, create wealth, have more time freedom and more control over his future.

So John decided to invest in property and build a portfolio. Without much capital available he needed to use Low and No Money Down techniques. He started learning. He started investing. John developed a very clear business model that enabled him to check the numbers of any investment in minutes and decide if it was for him.

John set himself a goal of leaving his job and starting his own property business within five years. And also to immerse himself in personal development courses to help overcome some of the limiting beliefs he had.

Guess what, the first time I met John I had no doubt that he would achieve what he had set out to do. I knew there would be challenges along the way (the property crash was a huge one!), but John kept going.

And right on cue, John left his job just before 5 years were up. He has income from his portfolio, not huge but enough to survive. He has other streams of income that have been developed to support, short and medium term, his property income.

John has transformed his life and his future. He’s a regular guy who got clear about his goals, developed a truly deep commitment to achieving them, and then took action.

You can be the next John. No question. You just have to do what he did. Me and my team at Axis stand ready to help you.

Take a look at the latest UK investment deals: http://www.axispropertyinvestment.com/uk.html

And the USA investment deals: http://www.axispropertyinvestment.com/usa.html

Then give our Portfolio Managers a ring and discuss your current situation and strategy. We are here to help.

UK Portfolio Manager: 0333 444 0034 ukproperty@axiscontact.com

USA Portfolio Manager: 0333 444 1440 usaproperty@axiscontact.com

Live with Abundance

Rod Thomas FCA