Hey Moguls, Patrick Riddle here…
With this lesson, my partners and I, Josh and Dusty, are attempting to solve one of the biggest mysteries of this industry.
Statistics show that more than 70% of people who buy our products (products that we work hard to produce) don’t take any action within 90 days of investing in the product. So the big mystery is this:
What prevents people from taking positive action?
People see the potential; they want the lifestyle that’s promised; they want to experience the financial freedom that wealth can bring – but for some reason they can’t get it going. Many just throw in the towel and quit.
Of the Utmost Concern
My partner, Josh, who’s been in this business since 2001, is actually concerned that these people can’t find the success they’re looking for. And the question is, why are they having this problem and how can we help more people succeed?
So, it’s our goal of ours to shift the averages so more people can succeed. We want to help more people take action, to do what’s necessary to make this their breakthrough year.
Here’s what beginners have to understand…
No matter what new endeavor you undertake, you always start out with very little confidence.
Somewhere along the way, however, a shift happens. Something clicks. When that happens, you know things are going to be different. Your confidence is boosted.
I’ve personally experienced that moment.
Josh started in this industry at the age of 19. Fortunately for him, his girlfriend – who later became his wife – came from a real estate investing family. Her father devoted one entire summer to teaching them the ropes. In that summer – from June to August – they made $34k on their first fix-and-flip.
Pretty heady stuff for two teenagers.
That was the defining moment when he knew his life was never going to be the same –he was never going to work for the man again. He could choose to do anything he wanted to do.
The key word there – choose. The mindset shift came for me when I read Robert Kiyosaki’s book, Choose to be Rich. At the time, I was hanging around other successful investors so I knew success was possible and my belief system was amped.
Make the Right Choice
You need to realize it all boils down to making the right choice.
One of my first deals was smoking hot. We got paid $20k up front when we bought the property. At that point, my mind blew wide open. I realized the knowledge I possessed was power. Once your mind expands, it can never contract back to its original position.
There’s no difference between us or any other person who’s getting started in this business. My partner, Josh, failed classes in high school; he goofed off; he was doing everything wrong. Then he learned the power of a positive mindset and trained his brain to believe for big things by tapping into his potential.
For Dusty, I know that his positive mindset shift started right out of college. Once he closed the first deal with no cash or credit, he knew it was possible and could see there was a future in this business. From that first deal, he jumped right into buying an apartment complex.
He took that first success and leveraged his belief system to build upward.
Dusty’s story is very powerful…
Create small successes… and from there, create the belief to build bigger successes. Your goal isn’t to make a million dollars the first month. But rather to start out small and work up.
We all had lots of doubts at the start:
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Will this work?
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Is this really possible?
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Am I too young?
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Do I know enough?
The difference is, I didn’t allow those questions to slow me down. I took massive action, and after the first deal I knew it was possible. From there I worked up to larger deals.
Build that Belief System
Another great way to build a belief system is to spend time with people who are doing what you want to do.
When we first started, we networked like crazy. We were out there meeting people; reading tons of books describing success stories. For us, it wasn’t whether or not it could happen, but rather when it was going to happen.
After spending several years at Columbia University, I quit school to work at my business full time. After that, Every time I saw one of my fraternity brothers, he let me know what a horrible mistake I had made. He insisted that I needed to go back and get my degree.
Realize that people are going to try to drag you down. They want to impose their belief system on you. You can’t let that happen. When someone tells you, “No you can’t do that,” what they’re really saying is that it’s not possible for them! So how could they possibly believe that you could do it?
The first year that Josh and I were in business, we took a big step. We deleted every contact from our cell phones of people who made objections to what we were doing. We cut them out of our lives. It’s amazing what a difference it made not to hear people saying: “You can’t; it’s not possible.”
Over the years we’ve continued to move from smaller jobs to bigger jobs. A few months ago a deal came along where the guy owned a $3.4 million beach house. His payments were around $23k a month. He was getting behind and turned to us for help. We did a short sale for $1.75 million and resold it the same day for $2.1 million. We did a double close; no cash in the deal – but a huge cash payday.
As investors, we didn’t start there. We built up from small deals. We couldn’t have done that without a strong belief system in place.
I was listening to a Tony Robbins recently where he explained the process of developing a belief system. It’s important enough to note here.
It looks like this: Potential > Action > Results > Belief
Every person has unlimited potential. Others have gone before us who started with nothing, but made it to the top of their field. So we know it’s possible. Let’s look at how this happens.
Success Is Possible
First of all, if there’s no belief system in place, a person will tap into very little of their potential.
When that’s the case, there will be very little action. If there’s very little action, there’ll be very little results. (Or, terrible results.)
Terrible results adversely affect the belief system. (“I knew this stuff would never work. I was right all the time.”) The affected belief system causes the person to lower their expectations leading to a downward spiral.
Now let’s change the scenario. This other person, who also has great potential, begins spending time networking, meeting other investors, hanging out with those who are successful to learn how to do this business right.
The more they hang around with these people, the more their thoughts change to:
“If they can do it, I can do it.”
This belief leads them to take massive action to make it happen. Now they’re tapping into more and more of their potential. Through that massive action, they get a lot of results. The results then build a stronger belief system. This creates a positive upward cycle that continues to build on itself.
Mystery Solved
I think we’ve solved the mystery of why 70% of people who start in this business never make it. The major missing element is a strong belief system.
Success calls for a three-point strategy:
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Develop the mindset of the millionaire entrepreneur.
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Learn real estate investing tactics and techniques.
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Implement business-building skills.
The last two are useless without #1. All three combined will catapult you from a hobby to a thriving business.
Whatcha Think?
Do you have a belief system? What kind of impact did it have in your REI business? Tell us about it on the comment section below.
Set aside an hour in the next three days; make an appointment with yourself
Reflect on what you have learned in building your business:
» What did you do right?
» What did you do that was not so good?
» What fears held you back from achieving your goals?
» When looking at the critical areas of success, where’s the hole – what’s missing?
Focus on developing your positive mindset (reading good books, surrounding yourself with positive people, studying success concepts)
Reflect inwardly and realize where changes need to be made to make your own personal mindset shift