Being Tested: Finding Your Investing Muscles

How serious are you about becoming a successful property investor? Before you answer this question, think about it for a minute. Investing in property is a big commitment and like anything worthwhile, it takes time to acquire the skills to become successful at it. Now think about these questions: How quickly do you give up when things get tough? How often do you make excuses when challenges appear?

I remember Steve McKnight asking me early on in my property investing career if my desire to succeed in property was a “must” or a “maybe.” At the time, I didn’t fully understand the clarity my answer would bring to my own journey.

Now I pose the same question to my own community of fellow property investors and it’s always interesting to see who follows through and makes their commitment to succeed a “must.”

It’s a common theme and in fact, according to Australian Tax Office’s own data, out of Australia’s entire population of over 23 million people, only 1.8 million people own two or less investment properties. What’s even more surprising is that two out of every three of those investors are generating a loss from those investments.

This leads us to the next question: Why is it that so few Australians generate a profit from property investing?

It can’t be from a lack of knowledge, as there are strategies galore out there, both free and paid, to create a substantial supplemental income from property investing.

It can’t be a lack of affordability, available capital or servicing ability. There are countless opportunities to create joint venture arrangements to compliment skill and resources between property investors.

What I’ve come to believe is that it’s your commitment to the task to succeed at all costs. I’m talking about seeing your success in property investing as a serious, pressing life and death situation.

You might say that’s a bit too dramatic, but in reality there are retirees out there right now who must choose whether to buy food or medicine this week with their pensions.

For me, that’s a life and death situation I don’t want to be in, so I plan to ensure that’s not the reality for me or for those around me, as well.

When you make a decision and commit to becoming a property investor, or anything else for that matter, you’ll be tested and that’s where most people fall over.

The Testing Phenomenon: Is It a “Must” or a “Maybe” for You?

Whenever you create a plan, schedule a task, or commit to achieving something, the universe will test you to see if you’re truly serious.

I’m not kidding. Call it what you want, but there is a force out there that wants to know how committed you are. Most people who set an intention never seem to have the commitment to follow through. You’ll often hear the excuse, “Life just got in the way” or “I ran out of time.”

If you want to achieve anything in life, you need to prove how serious you are. The funny thing is that this “testing phenomenon” applies to almost anything, no matter how small or how big the intention is. Let me share a less serious version of how this happened to me when I made a random commitment a few months ago.

I decided to set the intention not to drink alcohol for 30 days. Now I’m not a particularly big drinker – maybe an occasional glass of wine with dinner or a couple of beers on the weekend – but that’s about it. I just felt like I could do without alcohol for a month to cleanse my system, so I made the commitment to do that.

That afternoon I went to the supermarket to buy some groceries. I should mention we were living in France at the time and they buy all their alcohol at the supermarket. The glass sliding doors opened and I was met with eight pallets of beer that stood six feet high, plastered with discount signs all over them.

There was a 30-day sale on boutique beers from the region – Bingo. The universe was testing my commitment to my intentions, and I’m happy to say I passed the test with flying colours.

Now you could pass this off as a coincidence, but this happens to me all the time. I’m a big fan of setting clear intentions with everything in my life, and each one is tested in the most unexpected ways.

In fact, I’ve learned to love the challenge that is presented each time, because it strengthens my belief that I am on the right track for success.

A Lesson in Property Investing That Also Applies to Life

The lesson is twofold:

1. To succeed in anything, you need to set the intention in the first place and commit to achieving that goal, no matter what. Ask yourself, is it a “must” or a “maybe”?
2. When challenges arise, and they will, don’t see them as an excuse to deviate from the path or recoil into a position of procrastination. Embrace the test and be grateful you have proof now that you’re on the right path.

There is one more point that I need to add here that you could see as an extension to the belief that is created when you are tested with a challenge of your commitment:

You don’t know how close you are to success.

In life and of course, in property investing, you are never presented with a checkered flag waving wildly as you approach the finish line. The universe replaces that flag with a sea of fog that distorts your vision. It is designed to provide that final test before you finally achieve your goal.

At that moment, when you are on your last legs, taking your final knock on the chin, literally about to throw in the towel and give up – then and only then – will the finish line reveal itself.

Has your resolve been tested yet? The next time you notice the testing phenomenon is happening to you, remember to dig in your heels and persist. You may be pleasantly surprised at the rewards waiting for you at the finish line.

By Matt Jones

Since his first subdivision project while earning almost minimum wage delivering mail as a Postie, Matt has now transacted over $5 million dollars in real estate. He uses a bullet-proof system to uncover subdivision and renovation deals in almost any market and has perfected the art of joint venturing on his development projects as well.Matt also started what has become the largest real estate networking group in Australia, providing education and a safe networking environment for thousands of property investors every year.Matt now lives in France with his family, where he oversees joint venture property deals in Australia and teaches others how to apply his wealth-building techniques. You can learn more about his techniques, resources, checklists, and formulas at www.PropertyResourceShop.com.