Encouragement to Keep Going From Holocaust Survivor Viktor Frankl

He tells his heartbreaking story and the lessons he learned through those horrific years in his book, Man’s Search For Meaning. Frankl is not in the photo below, but it does illustrate the degree of suffering he and millions of others endured.

What could a holocaust survivor’s tragedy possibly have to do with property investing?

In Steve McKnight’s Millionaire Apprentice Program, I currently mentor about 80 people, including spouses and partners. One of the first things we do is help them establish a clear and compelling investing goal. It usually looks something like this: $100,000 in annual passive income within seven to 10 years.

We then begin figuring out the perfect strategy, given their available inputs, as well as determining what the ideal property will be to take them to their first incremental goal. Up to this point, we’ve just been planning. The real work begins next when they venture out to execute the plan.

This is where the internal emotional battle begins. People hit roadblocks. They realise it’s more difficult than they thought it would be. They may get outbid on a few properties or they can’t find a deal that stacks up, because home prices are now higher than ever before.

Some persevere and press through their discouragement, and eventually find a deal. I mentored one investor named Will for 12 months before he found a property. He was determined to stick close to Melbourne, and eventually he found what he was looking for. If all goes to plan, he anticipates a profit over $200,000 within the next two years.

Others I’ve mentored have hit funding challenges from lenders and have given up. Upon closer inspection, they usually have a history of throwing in the towel, and then making excuses for their inaction.

All of us face discouragement at times, so what causes some people to give up, while others persevere?

When I’m battling negative thoughts and feel like quitting, I try to find inspiration in the example of other people. I remind myself of those who have gone through exceptionally difficult experiences whether in investing or in life – people who have made the decision to persevere – and then came out from the other side far stronger.

It’s hard to think of a better example from history than Viktor Frankl.

Ultimately achieving financial freedom through property investing is a path fraught with many perils. I’m not surprised that many people give up. The farther out the vision, the harder it can be to stay focused and keep working toward it.

Three of Viktor Frankl’s Most Powerful Quotes

If you’ve given up on your dream or are close to it, here are three Viktor Frankl quotes from Man’s Search for Meaning that will hopefully provide the encouragement you need to keep you going:

Photo by Prof. Dr. Franz Vesely / CC BY-SA

“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms – to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”

This man had literally everything taken from him but his life. He was left with only one freedom, the one that could never be taken – the power to choose his own attitude. He called this choice “the last of the human freedoms.”

Every property investor at some point must make a conscious decision to keep going. Whether it’s a small disappointment or a fatal investing mistake, you must regain control of your emotions and choose to stay focused on the dream.

I’ve never met anyone who has started a business or any worthwhile endeavor, for that matter, who didn’t feel like giving up at some point. It’s those who persevere through discouragement that win.

Perseverance requires that we first make a decision to choose what our attitude is going to be. Will you become bitter, point the finger or make excuses, or will you take responsibility for your own actions, make an adjustment, keep going and improve your skill?

“When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.”

Frankl was powerless to change his situation. His captors were more powerful and they were armed. He could however change himself. He decided to reject bitterness, anger, and hatred and instead chose to forgive his tormentors.

Investing is like working out a muscle. When you first get in the gym, you’re weak, you’re sore and you look pretty unimpressive to those who have been working out consistently, but over time, if you stick with it, you get stronger.

This principle is the foundation of our Property Apprenticeship course and mentoring program. Most people who start the course expect to just pick up a few practical investing skills. While there is a mountain of new skills taught, many underestimate the internal change and personal development that takes place.

By the end of the year, many people say it was the inner transformation that was the most valuable part of the course. Whether you are in our training program or not, you can only become a more successful property investor by first changing yourself.

“Don’t aim at success. The more you aim at it and make it a target, the more you are going to miss it. For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side effect of one’s personal dedication to a cause greater than oneself… you have to let it happen by not caring about it.”

I was a pitcher on my high school baseball team; sort of like the bowler in cricket. One of the mantras of my pitching coach was, “Don’t aim the ball; just throw it.” It’s common knowledge among pitchers that when you try and aim at the catcher’s glove like it’s a target, you tense up and end up missing the strike zone completely. But when you look past the target, have a good time, relax and throw the ball, you find a groove and have much greater accuracy.

Success in property investing can be clearly measured through number crunching formulas and financial progress toward a goal. This is immensely helpful in determining whether you are getting closer to or moving farther away from the objective.

The downside of this clear measure of success is that we tend to make the dollar sign our ultimate target in life. Following Frankl’s logic, we need a “why” that drives our investing, which is bigger than money and bigger than ourselves.

I once mentored an investor whose husband had passed away. She wanted to fund her retirement through real estate because she hoped to use her husband’s super balance to fund a cause he had been passionate about. This became a deeply compelling “why” for her, which continues to empower her toward her goal today.

Ask any successful entrepreneur what their passion is, and you will likely not hear, “to make money.” Have you ever heard Elon Musk talk about his passion? It’s all about solving human problems and bringing good to future generations.

Stop caring so much about money and start caring about people. Take responsibility for your own improvement and persevere, and the rewards should naturally follow.

What Have You Learned About Yourself Since Beginning Your Investing Journey?

Life has a way of revealing both our personal strengths and our character flaws. Success can make us proud, arrogant and entitled. Failure can lead us to make excuses, point the finger or stick our heads in the sand.

What has been your greatest realization about yourself on your investing journey?

What’s the “why” that ultimately drives your property investing vision? Is it bigger than money and bigger than yourself?

By Jason Staggers

Jason was a personal mentor working with Steve McKnight's Property Apprentices. He helped hundreds of investors apply Steve's teachings in the real world and achieve greater results on their journey to financial freedom. Jason now lives in Perth, WA where he leads Neuma Church.