Posted by People often tell me that there are things they’d like to do in life, goals they like to set.
Then they immediately follow it with a ‘but…’. And give me the reason they’re not pursuing that goal. The thing that’s stopping them doing what they’d really like to be doing.
When we tell ourselves that we can’t do something, that’s what is known as a ‘limiting belief’. Limiting beliefs are those things that tell you that you’re too ‘this’ to do ‘that’, or that you don’t have enough X to achieve Y.
You can overcome your limiting beliefs though – it’s all a matter of reframing how you look at things! So this week I want to look at a few things I often hear from people, and try to help you look at them in a different way.
Limiting belief: I’m too old
A 38-year-old once asked me if they were too late to get on the property ladder. In his eyes, he was already 38, and so he’d missed the boat. I advised him to look at it a different way, that he was only 38, he still had loads of time!
Obviously you might need to think about your investment horizon when it comes to risk and looking at investment – if you’re younger you’ve got more time to withstand and recover from blips in the market (it’s all a cycle, remember), but if you’re closer to retirement you might want to have a more secure footing.
To my mind, though, the only time you’re too old or too late to do something is when you’re dead, so why not pay attention to the old Chinese proverb: ‘The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.’
Reframing tip – don’t look at it as ‘I’m already X years old’, think of it as ‘I’m only X years old!’.
Limiting belief: I don’t know how to do this
Coming up against a challenge shouldn’t be the reason you don’t do something.
If you’re new to something (eg real estate or investing), you might feel a bit adrift at the beginning, and hitting an obstacle might make you want to give up the whole thing.
But that’s where the power of your network comes in. You’ve heard the saying, ‘It’s not what you know, it’s who you know’, so take a look around you – who do you know who might be able to help?
By the same token, do you have any transferable skills that can help you come up with a creative solution? You might assume you don’t know anything, but that’s not the case. Do a SWOT analysis to help you identify your strengths, and invite your peers to do the same – you might soon find that not only do you know more than you think you do, but you’ve also got skills that someone else desperately needs!
Reframing tip – Don’t ask how you’re going to do something, ask who you know who can help you.
Limiting belief: I’ll never achieve my goals
First of all, remember that investing (especially real estate investing) is a long-term thing. You should think of it like a long-distance journey.
As you set out, you’re going to experience a lot of ups, downs, short stops, long stops, fast straights on the motorway and winding, narrow roads where you have to go slowly. Occasionally you’re going to have to hit reverse and you might even have to turn around and go back to where you started.
This is the reality of the real estate market – it’s a long journey and it’s definitely not linear. Don’t expect to go from 0 to 100 over a defined period: it might go 0 to 20, down to 13, up to 40 and then back down to 30. It is a zigzag but will hopefully go in the right direction over a long enough time period.
Reframing tip – Remember that it’s a marathon, not a sprint.
Limiting belief: It’s not the right time
When it comes to investment, there’s an old saying, ‘time in the market will always beat timing the market’. As I said earlier, the economy (especially in terms of property and construction) works in a circular manner: there are oscillations, ups and downs and people often think to themselves that they need to wait until they’re at the right point in the cycle.
You might think you should wait till the market is hot to buy/invest, but by doing that you might have to do things very quickly and end up making mistakes because you’re rushing.
You might think that when the market is cool, so you’ve missed the boat, but actually that can be something of a saving grace. It gives you time to do your due diligence and lay proper foundations for future deals.
Reframing tip – The conditions for investing are never going to be 100% perfect, so look for opportunities that other people might be missing while they’re busy waiting for that ‘right time’.
Limiting belief: I’ll never be as good as them
In 2008, before the financial crash, 136 helicopters were registered in Ireland. Two years later, something like 110 of those helicopters had been repossessed, because the people that had bought them didn’t have the money to actually pay for them. They just wanted to look like bigshots flying around in a helicopter, like all of their mates.
I’ll never get tired of telling people that my podcast is called Behind the Facade because I want to show people what’s really going on behind the curtain. So much of what people present to us in public is very different to what’s really going on – we’re just getting the Instagram version, and we shouldn’t be comparing ourselves to those filtered versions!
Decide for yourself what your goals are and what your future is, without trying to copy someone else. I mean, if buying a helicopter is appealing to you, then go ahead and do it! But make sure that you’re not comparing yourself to and trying to emulate someone who’s not giving you the complete picture.
Reframing tip – Get really clear on your own goals and filter out the noise from other people. There’s truth in the saying ‘compare and despair’!
Remember, every successful person started exactly where you are, with their own set of doubts and limiting beliefs. The difference is they chose to reframe those thoughts and take action anyway. Your limiting beliefs aren’t walls – they’re windows that can be opened to new possibilities.
It’s all about how you see the bigger picture. Limiting beliefs and a pessimistic outlook may cause you to miss opportunities, but if you try to view things from a more optimistic perspective, you may be surprised at what you find.
If you want to turn your reframes into real action, but don’t know where to start, then take a look at my new FREE training: Your Real Estate Roadmap.
Watch the video and download the PDF to learn the 5 key steps to building wealth through property and how to scale your real estate investment portfolio.
Inside I cover who I am, how I know what I’m talking about, why you should build a property portfolio and how to go about it, as well as the key steps to take you to the next level on the road to success.