Last year, I returned from a round-the-world trip. I've started on a second round-the-world trip; the first leg of it is in the Caribbean.
This success didn't happen overnight. (I've got a blog post coming out about that shortly – stay tuned). But it happened because I worked at it and I always took massive action.
The opportunity is there but not everyone takes it
It all starts with doing just one deal. Just one! And you build from there (eventually you do two and then three and then four, etc.).
But when aspiring investors consider the thought of doing that first deal, something holds them back. They say...
"I can't afford it"
Some investors say "I can't afford it"
Maybe they don't say it exactly like that, but that's the general message. They say something like: "I don't have the down payment" or "I don't have the credit score to get a mortgage" or "I can't afford the carrying costs" or "All of my money is committed somewhere else" or "I can't buy an investment property because my daughter needs braces this year"... you get the idea.
All of these phrases can basically be boiled down to the objection "I can't afford it".
I hear the phrase (or one of the derivatives) so often!
Have you ever said it? Maybe you've said that about a vacation or a new car or a bigger house. Or maybe you've said that when you've heard me talking about putting together a team or investing in tools for your real estate business.
Why the phrase is a problem
"I can't afford it" is so easy to say and as soon as you say it, it releases your mind from the responsibility of thinking about it further.
However, I think that phrase is poison. It kills real estate deals and it kills your dream of becoming successful and achieving the Time Freedom and Financial Freedom that you desire.
And what frustrates me even further are the aspiring investors who say: "But DM, you're successful enough now that you don't have to worry about whether you can afford to do a deal or not". Well, I wasn't born into a wealthy family and that same phrase did cross my mind when I first started, but I decided something...
Here's what to do instead
Rather than letting the problems (like no money and no credit) limit me, I tried to get inspired to find a solution. Instead of stopping a deal because I couldn't do it, I stepped up to the challenge of working to make it happen.
Did I succeed every time? No, I didn't. Hell, I still mess up every day. But I promise you that I achieved more than someone else who wouldn't have tried at all.
You see it’s about the questions we ask ourselves. I always do this and I'm reminded of what Robert Kiyosaki says in his book Rich Dad Poor Dad on the very same subject. He says that in his Rich Dad's house "I can't afford that" was forbidden. Instead of saying "I can't afford that" and shutting off your brain, his Rich Dad taught him to ask "How can I afford that?" and to figure out how to pay for whatever he was trying to buy.
In trying to break through to do your first real estate deal, the deal-killing statement "I can't afford it" can stop you DEAD in your tracks. But if you instead step up to the challenge (like I and many other real estate investors did) and ask "How can I afford it?" then you'll find out that there are lots of ways to do a deal.
For example, you can build a list of investor-buyers first so that when you have a deal, you can find one or more buyers to help you get the deal done. And you can use my Trifecta Profits method to profit up to 3 times on a real estate deal without using your own credit or money. And, you can use your IRA/401k (or find investors who want to use their IRAs or 401k’s to get great returns secured by real estate) to do deals. I'll be blogging more about that later, too.
The same is true for other things you're not sure you can afford – such as the tools and mentoring you might need to invest in to become more successful. And I even like to use the same principle even when money isn't involved. Sometimes there are other obstacles that stand in my way of achieving something. I try not to let phrases like "I don't have enough time" or "I can't figure out how to profit from that deal" creep into my vocabulary. I work on finding a way.
It's worked for me
It's that very mentality that has allowed me to build a business that runs virtually (and almost on autopilot) so I can run it from anywhere in the world, as I type this I’m hanging out in New Delhi, India putting deals together all because I asked myself the right questions.
Truth is... Your questions will predict your outcome in life and business.
Your game-changing friend and mentor,
Mark Evans DM,DN
PS, I want to know what do you think. What are the questions that stop you in your tracks (even if you've overcome them, let us know so others can hear about your successes and struggles). Put them in the comments. I'd love to hear them (and maybe I'll blog about them in the future).