Wouldn’t real estate investing be so much easier if we could just get the reward without all the risk? Wouldn’t it be great if we could achieve our full potential without ever leaving our comfort zone?

Yet for some reason, life isn’t that easy.

I recently reread the book Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. Many of those that read this book change their practices, but more importantly change the way they believe first.  

This is largely due to the thought that belief precedes reality. In other words, whatever we believe becomes real

It reminds me of a quote by Henry Ford who said, “If you think you can do a thing or think you can’t do a thing, you’re right.” Apparently Ford, too, believed that belief preceded reality.

It’s our choice to believe or not believe.

The Importance of Taking Risks

The bad news about belief is that it requires us to go outside our comfort zone and to take risks.

Risk is the action we take in response to the level of belief we have. The more we believe (in ourselves, a higher power, or whatever), the more likely we are to take risk.

There’s a quote I really like by Leo Buscaglia, who was a professor at the University of Southern California, as well as best-selling author and international motivational speaker.

“The person who risks nothing, does nothing, has nothing, is nothing, and becomes nothing. He may avoid suffering and sorrow, but he simply cannot learn and feel and change and grow and love and live.“

The only way to live life to the fullest is to take some kind of risk.

We know this as real estate investors: generally speaking, the riskier a deal, the higher the reward. Sure, we can play it safe and never get started. But what have we gained? Nothing.

Or we could take some risk. Worst case, we fail. But the lessons learned can be so priceless that in the rearview mirror, they appear as a necessary launching pad into a higher orbit.

Best case, we succeed. We build on our success, expand our business and are able to achieve our financial goals so that we can do what we want to do.

Either way, we win. Either way, we’re at least trying to live life to the fullest.

But we can’t get started without BELIEF.

Strengthening Your Belief

So the lesson for me and you is: work on strengthening that belief muscle. Just like going to the gym, developing your belief is a daily, intentional act. But how?

Why not start by re-reading Think and Grow Rich? Napoleon Hill not only makes a great point about why developing belief is so critical in achieving success, but he also shows you how.

One of the techniques he talks about is daily affirmations. You probably already know how these work, but in case you don’t, here it is in a nutshell: Write down your goals and dreams on a piece of paper. State them as a matter of fact, in the present tense and with a specific timeframe. For example, you might say, “By January 2019, I am earning $3,000 per month from my real estate investments.”

Write down an affirmation for each area of your life, and then you repeat it out loud at least once per day.

I used to do this a couple of years ago and got sloppy with this practice. After re-reading the book, I’m back at it again. Even after a couple weeks of doing the daily affirmations, I have developed a certain confidence in what I’m saying. I may not believe it entirely yet, but I can see that in a few more weeks I will be absolutely convinced that these things will become reality as I have stated them.

Belief always precedes reality.

Talk to me. Share what daily habit helps you to develop your BELIEF and mindset.

Leave a comment with your best tricks and tips below!