What's on the other side of fear?

What’s on the other side of fear?

“The best way to get ahead, is to get started” – Probably Abe Lincoln

Even though my path to financial freedom is nowhere near over, obstacles have already come my way. The hardest thing about these obstacles is that most of your friends and family members can’t relate. Most of them are so deep into the rat race that you talking about early retirement is unheard of to them. Being around people like this all time begins to affect you in many ways. One way is through fear. A lot of people rather ignore the unknown then deal with it because of fear. That fear also has a trickle down effect on people around you as well. For example, the first time I told my friends about possibly investing in stocks, the first thing most people told me was that “I was going to lose all my money”. I heard that numerous times from people that truly care about me. Of course their intentions weren’t to keep me down but because they lived a financial life of fear, they felt that they were protecting me by telling me to “play it safe, just save your money”. Luckily for me, I found Bigger Pockets through a random recommendation I got from my cousin who got that recommendation from his neighbor. Bigger Pockets opened a whole new world for me. They gave me the little ounce of courage I needed to get started and overcome the everyday fears we deal with.

So let’s talk about fear. Fear kept me in the rat race for a long time. Fear made me think I wasn’t good enough to achieve great things. I allowed fear to determine my quality of life. Through my financial freedom journey which I am still on, I have grown less and less afraid of fear. I have done this through three basic principles. The first principal I follow to deal with fear is to know something more than anyone else. The second principal I have for facing fear is to always ask myself “what’s on the other side of fear?” The third principal I have for facing fear is to always think about the worst case scenario and how to hedge it. Below I will talk about each principal and how this helps me through my financial journey.

1.Know something more than anyone else

One thing I do to conquer fear is to learn something as much as I can until it is borderline obsessive. This might sound a little too intense for some people but something that I have learned by asking anyone I know who is successful in a particular field, I always get the same answer. Things like “When you love it, it’s not work” or “you can fail at something you don’t want to do, might as well fail at something you love”. Comments like this motivate me to not only find my passion, but to also do everything in my power to learn as much as I can from it.

For example, about 3 months ago my girlfriend and I decided we were ready to begin looking for our first house hack. We were nervous but not fearful. We created a financial plan to prep us for this time. While we were prepping for the house hack, I decided to educate myself. I made a decision that I will give real estate my undivided attention after family time and work time. This mindset motivated me to do things like delete all my music from my phone and listen to Real Estate podcasts. I converted my commute time into a mobile university. I also realized that I needed to begin surrounding myself around people that have the same mind set I do. My mindset to learn as much as I can motivated me to start my own Real Estate meet up. I now run a meet up once a month at a bar where I surround myself around people who are learning like me and people who are actually out there doing what I am trying to do at a high scale. I am also currently under contract with my first potential house hack and if I would have allowed fear to play a role, I would never have made it this close. Instead of letting fear predict my future, I use fear to motivate me to continue learning. So every time you feel fear towards something specific, use that feeling to motivate you to learn everything you can about so u can kick fear’s A@#.

2.What’s on the other side of fear?

What’s on the other side of fear? This is something I constantly ask myself when I want to do something but my body or mind might be telling me otherwise. Our mind and body's number one goal is to keep us alive so naturally our body does not like things that may be dangerous or risky. I think the most important thing I learned about this feeling is that everyone has it. The only difference is that some people allow that feeling to stop them while others use that feeling to keep them focused.

What’s on the other side of fear? When I first decided to invest in the stock market I asked myself that question. I took a moment and realized that on the other side of that fear was an opportunity for me to reach FI (financial independence) faster than I could ever imagine. On the other side of fear was also an opportunity for me to start doing things I like to do instead of what society expects of me to do. On the other side of fear was an opportunity for my girlfriend and I to create an FU (FU money 6 months salary saved that allows you to quit any job without having to deal with any financial burdens for half a year till you find another gig) fund that will give us the freedom to never have to do anything we don’t want to because of money.

What’s on the other side of fear is something I will continue to use because it helps me understand that even though what I am doing is scary and maybe risky, the payoff on the other side of that scary feeling is well worth it. Asking myself that question also helps me remember that everyone deals with these feelings but people that succeed don’t let that stop them. So it won’t stop me either.

3.Hedge against the worst case scenario

A lot of people don’t like to think about the worst case scenario when doing something. That’s not my style. I believe that you should always take some time and think about the worst case scenario when embarking on a new journey. Just to be clear, I am not saying you should be careful and conservative with everything you do because you have the worst case scenario in mind, on the contrary I am saying that “if you want to learn to swim, then burn all the boats”. That was probably also said by Abe Lincoln (aren’t they all). I am always fully invested with things I do but I always think about what can happen if everything goes wrong. The reason I do this is because I want to make sure that I am never blindsided by something. Granted, it is probably going to happen anyway but preparing yourself to think in that fashion will get you used to hedging against certain projects you take on without compromising on your project. For example, my girlfriend and I are currently under contract with a two family home. We want our first real estate property to come out of a house hack. We did all our due diligence in order to prepare for this purchase. Now I would be foolish to say that we are completely ready and we are not afraid of what’s to come. We are as ready as we can be. And yes we are a bit fearful but that’s ok. All I can do is prepare to the best of my ability and hedge against it. One way I hedge against this investment is by continually investing in my 401K and contributing after tax dollars onto the stock market. Another way I hedge against this investment is by making sure that I can see myself living in this neighborhood for a long time. That way if I can’t find a tenant to replace me, or refi to pull money out and purchase another property (BRRRR strategy) it would be ok because I can live here with no problem. Another way I hedged against this property is by having emergency funds just in case something goes wrong as soon as I move in. Another thing I do to hedge against the property is to make sure I account for all projected expenses plus putting money away for CapEx, future repairs, future vacancy and future property management. The last and most important thing you should think of when considering the worst case scenario is to always think about your current situation. For example, I currently live in my parents house and work a 9-5. If in my journey to FI, I fail then my worst case scenario will just bring me back to where I am now. I’ll be living in my parent’s house working a 9-5. My worst case scenario is everyone’s, including mines current life. Once you do everything in your power to hedge against things that are scary, the scary stuff no long becomes that scary.

Conclusion

A lot of things can stop you from achieving your goals. Don’t allow fear to be one of those things. Fear can either deter you from your goal or you can use that fear to help you focus on what you want. The choice is yours. (Captain Planet said that lol)