Dare to fail.

If you've listened to any number of Real Estate Investing podcasts, you've heard over and over...and over that you need to stop being afraid of failure and just get started. It's true. It's cited by almost every guest on the BP podcast as the difference between those that do well and those that don't, or never start in the first place. You have to just go out and start, and figure it out as you go.

There's definitely something to be said for getting educated first - you don't just want to go putting offers out if you have no idea what ARV, NOI, repair costs, holding costs, or exit strategies are. However, at some point you can't learn any more without some action. When everything you're hearing and reading starts to sound repetitive, it's time to start doing.

There is, however, one more thing that holds many back from taking the first actual "action" in their REI career: fear. Fear of failure, fear of making a mistake, fear of losing money. Here's some news: you will make a mistake. You will fail at some point. If you go your entire real estate career without ever losing money on a deal, you might be the first.

Here's some more news: Albert Einstein, the guy whose face is in the dictionary under "genius" (figuratively, not literally) made mistakes to varying degrees in about 20% of his papers. That means that Einstein failed 1 out of 5 times. If you're careful with your deals, you will definitely do better than that.

Also, even if you make mistakes, even if you lose money, if you are careful with your numbers and offers, the amounts shouldn't be much. Certainly much cheaper than a guru "bootcamp". So be honest with yourself - the fear of what might happen if you fail is probably much worse than the reality. Go out and take action!