Fear of Failure - How Do You Deal?

Question

It has taken me this long to get to Ken McElroy's seminal book, The ABCs of Real Estate Investing. I'm late to the party, I think! But as they say, slow and steady wins the race!

Here is a good quote, taken from pp. 14-15.

"Show me an entrepreneur who says he or she isn’t afraid of failing and I’ll show you a liar! A bold statement, absolutely, but a true one. Everyone is afraid of failing. The difference is that some of us let that fear of failure hold us back. …I admit, when I was starting out I had an acute fear of failing. The difference is I knew that if I did nothing and remained frozen in fear, I would fail. I felt I had a better chance of succeeding by just going forward one step at a time to make some opportunities pay off. That’s the thing about fear of failure: if you don’t use it to your advantage as a motivator, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy." Ken McElroy

How do you deal with fear of failure in real estate investing?

JD Martin · Answer

Exposure therapy. Do a little deal. Then another little deal. Then a little bigger deal. Then you find out all of it is no big deal.

Sean McDonnell · Answer

"Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently." -Henry Ford

Frank Wong · Answer

There will always be fear and doubt in anything new you do. That little voice in the back of your head telling you it won't work. For me it's all about perspective and understanding the worst case scenario and realizing its not that bad. Worst case scenario, I suck, I screw up I lose all my money. I still have my health, I still have another day to try, I still have my family and friends.

Whats worst and what I fear the most is not trying and not taking action and being in the same position 20yrs from now. Telling my 65yr old self in the future. Frank, I gave up, I didn't try, it was to hard, I was lazy, the timing wasn't right, I didn't believe in myself. That should scare you and make you do whatever it takes. It's all mindset.

Travis Watts · Answer

@Jason Merchey Ken McElroy is a great guy. I have met him, read his books and I appreciate all the things he's done for others in the real estate world. The part of his quote that is most true to me is "I knew that if I did nothing and remained frozen in fear, I would fail." That is precisely how I felt 10+ years ago and what convinced me to get started in real estate. People will do more to avoid pain, than they will do to obtain pleasure.

Frank Geiger · Answer

Baby steps from education to closing the first few deals. Understanding that a 80k-100k isn't going to break you. Building confidence in a system and confirming the numbers I ran on properties. It just gets easier with more exposure.

Quentin Mitchell · Answer

They say the only time you fail is when you quit, any other failure is just a lesson that we all must learn, but to let the possibility of something not working out stop you from trying is a sure way to not progress in life. The thing about fear is that most of the time the things we fear are not that scary at all once we face them. Action! Action! Action! is key to any successful story.

Rick Albert · Answer

You learn more from failing than you do from successes. I started small and got burned on the second deal. However, I was able to turn it around and make it a positive. Not starting is a failure to begin with, so you might as well jump in. Just be conservative in the beginning.

Happy to chat if you need someone to talk to.

Dennis M. · Answer

The great philosopher Wayne Gretzky said it best ;

You miss 100% of the shots you never take !

feel the fear .. and do it anyway !

Bill Kramer · Answer

I insulate myself as much as possible. Never have one stream of income. As a contractor I have the benefit of keeping myself diversified so that IF I fail, I still have money coming in.

I refinish tubs as my insulation against failure. Quick jobs that can raise a couple hundred for gas/food for the week.

I have never failed, I just needed more time.

Small side work does just that, buys time.

Alexander Ball · Answer

Not trying is failure, you should be scared of that.

Fear of Failure - How Do You Deal?

Fear of Failure - How Do You Deal?

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