What Steps You Can Take To Recover Quickly From A Big Mistake!

In keeping with our Mission Statement here at The Real World Investor headquarters (Russell Ranch on 5 acres with a wonderful view) I’m writing my coaching blog from my living room and I’m in a decent amount of pain!

 To stay competitive and compete with racers half my age, I spend 4-5 days a week training like a mad man! To keep from getting board or burnt out I mix it up with some gym time with my personal trainer, running, mt bike riding, and going on practice rides with my buddies!

I was on one such practice ride with my buddies the other day at a local motocross track. Now I’m not a huge fan of these types of tracks because of the big ass jumps, but considering it is December and 24 degrees out, I had to make the best of it

To make matters worse, my racing manager Terry Russell (older brother) just told me the other day “Rob be careful on those motocross tracks, those big jumps are not worth the risk of getting hurt!”

Can you guess what happened next?

Yep, I got bite hard by one of those big-ass jumps!

I was getting into my groove and went for it on a big double jump. Unfortunately my drive out of the corner sucked, so I came up way short on the jump and cased it! Meaning that the case of my motorcycle hit the jump and not my suspension, so my ankle became the suspension, and let me tell ya, that does not’t work so well! 

 A few seconds later the impact of my 200lbs body on my left ankle was so great that I tore my achilles tendon completely in half!

 OUCH!

Now I’m a pretty tough guy and I could deal with the pain of my injury,  but I have to share with you the mistake I made next was even more painful (mentally) and what I see all the time in my coaching clients when they suffer a major setback in their life or Real Estate biz.

That mistake is we start to beat ourselves up from the inside out with our own soul sucking negative inner voice! 

 Now I’m going to tone it down a bit so I can keep this coaching blog clean, but I also want you to get a feel for how bad we talk to ourselves, especially when we are at our weakest moments.  

Here are just a few of the “choice” comments I was telling myself:

 ***“Oh great job Rob, Kristi’s dad is really going to give you “S@!% about this one, you already know he thinks your an idiot for racing dirt bikes!”

 “Man, what in the Heck where you thinking Rob, that track sucked, you knew that jump was not right, instead you went for it and threw it all away for that FREAKING JUMP! 

 “Man, I just let Kristi down, what is she gonna think…..”

Ok, I’m gonna cut it off there because right about then I did what I teach my coaching clients to do, and that is to stop this negative momentum with a few “mental shifts and some positive self talk” to turn this setback into an opportunity.  

After riding and racing for over 40 years now, I have learned how to deal with injuries, setbacks, and even community backlash against dirt bikes to come out of the gate even stronger.

I have used these same proven and effective strategies to change my “mindset” with our Real Estate Biz because we both know this market has CRASHED AND BURNED, and we have in turn learned to recover and even flourished in this market while most others investors have suffered, or worse yet, just gave up when the going got tough and a victory was right around the corner!

The first think you MUST do as you are experiencing the setback is to really pay attention to what you are saying to yourself. We are all programmed to see what is not working, and how bad things are going, and this is where the negative talk can really get out of hand.  The prime example of this is when I was sitting there in the back of my trailer looking at my swollen foot, and saying all those awful negative things to myself.

I quickly turned it around by looking at what was working:My friend Jake was nearby and could help me get to the hospital. Now I would have more time to work on writing that book I have always wanted to write for my coaching biz.

 I could even use this injury as a case study to show other investors how to truly stay on track towards their goals, even during the darkest moments.  

 All these things came true as I focused on that outcome instead of sitting in the back of my trailer looking at my swollen ankle felling sorry for myself.

The second thing you must do is not get caught up in the negative drama and statements that others will make as you face challenges and setbacks.  This time around as I was sitting on the hospital bed I actually had a nurse tell me I was “injury prone”. When in fact even after running and racing hard at the Pro level, the last time I got hurt was almost 5 years ago!

I guarantee you are going to run into the same thing with your Real Estate biz. Some “expert” know it all brother in law is going to tell you: “Real Estate is sooo dangerous right now, you should play it safe and stick to your JOB”…… YUCK!

Instead, do your homework and take calculated risks, and be ready to take the setbacks head on as they may come, learn from them and get smarter, and do not listen to the negative noise of others.

The third thing you must do, especially when you are right in the middle of this challenge is to look at your goals, and know your “why”, or “purpose”. If you can really have a handle on this, and have it close by in writing where you can read it, and even visualize where you will be in the future once you get past this setback, this will give you the strength and determination to keep going, where others will give up and just quit!

I use what I call “Dream Boards” or pictures of cool cars, bikes, or vacations that Kristi and I take, and hang them in my office, bathroom, bedroom shop, so I’m constantly reminded both visually and in writing where I’m going, and why I’m doing this biz.

Here is a great example showing you the office at The Real World Investor Headquarters

For example, one of my HUGE why’s now is to help others investors avoid the same stupid mistakes I have made and how to avoid quitting when the victories are just around the corner!

Especially when everyone is telling you “there is no way you can make money in this Real Estate Market, are you crazy?”

Well, yes I am, but that is a different subject entirely!

Anyways, that brings me up to the last, and most important aspect of dealing with setbacks.

 NEVER EVER go it alone!

I know those Hollywood movies always portray the hero riding off into the Sunset by himself, or playing that macho music as the hero straps 10 guns onto his belt and goes out the door like a bat out of hell after the bad guys.I’m here to tell you from experience that scenario is a load of BULL!

There is so much help and support out there just waiting for you, all you have to do is be open minded enough to ask for it!

And please don’t make the mistake of asking for advice and then ignoring it or not doing it because you  think you “know better” and worse saying to yourself “that will never work for me”!

 I hope that you have enjoyed this REAL WORLD article, I must go because my foot is killing me, and I should really elevate it

.I just got out of surgery yesterday!

But then again, I never was one to let something like that get in the way of my goals, how about you?

I truly would love to hear your comments and feedback on my article.

Remember, I push myself so we can both grow together, and would love to hear how this could help you to go after your goals in 2011 and beyond! 

Sincerely, Rob Russell The Real World Investor

More info at our informative website:

www.therealworldinvestor.com

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