The transformative power of embracing change

Change your mindset

I’ve seen people come to our seminars and get an adrenaline rush of excitement and optimism about the possibilities that lay ahead. But then they go home, go back to their normal day to day lives and their old thinking patterns creep back in. They won’t challenge or change their steadfast beliefs – even though those same beliefs have kept them in a financial holding pattern – so inevitably nothing else changes.

The people who succeed are those who are prepared to change their mindset.

In 1991, I  was delivering pizzas for $7 an hour. Ten years later my earning capacity grew over 100 fold. And I was able to do that because, through reading and meeting more successful people, I absolutely believed it was possible. Some may call it a champagne dream on a beer budget, but by embracing whatever changes were necessary to achieve that goal, I became more focused. I read everything I could about financial success, I worked longer and harder, and most importantly I sought out a mentor to help me navigate my journey.

(I don’t live with regrets, but I can tell you that although the trajectory from pizza delivery driver to millionaire in 10 years may seem impressive, I believe I actually wasted five or six years by not getting a mentor earlier!)

If you are willing to try something different, develop different sources of income, and even change your full-time job if it’s not giving you enough, you are well on the way to securing a richer financial future.

Don't let a limited income limit your thinking

There are two types of questions.

The first one goes like this: “How can I possibly afford to buy four properties when I’m only earning $60,000 a year?”

It’s immediately negatively disposed towards a certain outcome, a mindset or disbelief that either you don’t think it’s possible, or you’re not prepared to make any changes that will make it a possibility.

The other question goes like this: “If I want to buy four properties, what do I need to do?”

This is positively disposed to the belief that it is a possibility for you and you’re willing to take whatever action is needed to make it happen.

You can be the best in a certain field, but if that industry only allows you to earn  $100,000 a year, how can you make $1,000,000 a year? How can you make $20 million? You need to change the size of the game or change the game.

A friend of mine who used to work for me was on $100,000 a year at his previous job. For eight years that was the top of his income, and he couldn’t break through to the higher level. I asked him how much income he needed to justify him quitting his job and make him happy. He said $250,000. In the first 12 months he worked with me he earned $335,000 dollars. It changed his thinking to a bigger strategy. He thought, “now I can actually quadruple my income. What if I do even better than this?”

He was not working any harder, but he was working in a different vehicle in a different environment, using his skills in a different way.

You’ve got to constantly look at the game you play. Is it big enough to reach your target? If not, you have to change the game you’re playing.

Change your why

No matter what you’re planning to do – start a business, embark on a career, become an investor, pursue a hobby – you need to start with a truly defined objective. Why are you doing this?

Without a clearly established ‘why’, many will lack the motivation to get started, or carry on when the road gets a little rocky.

Now you may think you have a ‘why’ you’re investing in property, but is it grounded in strategic thinking? For example, some may invest for the following reasons:

• The accountant rang to say you’re paying too much tax
• There’s a perceived boom
• Your friend bought a property
• Everyone else seems to be buying so why not you?

These reasons ignore the fundamentals of the property investing ‘why’ which is to simply build a portfolio with a value of $XX so that you can retire at age X.

To me, there is only one definitive ‘why’ for property investment, and that’s to build a strong passive income from assets and become financially free.

Change who you listen to

You’re only as good as the company you keep, and this certainly applies to property investing. The most successful property investors are not afraid to seek guidance from someone who has already mastered what they want to accomplish.

I knew a gentleman who worked for a global 500 company, had a home, an MBA and what he believed was a wealth of knowledge about property investing gained from endless hours of attending seminars and reading books.

Even after all that he didn’t buy his first investment property until he came to one of our seminars and saw that he didn’t have to do research for the sake of doing it. We could do it for him.

After that, he arrived at the conclusion that he knew everything. While he was working really hard and travelling a lot overseas, he started looking at properties every weekend. Over a period of 2 to 3 years when Sydney property prices went through the roof after 2000 Olympics, he would have looked at 100+ properties. Guess how many properties he bought?

Zero.  In his mind it was because he couldn’t get the right deal, he was too busy working, the sales agent didn’t follow up, he couldn’t make up his mind and he became paralysed by fear and procrastination.

So he decided to really listen to us. Since there I’m happy to report that not only has he put together a multi-million-dollar property portfolio, he has also increased his income because his thinking has changed.

When we embrace change and become adaptable to new circumstances, we uncover opportunities, skills and expertise that we didn’t perhaps realise existed, but were there waiting for us all along.