Myth # 5 You Need a Great Deal of Confidence

Myth # 5: You Need a Great Deal of Confidence (The ABC's of Real Estate Investing by Ken Elroy)

Not true. People understimate themselves all the time. They listen to that little voice of self-doubt that whispers and sometimes shouts in their brain telling them all the reasons why they can't do something, why they shouldn't even try. I believe there are two voices: the voice of reason, and the voice of self-doubt. The voice of reason is common sense; the voice of self-doubt is your past leading your future.

I made a conscious decision not to let my past dictate my future. I grew up in an average middle-class home. There's nothing wrong with that. In fact, in my estimation, there's everything right with that. I worked for what I got. I learned solid values. A good deal of that came from my parents. My father was not particularly entrepreneurial until later in his career. Hardowrking, yes, but not entrepreneurial. He worked for the same company for most of his career and earned a stable living that supported our middle-class lifestyle. It was a good life for me, my brother, and two sisters.

When I got out of college I followed my dad's footsteps and got a job. But while in that job, I began to meet people - people who showed me their entrepreneurial ways. They became my mentors, and from them I became entrepreneurial. Then I combined the innate values I received from my parents and my own newfound entrepreneurial spirit and I became whole.

Nothing in my upbringing would have prepared me for what I'm doing now. And yet everything did. I believe it is up to each of us to let go of memories and the scars of unsupportive fathers, ultra-critical mothers, ridiculing friends, and teachers who labeled us from the first day of school. Everybody has had negative influences in their lives and every one of us will have lots more. Look at Hollywood. What's a celebrity profile on E! without the struggles, without the strife? Everyone must rise from challenging situations - that's what successful people do. They decide to get beyond their past, whatever it may be. I've chosen to accept my past, learn from it, copy what was good, and realize the bad stuff only makes me stronger.

Real estate investing is a business where you will need to draw on your strength. My advice is not only to look for strength in all that is good in your life, but also to use th ehard times for what they are: character-building experiences. And contrary to what most people think, we can never have enough character. That's my soapbox on confidence and character. The rest of this book is dedicated to building your property investment business.