I bought my first property when I was 22 years old.
It was exciting but daunting. In fact, it was plain terrifying.
My mind was riddled with questions and concerns.
What if:
- The property doesn’t grow in value?
- I lose money?
- I can’t find a tenant?
- I lose my job?
- I can’t pay the mortgage?
- I go broke?
The list went on…
What I realise in hindsight is that I wasn’t so much worried about any of those things happening. I was dealing with self-doubt. The real question I was asking myself was “am I worthy?”
What made me more deserving of owning an investment property than the other 9 out of 10 Australians who don’t?
Growing up, Mum and Dad owned their own home on multiple occasions but, for different reasons, went broke three times.
As a result, I saw debt and risk as four-letter words to be avoided.
But I knew the only way to get ahead in life involved taking some risk.
What I had to learn was how to manage that risk.
In the beginning, this involved following the advice and guidance of a mentor. Whatever he told me to do, I did. This didn’t make it any easier, in fact, it made it harder, forcing me to step outside of my comfort zone.
I’m convinced the hardest part of achieving anything in life is starting.
I was so nervous buying my first property. I’d decide to do it, only to talk myself out of it.
I had been taught to avoid risk and that debt leads to disaster. I believed that only people on high incomes became wealthy. I believed people in their early 20’s didn’t own property.
It’s much easier to talk ourselves out of taking action, than into taking action.
But for all the missteps my Dad made as a businessman and investor, he was an A+ father. In our household, we were raised to believe there was nothing worse in life than not having a go.
Eighteen months after buying that first property, I bought my second one. I was only slightly less nervous and still riddled with self-doubt.
Last year my wife and I bought our eighth investment property.
I still have self-doubt about whether I am worthy. These days I ask myself why I deserve to be the one in 1,250 Australians to own more than six investment properties.
I think it’s normal to have self doubt, but it’s important to determine how we overcome self-doubt.
For me, it starts with a good mentor. A good mentor sees what we are capable of before we do. They also hold us accountable to striving for the best version of ourselves. The rest comes down to accepting risk as the necessary doorway to success. We must take risk. It can’t be avoided, but we can plan to minimise our exposure to it.
Will there ever be a point in time where I am not confronted by self-doubt?
I don’t think so. But I think the voice of doubt gets quieter over time as we build confidence by taking action and managing risk.
What’s the goal waiting for you to take action?
Have you got a mentor who sees the best version of you and holds you accountable to that?
