From the time we are born we’re told that making mistakes is bad. When we’re young, we’re scolded for misbehaving. When we get older and start taking exams we are punished for getting the wrong answers and given a bad grade. Our society views good grades as success and you get good grades by not making mistakes. The problem with this is that we learn by doing and when we’re punished for making mistakes we can’t grow. We become afraid to do for fear of making the mistakes which we’ve been conditioned against. The same fear of making mistakes is what holds people back from being truly successful. Part of the learning process is to learn by doing, and even though you’re guaranteed to make some mistakes, this is the fastest way to learn. Once you learn what not to do, you also learn how to become successful faster.
Some of the world’s richest people have declared bankruptcy more than once only to come out of it and become just as wealthy within a few years. The main difference between us and them is that they actually went out and started learning by doing. Many of them opened their own business or became real estate investors while most of us got a standard 9 to 5 job because we were afraid to take a chance for fear of making a mistake. The fact is that the fear of failure or making mistakes is what is ultimately holding most of us back. For all of us, success lies not in knowledge, connections or financial means but rather in our belief in ourselves, the ability to take chances and accept that we will make some mistakes while learning from the process. There is no faster way to learn than when your money’s on the line and the sooner you get started; the better off you’ll be in the future.
Many people wonder how I know so much about investing and wealth building and it’s not because of my education or even luck. It’s because I took the time to learn different areas of investing and most importantly, after educating myself, I went out and actually started investing and learning from real life experiences. I’ve made my fair share of mistakes but learning from those mistakes was as valuable as the money I lost. That’s why I’m far ahead of most people my age and wiser than many others that are much older. Don’t wait another minute or give yourself more excuses. Get out there in the world of investing and start learning now! No matter how many times you fail, you’ll be glad that you took the journey and you’ll be light years ahead of many others.
Jamie has an MBA from Rutgers University and a Professional Certificate in Real Estate Finance, Investment and Development from NYU. He’s traded stocks since he was 13 and bought his first property within a year of graduating college. He also flipped properties and got out before the 2008 mortgage meltdown because he was able to see the market turning before it happened. He’s started two companies and also has experience in investing in antiques, collectibles, gold, silver and trading futures.