The biggest thing that holds people back is themselves. I think this is something we all know deep down. It’s why topics such as ‘mindset’ are so popular in our industry.
I’ve never been one for fluffy affirmations. In my eyes, self-praise is no praise. However, I do believe that the way you view yourself plays a huge role in your success—not just as a property investor, but in life as a whole.
The military and my time in business have helped me to build a mindset that has taken me from the lowest of lows to feeling like I’ve won the lottery of life. With time and reflection, I have managed to develop it into a six-step process, which I call BELIEVE.
B: Believe in You
E: Environment
L: Limitless
I: I Am
E: Evolve
V: Values
E: Energy
Here’s how it works:
If you don’t believe in yourself, no one will. And the thing is, no matter how many people tell you they believe in you, it won’t make a difference. Because even if you have all the knowledge in the world, if you don’t believe you can achieve your goals, you’ll never take action.
But how do you believe in yourself? In the military, we called it a ‘CONDOR moment.’ This refers to the moment you step back, assess what you want to achieve, and then evaluate how you’re going to achieve it. It’s usually used by commanders when under effective enemy fire, but it can be used in your personal life too!
Assess what’s putting you down or holding you back. Is it a past experience, a person, or the environment you’re in? Sometimes you might have to walk away from a person or a place in order to grow.
A quick mindset tip
The first stage of getting out of a negative mindset is to get up early, get in the gym, and start working on yourself. Honestly, get up while everyone else is asleep, get in the gym for an hour, and come back to me in a month. The endorphins from that, and having a routine, will help you.
You don’t have to change your life tomorrow. Make little changes slowly, and take small steps while you build your confidence.
A positive environment is critical. You need to be around like-minded people, talking about your interests and being mentally stimulated.
If you don’t change your environment, then how do you expect to meet potential joint venture partners, investors, and clients? It certainly won’t happen with all the energy drains down at the local pub.
A positive environment is also vital for your mental health. Entrepreneurship is a lonely journey, and property investment is hard. You must be around people who can help you and who have the answers to the challenges you’ll inevitably face.
You must be limitless in your mind. The only limit that you have on your success is the one that you put on yourself. When you believe that anything is possible, everything becomes possible.
"I am" is the way to overcome imposter syndrome. It’s about finally believing you are a successful investor, developer, business owner, or anything else you want to be.
99% of the time, imposter syndrome is caused by the worry of how others judge us. But 1% of imposter syndrome is caused by our belief in ourselves. If you can flip that 1% over, believe in you, and stop caring what other people think, you’ve finally beaten imposter syndrome.
At the end of the day, the people who judge you aren’t putting food on your table. They’re not the ones helping you. If you’re really bothered about what particular people think of you, then block them on social media and forget they exist!
I let other people’s doubt fuel me. If they spent as much time on themselves as they did bringing other people down, they’d be in a better place.
You need to constantly evolve, both as a person and as a property investor. The world, the economy, and our industry are ever-changing. If you don’t evolve, you’ll be left behind.
Also, look at ways you can ‘evolve’ a property deal to make it stack. For example, can you add more rooms to a building or achieve planning gain to increase the deal’s end value?
Grow yourself, and continuously seek to grow your knowledge, and you’ll always be one step ahead in this industry.
Values are everything. You only need to look at the catastrophe of a bad joint venture to see this. Ultimately, most partnerships fail because the partners’ values don’t match.
The values you share with someone are more important than your joint goals and vision. If you want 100 properties, and your partner wants 50, you can still go on that journey together and grow. But if you both value different things, then this is a recipe for arguments and financial strain later down the line.
Never scramble to do a deal with someone just because they have money. Take time to ensure they are someone you want to work with and that their ethics align with yours; this is the pathway to success!
I believe in something very simple: Be a radiator, not a drain.
The attitude I turn up with on-site dictates the morale of my refurb team, which affects the quality of their work. The quality of their work dictates how well my business does, which dictates how much I earn. If I turn up to site with a negative attitude, then that will infect them. Likewise, a positive attitude makes my team want to work harder.
No one wants to be around people who drain energy. So, my advice is to be someone who people want to spend time with.
The BELIEVE system is the first thing that I teach in my training programme because, without it, you’ll never succeed. It’s how I’ve managed to build what I’ve built and have the life that I’m blessed to live today.
If I can help you with your mindset or your property journey, then contact me using the details below. Make 2025 your year—the year you finally BELIEVE in yourself!
LinkedIn: Thomas Sumner
Instagram: beyondpropertytraining
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