Accomplishing Goals

Accomplishing your goals

I was recently watching a TV movie about Arnold Schwarzenegger’s run for governor of California. Since I was involved in bodybuilding for a few years when I was younger, I was always interested in his life and the way that he became an actor. While I never aspired to be an actor, many things about Arnold’s climb to the top fascinated me.

I have heard his story many times, but it is always inspirational to see someone who came from nothing and make it big. One of the things that keeps jumping out at me is that he was told again and again that he would never make it. He was told that nobody could understand his accent. He was told that he was just too big to be in movies. He was told that nobody could even pronounce his last name!

None of these things stopped him. In fact, he had complete confidence in himself and told himself very often how strong he was, no matter what the situation. He wasn’t just referring to his physical strength either.

I watched the movie “Pumping Iron” a few years ago. It is a documentary of sorts about bodybuilding in the 70s. In it, Arnold is getting ready for the big Mr. Olympia competition. What was most interesting to me was Arnold’s overwhelming confidence in himself. At one point, they showed him talking to the huge Lou Ferrigno (the Incredible Hulk). He completely “psyched out” big Lou.

He told Lou that he had already called his mother in Austria to tell her that he had won another Mr. Olympia (BEFORE the competition!). THAT’S confidence! Arnold showed this all the time in spite of what everyone was telling him.

I have seen far too many people talk themselves out of getting started in real estate investing. It seems everyone out there can tell you how and why it WON’T work. It becomes difficult to see beyond this for many people and they simply give up.

I choose to be a real estate investor. I have had BIG ups and BIG downs. I have made a ton of money and lost a ton of money. All along, there were a ton of people telling me how and why I would fail, then pointing out how right they were when I was down.

All through these times, I kept telling myself how strong I was. I KNEW that I could make these deals happen. I KNEW that I would accomplish what I set out to do, even if I didn’t know how. (By the way, I did do the deals again and again!)

What are you telling yourself???