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Continuation of previous article:
This the second article in the series describing my thoughts on what makes many accredited investors successful. How do they think and work? What differentiates them from those who have not achieved their goals? The previous article - Part 1 - covered the first three elements that make them successful: Having a dream that forces action, having desire to overcome challenges along the way, and having an end goal for reaching your dream. This article covers understanding that change is hard, not letting fear stop you, having a plan to reach your goal, and executing that plan.
Understand change is hard:
Most times change involve an initial period of very hard work trying to keep track of everything, making sure you don’t forget something as you work on the change. Without a strong desire to make the change, most people give up. Not the successful accredited investor. Most know they can’t keep doing the same thing they are currently doing. Their desire to do something different forces action toward change, whether they have fully visualized their end goal or not.
Think of the forces needed to initially get a large object to start moving on a flat surface (think of a very long train on tracks). It takes continued action to keep pushing this object faster until you reach the desired speed. Once at that speed, then much less energy/action is needed to keep the object moving at that constant speed. This is also true of change. When you initially start on a path of change, there are many forces/actions required to get the “large object” to start moving faster while also controlling the direction the object moves – toward your goal.
Don’t let fear win:
Fear of change is the biggest killer of dreams. All our lives we have experienced negative events that make us not want to repeat them again. We fear getting into a similar situation again where the possibility of experiencing the associated pain and anguish is high. Think of when you were rejected by someone during a sales pitch, presentation, proposal, love, etc. The first time you experience the associated rejection, it can be very painful. In general, people therefore react in two ways (from my experience): type 1 - they internalize and fear the event and do everything to avoid being in a similar situation again, or type 2 - they overcome their fear of the event by learning from it and figuring out how to change the outcome should a similar situation comes again. Again, your desire for change must be strong enough to move you from being a type 1 to a type 2 as an overcomer who learns and continues moving forward toward the end goal.
Personal story:
I have a fear of heights. However, I make it a point to do those things that make me uncomfortable. When we visit a city, I make it a ponit to go to the top of the highest sky scraper and walk around the top looking down. One of the scariest was walking around the top of the Stratosphere in Las Vegas. But I didn’t stop there. The Stratosphere is a very tall tower with rides on top. I saw the roller coaster called High Roller that goes around the outside of the observation area several times. I made it a point to ride that coaster no matter how scared I was. Boy was I in for a surprise. The ride is amazing since you don’t see anything under you but the city hundreds of feel down below. It feels like you are barely being held to the tower and could easily detach and fly down to your doom! THAT WAS SCARY! But, I did it. I felt proud for making myself face this fear and tackle it head on. I left Vegas that day feeling a bit more confident about my abilities to take on a challenge and win! You should also do the same for your fears. Face them a little at a time. Keep moving forward toward your goals as you overcome these large obstacles.
Have a plan:
As I mentioned before, you need to fully visualize the end goal and all the changes that will be needed to get you there. Create a list of all the changes needed. Don’t limit yourself at this point. Just write everything down you can think of. Once you have a complete list, then you can start figuring out which changes are realistic and which are not. You can then start grouping and categorizing the changes. Understand the sequencing of the changes – what order must they be done in. Prioritize the changes in order of importance. Continue reviewing these changes until you have a final list that is in chronological order so you know what to do first, next, and next after that. You can then guess how long each change will take, along with what you need to make that change. Place dates on the calendar for when you will start and achieve each change. Complete the calendar until you have a date when the final end goal will be achieved. At that point, you will know all the changes, when they need to be started, what things you need to execute each change, when the change will be completed, how they relate to each other (the order they need to be done), etc. This is your plan for success toward the dream.
Execute the plan:
Believe it or not, many people actually get this far, but never execute their plan. This is the critical point of no return. Either you truly overcome your fear of change or you don’t. Executing the plan can only be done by actually facing your fears and making the required changes. Doing nothing ensures status quo and no achievement of the dream outside of winning the lottery or some other unlikely change of chance.
Stay tuned for next week's continuation:
Next week, the next article will continue this series by covering the need to constantly learn, continually improve, never give up, and the importance of giving back.
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Copyright 2008 Ole Cram. Ole Cram is President of Marcobe Investments, Inc., a corporation that invests in various oil and gas ventures and refers accredited investors, investment managers, financial advisors, investment funds, and others to the associated oil producer of these projects for their consideration to also participate. We are not licensed to sell any interest in a project, nor are we registered advisors. Feel free to email us at MarcobeInvestmentsInc@gmail.com with any questions, thoughts, or requests for other topics to cover in future articles.
This article was posted at Accredited Investor Blog: http://accreditedinvestortalk.blogspot.com/. Past articles can easily be found at http://www.MarcobeInvestmentsInc.com/Oil_and_Gas_Investor_TOC.html. This article is provided for educational purposes only and is not meant to be a substitute for tax, legal, financial, or other registered professional advice for your specific situation. Always seek the advice of a professional before making any related decision.
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