Sticks and Stones May Break My Bones But Words Can Forever Hurt Me

by Julie Broad

As I child, my Mom would always correct me when I used the word can't. She had various things she would say when I used that word. Sometimes she would simply say "I think I can I think I can." Other times she would say something like "If you think you can't then you're right" or "you can do whatever you put your mind to".
 
I would roll my eyes and carry on but her words were always in the back of my mind. It's probably the reason why I have taken on so many challenges in my life. It's probably the reason why I tried out for the college swim team even though I'd never competitively swam before then. It's likely why I wasn't afraid to backpack around Central  America alone at the age of 19. And it's definitely the reason why, when I was a salesperson, I could dust myself off after a failed sales pitch and go back in the next day to try again.
 
My Mom was teaching me a very important lesson early on. A lesson that I've only really come to understand in recent years as a full time real estate investor. The words we use are very important. In fact, the wrong word can hurt you deeper and longer than any physical injury can hold you back.
 
For BiggerPockets I just wrote about three words that can kill your deal really quickly if you use them.  Today I want to share a couple of words that you're probably using as a real estate investor that are holding you back or making things harder than they need to be.

1. Passive Income

I shared this video on Life As Real Estate Investors too - but it's such an important point that I am going to share it again right now. I don't believe real estate investing has to be a full time job to change your life, but I do believe that you have to keep a careful watch over your money. Even if you've hired a property manager you must keep an eye on your property and the money flowing in and out. Nobody will EVER love your money quite like you do - so give your money the care and attention it deserves and keep an eye on it.
 
Watch the Video Here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ln-tlqmBz18
 
Instead of pursuing passive income you could pursue leveraged income or even streams of income. But calling it PASSIVE allows you to feel like you don't have to do anything - and after we let things passively fall apart in the early days - I hope you will learn from our lesson and stay active and involved in your investments even if you have a joint venture partner doing all the work. Ask questions.  Visit the property. Review the statements. Just make sure things are operating like you expect them to be operating.

2.  Practice Makes Perfect

This one comes up in so many places beyond real estate that I had to share it. Keith Cunningham, business mentor and master money raiser, taught me that practice doesn't make perfect, practice makes permanent. He taught me to ask myself what exactly I am practicing.
 
And here's where it applies to real estate investing:
 
A lot of people are doing things that don't work for them. Instead of stopping, assessing where they are and finding help to get where they want to go they self diagnose, shrug their shoulders and figure they just need to "practice" a bit more to get it right.
 
In other words -  they figure practice makes perfect - and just try again.

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