Motivating The Wannabe Entrepreneur

Robert Abalos a real estate attorney and investor himself has some wise words about the kind of “motivation that counts” for people who want to build wealth… (From his ezine)

The evidence I saw before my own eyes time and time again was crystal clear and compelling. It was the investors who had dreams not for themselves but for others were not only more motivated to succeed but actually did. The investors who wanted nothing but money to indulge their own decadent fantasies of fast cars and even faster women soon became bogged down in the excesses of quick wealth and large debts. Spending money fueled their dream so any source of cash would do, equity, income, or borrowed. Predictably it was the investors who had big dreams so they could accomplish things for others were the winners of this race.

What do I mean had dreams “for others”?

Investors who wanted wealth to be good husbands and wives, to provide for families and children in a way better than they had it growing up.

Investors who wanted wealth to put kids through college, or provide for impoverished parents, to pay medical bills, to get off welfare after a disability, to just spend some or all the money made on others.

Investors who wanted to build an endowment for their church, temple, or community group, to donate one acre of land for every ten they develop to some cause historic or environmental, to create shelters for battered women or studios for artists to create.

Investors who ultimately wanted more than wallets fat with cash or a trophy wife on the arm.

Money is not the root of all evil, the lack of it is. So the successful investors I saw took care of themselves, their own, and never forgot those staring the root of all evil in the face each morning in the mirror.

What you need to succeed as an investor is a big dream and an even bigger heart.

The path to success will not be easy. Nothing worth much ever is. Critics will always hound you, hecklers will try to steal your spotlight, competitors will walk off from you anything that is not bolted down, and even your best friend may doubt you because some dreams are too big to see all at one time. But remember no one ever
built a statue to a critic. Those that create are remembered. Those that attacked and sniped and derided the dreamer are always forgotten.

Does anyone remember Michelangelo’s critics today? Beethoven’s?

My advice to you as a real estate investor is to THINK BIG, REALLY REALLY BIG. But set measurable goals. Take baby steps forward all the time, relentlessly forward. Don’t think you are going to be Donald Trump in six months. But don’t settle for what people give you or think best for you. Unfortunately the most resistance to dreams often comes from one’s own family and friends. But when you dream to benefit them most of all, objections seem to magically melt away.