What Happens When You Take Your Eyes Off the Goal

On a recent bike ride down one of Vancouver’s North Shore Mountains, I noticed a fairly large tree root sticking up from the ground on the trail ahead. I had enough room to pass on the left, but it was tight. I was in control of my bike and I was able to slow down, but my front tire hit the root dead on.

In what felt like slow motion, my back tire came off the ground. I felt my body lift from my seat, and I was thrown over my handlebars headfirst into the bushes to the right of the root. Thankfully I had a helmet on and was going slowly. I was stunned, but not badly injured.

My husband was, of course, relieved that I was okay, but he was also surprised that I had hit the root. He knew I was capable of maneuvering my bike around it. I had navigated tougher terrain before. So what went wrong?

I did the same thing on my mountain bike that many new real estate investors do. I focused on the problem instead of looking ahead to my destination and figuring out how to get there. As Henry Ford so eloquently stated, “Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal.”

I focused on the root – instead of my path – and I hit it.

If you focus on the fact that you don’t have any money for a down payment, or you have bad credit, or you don’t think you can find financing for a property, you will hit those barriers and you probably won’t get past them. Yes, you have to be aware of the challenge you face in order to navigate past it – but you shouldn’t make your obstacle the focus. Your focus should be on where you’re going next and how you’re going to get there.

If you don’t have money for a down payment, start putting together excellent property deals that people with money would want to invest in. If you have bad credit, take measures to repair your credit and learn all about real estate investing in the meantime. If you think you can’t find financing for a property, talk to people who are getting financing and learn how they’ve done it.

The next time I ride a challenging mountain bike trail and encounter a scary looking root or rock, I will focus on the options I have for getting around it – not on the obstacle itself. Keep this in mind when you pursue your own dreams.

[Ed. Note: For more insider strategies for getting started as a real estate investor, sign up for real estate expert Julie Broad's free monthly newsletter. Get your free report for making money with real estate here]

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