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Part One - The Anatomy of Fear:

Ninety-six percent of all fears, worries and concerns in life are baseless'.  

Yet, from your earliest childhood - long before the concept of investing money even occurred to you - you found yourself immersed in unimaginable horrors of every conceivable making.

There were those terrifying dreams and nightmares that woke you and everyone else in your household at ungodly hours of the night.

There was that heart-stopping, jaw-dropping moment when your mum turned and left you in the care of your school teacher on your first day at primary school.

Then there were those dark and sinister nights when you lay in your bed, staring into the blackness like a demented cat in an effort to determine if those demonic-like shapes on the far side of the wall were, in fact… the 'faces of evil' … or just harmless curtain shadows.

Fears, worries and concerns have been a part of your life since the day you were born. It's a part of being human - and perfectly normal

Here are just some of the many fears we've all had at some point or other:

fear of spiders  fear of sleeping  alone fear of masks fear of school exams        fear of taking action fear of success fear of "fear" itself

fear of public speaking fear of heights fear of being stared at fear of people talking about you fear of the dark fear of mice fear of separation from parents

 

 

 

 

 

Scary stuff, huh?

What's even more scary is that NOT ONE of the above-listed "fears" has ever resulted in physical harm to anyone - because 'fear alone' is harmless!

Lets look at each of these, one by one…

Fear of Spiders: There are approximately 100,000 species of spider on the planet. Only 12 of these are venomous. This would suggest that you have a mere one chance in 9,000 of being bitten by a poisonous spider.

Fear of Sleeping Alone: It's safer, both physically and from a 'room-oxygen content' perspective, to sleep alone.

Fear of Masks: It would be most unusual for a piece of sculptured rubber, PVC, plastic or cardboard to lead to the demise of anyone.

Fear of School Exams: The act of studying for and then sitting an exam is not readily renowned for it's potential to cause lasting emotional and/or physical harm.

Fear of Taking Action: To be "scared of doing something" is, by the equal and opposite argument, to be "comfortable with doing nothing". Since when was "doing nothing" beneficial to your financial future? And since when was "doing something about it" a reason to panic?

Fear of Success: It's 'sad but true'… there really are some folk who are literally terrified of success! They often feel they don't deserve it or that success will alienate them from their firends. The reality is that "success never hurt anyone". Failure on the other hand? I think you know the answer to that  already.

Fear of "fear" itself: Fear is an emotion. It is not a physical or physiological threat (unless of course you've got a dicky heart!).  

Fear of Public Speaking: Despite the 'terror' involved with standing up and speaking to a large crowd; to the best of my knowledge, nothing nasty, harmful or sinister has ever resulted from such an action.

Fear of Heights: One of the most common fears amongst humans. Ironically, but hardly surprisingly, it's not the "height" that hurts - just the impact from the fall (if you are unlucky enough to have fallen from whatever 'height' you were at). 

Fear of being Stared At: It can be quite disconcerting when someone stares directly at you for any length of time. However, it neither harms you physically or emotionally.

Fear of People Talking About You: "Sticks and stones may break your bones but words will never hurt you". Enough said.

Fear of the Dark: Technically speaking, darkness is simply a 'lack of light'. This in itself should not be cause for spine-chilling fear. I'm sure that science will back me up when I claim that "a lack of photons is not considered lethal and is not therefore a reason for prolonged shivering, heart palpatations or screaming!"

Fear of Mice: I've seen what a mouse-trap can do to a mouse. I've also seen what a cat can do to a mouse. But I'm yet to see any evidence of carnage left over from a rampant attack by mice on humans or cats!

Fear of Separation from Parents: Even "I" recall being in a heightened state of dismay when my mother left me in the care of my very first teacher at my very first school. I also know of children who have complete emotional meltdowns each and every time their mother pops outside to hang the washing up! But at the end of the day, neither I nor those 'temporarily abandoned children' suffered lasting harm from the well-intentioned acts of our respective mothers.

Can you see a pattern here? Can you see how the fears stated above, although vividly real in the minds of those who experience them, are completely unjustified?

Now take a look at your OWN fears. If you're really honest with yourself, can you genuinely justify the reason/s for having them?

No, of course you can't. 

And this leads me to rationalise a "fear" that many of my would-be clients have… a "fear" that stops them dead in their tracks when it comes to purchasing an investment property through us. It's the actual "fear of investing!"

This "fear" can be broken down into many sub-fears including: the fear of taking action; the fear of losing money; the fear of being ripped off; the fear of having a large mortgage; the fear of not being able to find tenants; the fear of tenants trashing the property; the fear of having their cashflow tied up; the fear of losing their job/s and finding the investment unaffordable; the fear of a property crash; the fear of rising interest rates; the fear of what the economy might do; etc., etc., etc. 

If only these same would-be clients realised that by allowing "fear" to get in the way of wealth creation, they are setting themselves up for something far more terrifying than anything they'd imagined i.e. a bleak and poverty-stricken retirement.

In my next article I will examine "The Fear of Taking Action" and how it can cripple any chance you might otherwise have had to become wealthy and successful.

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Tags: fear of investing property investing