So how do beliefs work? Remember that most of us, until we learn differently, have an incessant need to be right and as such, we  tend to only focus on results that support our beliefs.

For example, if you have the belief that investing doesn’t work, you’ll tend to notice when offers go wrong and ignore offers that go well. Over time, you’ll become absolutely convinced that you’re no good at making offers, so you don’t and since you don’t get any deals because you’re not making any offers, you can say, “see, I told you investing doesn’t work”

And yes, you get to be right.

By the same token, if you have the belief that making offers just takes practice and eventually you’ll get better, you’ll tend to notice when you do get better results and you’ll use that feedback to reproduce similar behavior to get the same results. Over time, any offers that don’t produce as you’d like will be seen as an opportunity to see where you need improvement.

So why do some people  cling to beliefs that make them miserable and drive them crazy? Because any belief – whatever it is – has an emotional payoff. In our investing example, the investor who views a “bad” economy as an excuse to fail can blame the economy, it let’s them off the hook – a big emotional payoff.

Similarly, the investor who sees a “bad” economy as an opportunity to change what they are doing won’t suffer from worrying about something that is beyond their control – another big emotional payoff.

You might think of emotions as the “glue” that keeps a belief intact and through reinforcement, makes it stronger. Emotions then, are a key part of the process of changing from an ineffective belief (one that creates investing failure) to an effective belief (one that creates investing success.)

Remember, there is no “right” or “wrong” , there’s only effective and ineffective. If you want to become more and effective and experience more success, change the emotions that you associate with a belief and the belief will change.

Wanna find out how this might apply to you? Set up a no obligation get to know you session and let’s talk! Click Here to get started.

One of the most important life lessons I’ve learned along the way is that when you allow yourself to be content with your current situation regardless of what it is – you’ll always be happy. At first blush that might not make sense, especially if you’re really NOT liking your current situation. I get it. There have been times in my life when my situation pretty much sucked, and then something happens to remind me that things can get worse. Of course, there have also been times when I’m reminded that things can also get better.

It’s all a matter of perspective. Many people think that “when thus and so happens”, or “when I get this or that” then I’ll be happy. Think about it, if the only thing that will make you happy is something you don’t have, or to say it a better way, if YOU won’t ALLOW yourself to be happy until an exterior event occurs, then you’re giving away your power to create your life as you’d like it to be. A great thing about being human, is that when our life situation gets to a point where we’re not happy, it can become a catalyst for us to take action. (and for those that can’t or won’t take action, that’s where Strategists like me come into play!)

Living in the Southwest, one of the things my family and I pretty much take for granted is the amount of SPACE we have and the laid back tempo of life. During a recent stay in NYC, we had many opportunities to contrast what it’s like to live out west in Santa Fe, NM with living in a crowded urban setting and learned some valuable lessons on appreciating just what we have.

The first opportunity to appreciate what we have was the studio apartment the five of us crowded into for 29 days. To say it was not very big would be an understatement, this small space on the third floor of a walk-up building rents for two to three times what it go for back home. And  we thought Santa Fe was considered expensive. The closets were small, the kitchen was small, and compared to what we’re used to, this place was pretty cramped.

Another thing was grocery shopping. At home we jump in the van and head to a grocery store with acres of parking surrounding it. We wheel large carts through the store and fill them up. There, we bought a small wheeled cart to haul our groceries down the street and through the subways with just what we needed for the next few days. We had to learn which stores had what, and become very efficient with our time to plan the route we’d take as well as our purchases getting the most bang for the buck that we could carry in the cart or by hand.

Lastly, the third major thing we experienced was the extremely rapid rhythm or pace of life. Out here in the Southwest, we say we live in the land of mañana. Now being raised in the midwest I always thought that mañana meant tommorrow.  I’ve learned that mañana actually means sometime later, just not NOW. But I digress. Here things are pretty much laid back, time seems to be relative. In NYC, you’d better be about your business with a purpose. Walk with purpose. Get on the subway with purpose. Shop with purpose. And while you’re at it, you better learn to be efficient with your time and your resources or you’ll find yourself wondering “what in the world happened to them!”

When the trip was over and we were once again ensconced in our Santa Fe abode, it was interesting to learn how much we all appreciated what we have after being exposed to living a completely different life style. Oh sure, there are plenty of things we enjoyed about out adventure, as well as a few we didn’t.  As I said earlier, it’s all about perspective.

The experience has added an extra dimension of richness to our family that we wouldn’t trade for anything. Spending time together and especially the small apartment reminded of me of a verse in the song “Little Houses” by Doug Stone:

But you know, love grows best in little houses,
With fewer walls to separate,
Where you eat and sleep so close together.
You can’t help but communicate,
Oh, and if we had more room between us, think of all we’d miss.
Love grows best, in houses just like this

If for any reason there seems to be something blocking you and keeping you from enjoying your current life situation and you’d like to discuss your options for doing something about it, click here to register for a no obligation get to know you call with me, DougO

Recently my family and I took a dream vacation to New York City! Literally. Back when I was imagining what the future could be for myself and family, one of the things I decided I’d love to do was take the family and live in another city for an entire month.

The opportunity presented early this year when my daughter Gabriella was invited by Jacque d’Amboise of National Dance Institute to come to New York City and study dance and musical theater during the summer on a scholarship. Jacque was visiting NDI Santa Fe and when he saw Gabby perform the part of Cassy in NDI’s production of “A Chorus Line” he had the staff there let us know he thought Gabby should come to New York to study.

Now for a young dancer and actress, having Jacque offer this privilege would be like having Yo-Yo Ma ask a young cellist to further their studies with him. Not only does this give their self esteem a boost, it opens doors they didn’t even know existed.  Gabriella was accepted into programs on his recommendation alone, (no audition) and was able to learn and grow along side some very talented peers, pushing her to excel at every opportunity. She got to take a class with a Radio City Rockette (something she aspires to) and see Radio City Music Hall up close and what it’s like to live the life of a professional dancer. She was able to see one of her idols Daniel Radcliffe perform in “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying” as well as Jacque’s daughter Charlotte d’Amboise perform as “Roxie” in “Chicago”. She got to go back stage  and experience what it’s like for the performers who make their living doing what she dreams of doing. How cool is THAT?

I believe that this all came about because long ago I dared to dream my own dreams and write those dreams down. I also believe those dreams were facilitated by something someone told me when my children were still toddlers. Doug, they said, your job as a parent is to create fantastic memories for your children. That really stuck with me. As a Clinical Hypnotherapist and Master Neuro Strategist all too often I see the results of adults who’s parents didn’t receive that advice. Adults who are held back today by shall we say, less than wonderful memories of the past. Adults that are afraid to dream becuase their dreams were crushed at an early age.

Listen, it’s never too late to start. Dare to dream. Write them down. Do whatever it takes to support the dreams of your spouse, your partner, your children and others.

Live your life as your dreams and pass it on! Remember: Ask, and it shall be given you. Seek, and you will find. Knock and the door shall be opened unto you.

A belief is formed when your subconscious mind and an event – collide and mix together.

When a random event takes place , your subconscious mind, based upon your personality and character, creates an association (rule) to explain what that event means to you. That’s how, for example,  a pessimistic person and an optimistic person can see the exact same incidents and interpret the meaning of those events very differently.

For example, maybe you tried making an offer to purchase a property without any training (the incident), and when it didn’t go right, as a pessimist, you decided “this investing doesn’t work and you’ll never be successful.

Now imagine the same incident, but instead, due to your optimistic view point, you decided that investing, like most thing, isn’t hard, it just requires training and practice to be successful and eventually you’ll “get it.”

In reality, neither belief is “true” however they will create very different investing behaviors.

When a belief is first formed, it starts out relatively weak. However weak it may be, realize  these beliefs act as a lens through which future events are viewed. (You know, like when you buy a new car, you start seeing that car everywhere.) The belief filters out evidence (facts) that don’t support the belief and emphasizes evidence (facts) support it. This filtering process causes the belief to get stronger until, in your mind, the belief appears to be entirely “true.”

That’s why we say, “what you believe is true for you” and “you’ll find what you’re looking for”. This filtering process let’s you be “right”!

We’ll explore why “being right” isn’t always a “good” thing next time..

Here’s what I see every morning as I enjoy my morning coffee, make sure the sound is up!

I don’t know about you, when I relax, I also like to  feed my brain,

- click here and check this out:

http://www.bearealestateheavyweight.com/?aid=966022

It shows you the latest real estate investing techniques that work in

today’s economy …even if you’re not an expert or have no clue what you’re

doing.

You can get two chapters to feed your brain right now!

Just click here:

http://www.bearealestateheavyweight.com/?aid=966022

Enjoy

Doug Ottersberg

P.S. The whole “But I’m not a expert” thing has been a HUGE problem for

people wanting to go into Real Estate Investing…

This solves that problem:

http://www.bearealestateheavyweight.com/?aid=966022

Have a great day and remember, just ONE good idea can change your life!!!!

Doug