I’m a big believer in the power of positive thinking.  It is an absolutely integral part of becoming successful in anything that you do.  But while negative thinking can stop you from reaching your goals, positive thinking alone won’t get you there.  You must do the work. 

Someone once wrote, “The world is sown with good; but unless I turn my glad thoughts into practical living and till my own field, I cannot reap a kernel of the good.”  You need to till your field, and you need to do it with a great attitude.  When positive thinking is combined with hard work, you are virtually unstoppable.

The financial side of real estate is simply 8th grade math.  Think about it: Add up the income (rents), subtract the expenses, and if you have money left over, that’s positive cash flow, and it’s a good thing.  Take the amount of positive cash flow, divide it into your down payment, and you get the rate of return on your money.  It really is that simple.  But if you’re going to do it, you have to believe it.

One must learn to remove mental limits that has held them back so far.  Who is in charge of your life?  Is it the naysayers who shoot down your dreams?  Or is it you?  If you are going to be successful in real estate, you need to be listening to people who are successful, people who are positive, people who will tell you it can be done and you can do it.  You need to take charge of your life so you can do what needs to be done to reach your goals.  Mark Twain said, “Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions.  Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you too, can become great.”

On a personal note, I’ve set goals for myself in real estate.  On my personal blog, www.torreybrothers.me, I’ve launched a personal challenge to go from a small time investor to a multi-millionaire and I’ve made it available for other real estate investors to learn from my mistakes and successes.  Visit the link above and subscribe to my blog so that you can follow me on my journey to success. 

You can be successful in real estate.  You can buy properties using several methods and have them cash flow while building your wealth.  It has been done my thousands of people and the only difference between you and them is that they took action.  Leo Buscaglia once said, “There are two big forces at work, external and internal.  We have very little control over external forces such as tornadoes, earthquakes, floods, disasters, illness, and pain.  What really matters is the internal force.  How do I respond to those disasters?  Over that I have complete control.”

Don’t look at problems as situations that will stop you from succeeding; see them as challenges that strengthen and enrich you when you solve them.  When other people say negative things, it usually reflects their own fears.  You can be sympathetic to it, but don’t expose yourself to it.  More importantly, don’t accept their fears. 

You can build tremendous wealth investing in real estate, if you think positive and work hard.