Life has a funny way of humbling you when your ego gets too inflated or expectations exceed what can tangibly be done in a given amount of time. Those that have been humbled start to check their egos and learn lessons they have previously ignored. Financial freedom is a humbling road. You will think you can get things done that you won’t be able to. You will try and do things you will fail at. You’ll learn that having a big ego is a one way trip to mediocrity disguised to yourself as misfortune. Part of the process of success is understanding that not everything will go your way. Whether it be ego, naivety, or something else, make sure you are ready to put all this aside to succeed on your path to greatness.
Nothing comes easy
Part of my plan to reach financial freedom involves buying student housing for rental income. I have been pursuing this goal for the greater part of 6 months now and have 13 properties currently under contract to buy. This process has been one of if not the most humbling experience in my life. From the day my partners and I began to get our finances in order to sign contracts to now, this experience has been nothing short of a rollercoaster. Everything that you think will go right and seamless has gone the opposite and by leaps and bounds. We thought we had a source to bring our earnest money deposit, but we didn’t and had to improvise. We thought the properties would be in good condition. They weren’t so we had to improvise. The market has shifted dramatically from then to now and interest rates have climbed in addition to lenders criteria getting stricter. We have had no choice but to adapt and improvise. Our original plan A, B, and C lenders could no longer lend to us for the deals so we had to and still are improvising. For one reason or another, nothing has gone right so far in these deals. I have been humbled time after time thinking that everything was in line to keep things moving forward, but they weren’t. Being humbled puts your ego to bed permanently never to return. This process has been the death of ego and the birth of being able to adapt to anything. Adversity is extremely humbling and teaches you more lessons about how to succeed than anything else. Nothing great comes easy and the process will knock you down repeatedly along the way.
It’s all about how you respond
Being knocked around and humbled are part of the process and everyone that has achieved any sort of success knows this to be a fact. However, it is not about how you face adversity, it’s how you respond to it. Those with inflated egos don’t respond well and eventually face the ramifications of this fact. Those that learn to drop the ego and respond with newfound conviction, drive, and attention to detail will be the ones who ultimately end up on top. Being humbled and responding to the adversity a situation presents is how we learn and grow to our fullest potential. Running from this fact is running from progress.
Expectations and reality
Coming to terms with the fact that your expectations will not always be met and that you will have to adapt can be scary for people to accept at first. Adaptability to the unexpected is necessary as things will never go as you planned they would and you always have to be ready with contingencies especially when relying on other people. The truth is, expectations and reality are often not even on the same planet. When you inevitably get humbled by this fact, you will learn to plan in a more manageable way for you to reach your goals and have the proper contingencies in place in case things were to go awry. Don’t let the fact that the unpredictable will often strike along your journey keep you from making proper plans. Plans are meant to be changed and adjusted on the fly to fit malleable situations. You should always have plans and contingencies for those plans to guide you in the right direction in conjunction with the ability to adapt to the unexpected on the fly. This is the best way to align expectations with reality as best as you can and keep your ego from getting you humbled when something unexpected comes about that you weren’t prepared for on some level. Being humbled one time keeps you on your toes for the future to make sure you don’t make the same mistakes twice. Make sure you are able to align your expectations with reality and plan contingencies for when things go awry. This is how successful people tackle adversity.