Learn the Habits of A Successful Investor

Learn the Habits of A Successful Investor

 

Investing can be a big life-changing decision, particularly if you are thinking of investing for the very first time. The smallest of mistakes can cost you many hundreds, if not thousands of dollar, literally. 

In the 1990’s, management guru Dr. Stephen Covey explained what he believed to be the defining characteristics that distinguish ‘highly effective people’ in his book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. This book has become a modern-day business classic.

Not surprisingly the 7 habits Covey suggests we should aspire to if we want to replicate the achievements of others are also very important to the business of property investment.

At the end of the day, it is our hard-earned money that we want to turn into our children’s university fund, our first family home or any other reason most dear to us.

So let’s take a moment to reflect on our top 10 habits of a successful investor.

Here’s Our Top 10 Habits Of A Successful Investor:

1. Begin With The End In Mind |Focus on your desired outcomes and work towards your goals. This habit is based on imagination – the ability to envision in your mind what you cannot at present see with your eyes. It is based on the principle that all things are created twice. The first creation is mental, the second is a physical creation. The physical creation follows the mental, similarly as a building follows a blueprint. If you don’t make a conscious effort to visualise who you are and what you want in life, then you empower other people and circumstances to shape you and your life by default. Begin with the end in mind means to begin each day, task, or project with a clear vision of your desired direction and destination, and then continue by flexing your proactive muscles to make things happen.

2. Embrace Change | Successful investors don’t let change stifle their growth. Most people don’t like change but embracing change can be a very powerful habit to go through life with. “Those that adapt survive”. Adapting is both a survival skill and a success skill. Change is difficult for some people – for some it’s pure laziness but for others we don’t like the lack of control or the uncertainty of bruised egos, worse outcomes or perhaps embarrassment or failing. Sadly, if you don’t learn to embrace change you will go through life very frustrated.

3. Know How To Say No | Turn down opportunities that do not fit your strategy. Once you are clear on your strategy it is very simple to say ‘no’ to other things, sometimes known as distractions.

 4. Know Your Target Demographic | Understand what area your demographic desires. If your target market is families, as an example, you must invest in areas with infrastructure family’s desire – schools, shops, jobs, transport, parks. If your target market is young singles then they prefer to live in areas with night life, bars, restaurants etc. Get the area right for the demographic.

5. Buy With Head, Not Heart | Separate emotion from the deal and focus on numbers. Smart investors know that to be really successful in property investing they must buy the right kind of property and know their numbers. When purchasing your own home emotion should come in to the equation as you need to love the place. However, when you are buying property as an investment it’s a completely different strategy. You don’t care about the colour of the tiles necessarily because cream won’t get you any more rent than the white ones. But making sure the numbers stack up, well that’s important.

 6. Plan To Achieve Goals | Work with a strategic plan and review it regularly. Goal setting is a process that starts with careful consideration of what you want to achieve. It not only allows you to take control of your life’s direction; it also provides you a benchmark for determining whether you are actually succeeding. We suggest you check in with your goals on an annual basis at least, preferably more often to ensure you are on track.

 7. Take Action | Procrastination kills all deals. Take steps to move forward. Experienced investors know that confidence is key to entering the property market. Lack of education and the ‘doom and gloom’ of headlines are often stumbling blocks for people looking to invest. Keep moving forward.

8. Sharpen The Saw | Continually look for wisdom and not just information. Sharpen the saw means preserving and enhancing the greatest asset you have–you. It means having a balanced program for self-renewal in the four areas of your life: physical (beneficial eating, exercising, resting) social/emotional (making social and meaningful connections with others), mental (learning, reading, writing and teaching) and spiritual (spending time in nature, expanding spiritual self through meditation, music, art, prayer or service).

 9. Not Afraid To Alter Objectives | Learn to measure, modify and achieve objectives as circumstances change. Objectives are not fixed, and will change from time to time in response to changes, which offer opportunities.

 10. Invest In People | Surround yourself with the right team to make better, smarter decisions. When it comes to investing, it’s important to surround yourself with a success team that will help turn your goals into reality.

For more articles about the habits of successful property investors, see:

If you have any questions regarding this blog that you would like to discuss with one of the team at CPG, then please feel free to contact our office.

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