NOTE: I wrote about no secrets in The 7 Principles of Success at CoachCarson.com. But the subject is so important, I wanted to expand on it again by itself.
Secrets sell. That’s why late-night infomercials and hucksters of all kind pitch their snake oil as “new” or “little known” or “exclusive.”
But you know the truth.
Whether it’s a diet, an exercise routine, building wealth, or starting a business, there are no secrets.
There ARE subtle distinctions and key pieces of information you can pick up along the way. But, the core of success in any endeavor is an open book. It really comes down to this:
Mastery of the fundamentals
The fundamentals are the key skills or areas of competency mastered by the experts of a craft.
An excellent medical doctor trains on the fundamental processes of health, disease, and the human body.
An excellent carpenter becomes an expert with the tools of his trade and the processes of applying those tools.
An excellent real estate investor masters core competencies like:
- real estate valuation
- financial analysis
- real estate law & contracts
- construction & development
- property management
- marketing & sales
The fundamentals also include the old-fashioned, universal success principles of hustle and building quality relationships.
It’s not so secret that when you combine core skills, hustle, and quality relationships, it’s hard not to be successful over the long run.
But this old school approach doesn’t mean you can’t have quick and incredible success, too. You can.
It’s just that if you want the quick and incredible, you have to work incredibly hard and study your craft with incredible intensity.
The main point here is that you reap what you sow. Only con men and criminals try to get around that principle (unsuccessfully in the big picture).
But it’s easy to get sucked into manipulative sales and marketing tactics by those who don’t have your best interest at heart. They usually tug on one of a few emotional levers, like:
- Exclusive information … i.e. secret, little known, expert-only information that will finally solve your problems
- Fear of loss … i.e. if you don’t get this information, you will lose
- Social comparison … i.e. so-and-so knows this information and look how much more successful he/she is than you
After you’re made to feel ignorant, afraid, and completely inadequate as a human being, hope is restored with the limited time opportunity to buy an amazing product or service. They’ll even allow you to pay with installments.
Gee, thanks.
At CoachCarson.com I’m trying to build something different.
I do love sharing helpful ideas (see my Book Reviews, Guest Experts, and Business-Money-Life Project), but like your old favorite high school or little league coach, I don’t believe you need new information to become good enough.
Instead, I hope to remind you of the wisdom you already know. And I want to reinforce your desire to learn and your zeal to improve.
Coaches, teachers, and especially gurus don’t supply the magic. Playbooks and tactics, no matter how good or secret, don’t win the game. The players on the arena floor either get it done or not.
So, the mission at CoachCarson.com is about you, the player. I want to help you win with money and real estate investing, but to do that you must become better. Your growth and improvement as a person will be the foundation of your success as an entrepreneur and investor.
So, thank you for allowing me to play the role of coach in a small or a big way in your game of real estate investing and wealth building.
I’ll continue giving you my best with free articles each week. And when I get past my own busy real estate projects (the plan is later this year), I will introduce some new and updated online classes to go into more depth about the fundamentals of real estate investing and wealth building.
Enthusiastically your Coach,
PS – The biggest compliment you can pay me is to share this with a friend. Thank you!
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Such an important reminder! Especially now, with all data democratized online, there truly are no secrets. In the past, realtors might have been able to be the gatekeepers to home price data, or doctors were the only ones who might know what ails us, but it doesn’t work that way anymore. So if anyone claims to have a secret, I’m immediately distrustful because in addition to everything you said, I also just assume they must be delusional! Any person can find any info they need now. 🙂
Yeah, good points! Leading with the “secret” line makes me distrustful as well. Thanks for sharing.
I like that. I tend to say – even if you were given a perfect how-to guide, it still requires action. Often the difference between an investor and a wannabe is just doing it!
Ha, Ha. Good point.I’m not against the how-to guide (hey, I’ve got a blog!), but I just think people aren’t doing enough of the action part.