5 Ways to Improve Your Mindset (And Invest During a Recession)

The irony about opportunities comes within its name – they never actually happen at ‘opportune’ moments.

Opportunities come knocking at your door when you least expect them, and that means taking them is a risky and bold move.

We always end up having to let go of something great to achieve something greater. But the thing is, not everyone is ready for that kind of sacrifice.

That’s why many end up simply letting the opportunity pass them by and remain in their comfort zone, where most of them eventually meet a dead-end.

Opportunities are obviously something you shouldn’t ignore. But how do you go about finding them knowing they never seem to happen at the right time?

Gathering the courage to say yes is one thing, but bravery is irrelevant if you’re confident you can handle the risks with diving into the unknown.

This confidence can be developed by having the right mindset.

What is Mindset?

According to Verywell Mind, a mindset refers to “whether you believe qualities such as intelligence and talent are fixed or changeable traits.”

It’s a collection of beliefs affecting how you shape your thoughts, attitude, and habits.

There are two types of mindsets, both of which are developed throughout childhood:

Fixed mindset – People with this type of mindset believe these qualities are unchangeable. They become concerned with how they are being judged and become fearful they will not meet others expectations.
Growth mindset – People with a growth mindset believe these qualities are something they can develop, improve, and enhance through commitment and hard work.

Investing in property, for instance, is a big decision for many. Especially if they’re doing it for the first time. All investments involve risks and if it turns out your investment fails, you’ll end up losing a lot of money.

People with a fixed mindset are likely to think something along these lines: “I don’t know anything about investment, so I’ll be setting myself up for failure. I’ll do it when the circumstances are favourable for me.”

Meanwhile, those with a growth mindset aren’t just willing to dive in without knowledge, they are optimistic if they learn how to invest in property, they can increase their chances of high returns and decrease their probability of failure.

A Pandemic, a Recession and Not Much Hope for the Future, right?

The Covid-19 pandemic has devastated the whole world in numerous ways. It has affected both the physical and mental health of many, caused millions to lose their jobs, set businesses several steps back, and countless numbers of them had to close down.

This recession is projected to hit Australia hard. According to ABC News, our GDP plunged 7% in the June quarter, which is more than three times the biggest fall of 2% in 1974.

The US isn’t doing so well either, being the country with some of the highest numbers of recorded cases and deaths. Aside from this, people are further questioning the safety of the US due to political and civil unrest.

With all this thrown in our faces, it’s no wonder people are frozen by fear. They feel as though they can’t move forward and do much in this period.

It’s reasonable to feel this way but the truth is, letting your fear stop you from trying won’t help and might become your downfall.

Jon Giaan, a multi-millionaire Australian property investor, talks about the concept of being fear-frozen and how this stops people from responding to situations properly. “Too much fear locks you up. The energy jams. You turn to stone. Blue screen of death,” he said.

In Star Dynamic’s recent state of address, we reintroduced this concept through an investment hierarchy, showing the progression of an inverter before they become successful and well-experienced.

At the bottom of the pyramid are investors (or aspiring investors) who are fear-frozen. This portion takes up the most space because many people don’t advance from this stage – they get stuck, and as Jon Giaan said, locked up.

Now the goal is to be one of the cashed-up experienced investors, but only those who can overcome fear can get there.

But fear-frozen people have a fixed mindset. This means their fear is preventing them from believing they can get back from a slump and improve themselves. This is heightened by inopportune moments like the current recession caused by the global pandemic.

Even Inopportune Moments Present Opportunities

When you’re fear-frozen, you tend to consider the worst possible outcome as the one most likely to happen.

This stops you from taking any action. You want to turn away from it and not risk anything because you genuinely believe you can’t do anything about the situation.

But the thing is, there are always opportunities for success, no matter how inopportune the moment.

A perfect example is so far the housing market in the US is unaffected by the recession.

The US residential property market is red hot, even with the pandemic and recession going on. Norada Real Estate Investments presents very interesting statistics showing how the market is booming in America.

So, while the rest of the world is ‘suffering’, it’s those with a growth mindset who are already taking advantage of this opportunity as we speak.

5 Ways to Improve Your Mindset (So You Can Invest During a Recession)

Overcoming your fear and shifting to a growth mindset doesn’t happen overnight. Mindsets develop over time and most of those who have a fixed mindset have grown up with it.

If you are fear-frozen, don’t worry – there’s a way to change this and improve yourself. Follow these five steps:

Train Yourself to Be Better

To become a better version of yourself, it’s important you first commit to the idea. You shouldn’t just think about getting better – you have to want it.

You need to train yourself to love learning and constantly remind yourself you can be better and you will be better.

This will give you both motivation and discipline to keep striving.

Training yourself can be tough though because we don’t know what we don’t know. It helps to surround yourself with people who see the opportunities you don’t see yet and those who know better.

When investing in property, this means having a property coach to help train you on the ins and outs of investing.

Set Goals and Be Accountable to Them

Setting goals is a crucial step to success. Your goals are what keep you on track and give motivation to succeed in what you do.

Start by having a long-term goal. This long-term goal is your main objective – the finish line, the one that once you achieve, you can call yourself successful.

Long-term goals are generally vague and don’t give you specific ways to achieve them. So after you set your main goal, set smaller, short-term goals serving as milestones in your journey to success.

One powerful approach in setting goals and easily keep track of your progress is using the SMART approach, which stands for:

S – Specific (Significant).

M – Measurable (Meaningful).

A – Attainable (Action-Oriented).

R – Relevant (Rewarding).

T – Time-bound (Trackable).

There are many other approaches just as, if not more, effective. We’ve previously shared how one of our clients set goals to buy overseas property, resulting in two investments in just nine months.

Learn From Your Mistakes

People often go back into their shell once they make a mistake or lose money in their investments. In fact, 70% of Australian investors do it once then never again.

What most people have a hard time realising is mistakes are a part of life. We try and we may fail, but true failure is the moment we decide to stop trying.

The key is to learn from your mistakes. If you make a mistake once and it leads to a failed investment, know what you did wrong and avoid it in the future. Study better ways on how to approach your investment and you’ll know you have a much higher chance of getting it right the second time.

Have a Positive Support Network

Nobody really succeeds on their own. Every successful person has someone they can thank for all their help and support.

To change your mindset, surround yourself with more positive and experienced people who can guide you and give advice to help you improve.

Ultimately, we’re a product of the people we surround ourselves with.

Take Action

One of the biggest roadblocks to a growth mindset is the inability to take action and get started.

We get paralysed with self-doubt and the fear you’re trying to overcome starts to grow louder in your head.

But if you practice all the previous steps, you’ll be able to take action. Only then will you reap the rewards of a new mindset, leading you to a successful US property investment journey.

It’s normal to be fear-frozen, but that doesn’t mean you should allow this fear to stop you from reaching your goals.

It’s easy to find excuses not to pursue an opportunity, but saying no to inconvenient opportunities is our greatest barrier from success.

Once you change your mindset, you’ll clearly see there are so many opportunities for you out there, waiting for you to take them.

“We’ve all got to find a productive way to deal with stress – to turn fear into fire. I wish I could tell you there was a path to serious wealth that didn’t involve risk. But there isn’t.” – Jon Giaan.