Interestingly, studies have confirmed people have two beliefs about how intelligence works.
Some believe it is “fixed” and others believe it is more “malleable” and can alter over time, depending on your life experiences.
A “growth mindset” is the key.
Students who believe that intelligence is fixed, are less resilient.
If you truly don’t believe you can learn from your mistakes, you’re hardly going to welcome the experience of failure as it seems that it serves no purpose.
However, when students are taught that the brain grows when they work hard and make errors, they show a spike in their grades and actually enjoy school more.
Because they’re less afraid of failure, they succeed more.
As an investor, you know you’re being provided ample opportunities to feel like a failure and go on a downward slide in attitude.
Unless you pick yourself up from the pit and cast your gaze towards the future, you’re likely to miss grabbing the next property – which could be devastating in terms of opportunity cost.
Now is the time to be vigilant and not let your past failures get in the way of seeing what’s in front of your nose.
Learn to Fail Effectively
Failing with flair boils down to three aspects.
It involves controlling our emotions, adjusting our thinking, and re-evaluating our beliefs about ourselves.
According to Yale psychologist Susan Nolen-Hoeksema, the real difference between people who manage to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, compared to those who slip into a self-defeating abyss, involves one key factor.
People who ultimately succeed nip “rumination” in the bud.
Rather than continuing to be so self-involved with morbid, spiralling self-talk, they turn the corner and focus on what they can learn from the lesson.
They force themselves to move on and set a goal for the future.
So if you’re feeling like a failure, I have an insight for you.
As Philip Schultz, author of Failure states: “Everyone thinks they’re a failure. The only people who don’t are the ones who really are.”
Next time you take a hit, refuse to dwell on it, and just realise you’re one step closer to your next successful investment.
Learn from the experience and move on.
