I am a huge fan of Steven Pressfield!
My favorite historical fiction book of all time is his masterpiece “The Hot Gates”. It is a gut-punching tour de force fictionalization of the historical events of the 300 Spartans at Thermopylae.
I love the movie “300”, but that book dives deeper into the thoughts and mindsets of the defending Spartans in exceptional prose that only Pressfield can weave.
How did he write such an amazing work of art? By being a professional.
The heart of this book, “The War of Art”, is an exploration of what it means to be a professional.
It examines the ideals that a pro must uphold through a strong mindset, dedicated work ethic, and love of the craft.
Most importantly, a pro must overcome a force that Pressfield names the Resistance.
The Resistance isn’t truly explained in a single definition, but rather explored throughout the book. You get to understand the Resistance through emotions, results, and problems examined deeply and poetically.
Simply put, in my own words, Resistance is an internal force that stops us from doing the work that will allow us to reach our potential.
The reasons are many: fear, stagnation, mindset, but the result is the same, us failing to do our best. The only answer is to overcome Resistance by being a professional.
Lesson 1: A Professional Does the Work
This is the first highlight I have in the book and a central theme. If you take anything away from this article, it is to remember to do the work.
As this is a page dedicated to the craft of real estate investing this is our focus. Become a professional real estate investor.
Become someone who treats this as a business and runs it with the level of professionalism, dedication, and consistency that is required to be successful.
The professional real estate investor is someone who is serious about success and willing to do what is required to ensure their clients, projects, and properties are taken care of.
- That means that we are up to date with our books and finance.
- We adhere to building codes and landlord/tenant laws.
- We consistently market the business and follow up diligently with prospects.
“The most important thing about art is to work. Nothing else matters except sitting down every day and trying.”
– Steven Pressfield
There is sacrifice involved in order to be a professional.
Not all professional real estate investors are full-time. You can still embody being a pro and doing the right things while maintaining a day job. However, you must be even more diligent with your time.
Professionals know that work has to come before playtime and relaxation. We can strive for balance, but at the end of the day, work must be completed.
This is especially true in the current highly competitive environment of real estate investing where sellers can just pick up the phone and call the next investor!
We need to be on top of our communication, follow-up, and systems to stand a chance of being successful.
We must do the work and focus on mastering the craft of being a real estate investor.
Lesson 2: A Professional Develops These Qualities
A professional seeks self-development which leads to self-mastery.
The real estate market is ever-changing. Become a student of the market to keep up with the trends so that you can consistently make good choices.
In the quest for mastery of the craft develop relationships with those that possess great knowledge. This can be in the form of mentors, colleagues, and other professionals in the real estate space.
The professional develops discipline within themselves. As we have explored on this site before, disciplined execution is better than motivation, every single time.
Motivation is a feeling that ebbs and flows. Motivation is unreliable and attempting to run a business on an unreliable emotion creates unreliable results.
Instead, the pro embraces consistency and action. He or she develops the habit and pattern of work output that is required. It takes what it takes in order to be successful in real estate and the professional doesn’t rely on feelings.
The professional outworks Resistance.
The professional develops the ability to critique their own work objectively.
- Why did that cold call go poorly?
- Why did a mailer marketing campaign return lower results than the previous one?
- What about your website’s homepage is turning people off and stopping them from filling out the contact form?
The professional is able to remove their emotional attachment and ego from dissecting problems.
I know how much it can hurt your self-esteem to scrap a marketing project you’ve worked hard on. In addition to reviewing my own work, on my way to objective understanding, I have additionally hired professionals to review my sites and heard their feedback.
Yes, it can be painful knowing something I wrote and am so proud of needed to be entirely scrapped, but this kind of feedback is necessary, leading to the next quality.
Professionals need to develop thick skin.
This is true in real estate investing, especially if working with sellers on the residential side. If you haven’t been threatened and cursed at yet then you haven’t made enough phone calls. I don’t say that like it was an objective and I am an abrasive con artist (clearly I’m an angel). But when dealing with people in an emotionally charged state like probate or foreclosure tempers can run high.
Professionals understand not to take things personally. There must be some kind of cognitive distance between the working task and your own self-worth. It is unrealistic to believe that everyone you encounter will see your humanity outside of your business.
That is ok.
Develop the skills of persuasion and communication, you will be better for it.
Lesson 3: A Professional Conquers the Mind
Our mind is our highest source of potential as well as the singular roadblock to our success.
The Resistance is not a physical manifestation so much as it is our own doubts and fears.
We are human and our generations of evolution haven’t optimized us to think big and strive for our goals. We are often just focused and concerned about our day-to-day well-being and short-term survival.
- What are we going to eat today?
- How are we doing to make use of the money and resources we have to make the right spending choices today?
- What appointments do I need to remember and keep track of for the kids?
The Resistance is the comfort zone of knowing that we don’t need to do anything too risky or too demanding which might bring about (scary) change.
The professional must train their mind to focus on doing the work despite the heartache and distractions.
Society often celebrates the unexceptional. People look to have a “normal” life where work and family can be separated and segmented. That might be possible but it won’t come easy.
Fear and doubt will always be the companion of those who strive to be truly great professionals.
They do not go away, but they can be mitigated. I chose the word “mitigated” carefully because I didn’t want to say “ignored”.
We shouldn’t ignore warning signs. There can be merit at times. Take into consideration that doubts and fears are not always unfounded. The professional finds their utility.
Build a buffer, create a more robust budget, work with higher caliber partners.
But take action despite the fears. Action is the greatest cure of fear.
The things we once believed were scary will become commonplace. The professional levels up and moves on to larger projects or scarier scenarios just to conquer those and move forward.
What is scaring you now that you know you should be doing? What are you most afraid of doing?
- Contacting peers?
- Contacting sellers?
- Marketing yourself?
- Going to a REIA event?
Take action and just get started. It is better than not making progress.
“Fear is good. Like self-doubt, fear is an indicator. Fear tells us what we have to do.
Remember our rule of thumb: The more scared we are of a work or calling, the more sure we can be that we have to do it.”
-Steven Pressfield
The professional believes in themself. Last, but not least is the ideal that the professional has resolute and absolute belief in themselves.
Not that they are infallible, always right, or even mostly right. Just the conviction you will put forth the effort to become a professional and do the daily work.
This isn’t about results, it is about the commitment to the cause.
One deal, one hundred deals, or still hunting for the first deal, you can believe in yourself because belief is a choice.
- You can have the faith that hard work pays off more often than not.
- You can have confidence that your continued effort means you are learning more every day about the real estate investing field (because there is a lot to know).
- You can choose to believe that your daily actions compound like interest and over time the culmination of those efforts will result in a deal.
Keep it up!
To the professional nothing matters but the daily effort.
Resistance is never down for the count and you must step into the ring with it every day. There are no guarantees in the world, just possibilities. Growing yourself into a professional opens up that world of possibility.
“Success isn’t owned. It’s leased, and rent is due every day.”
– J.J. Watt
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