It is a great deficit to start with. Being smart, or God forbid "extremely talented", has to be one of the single greatest impediments to becoming successful in real estate.
No, it's not that real estate is a special field; there are in fact only a few highly specialized fields where brains end up doing more good than harm. For example, it is good if you want to be a rocket scientist, university professor, doctor, or consultant. In pretty much any other field it just gets in the way. Here's why:
1. Smart people use their brains to make the right decision:
People with massive brain power usually know that they are smart so when it comes time to make a decision on something, they tap into their giftings to evaluate and deliberate what the right course of action should be. Sometimes this process can take days or even weeks. The really, really smart people usually take the longest to figure out which way to go, sometimes even months.
Its true that smart people usually don't make a lot of mistakes. They rarely lose a lot of money on a stupid marketing investment, or expend a lot of energy running down the wrong path. In fact they rarely run anywhere; instead they move cautiously.
The dumb people just move. They don't know no better. They know that even if they took the time to try to figure out the right way to go they'd probably just screw it up anyways, so they just save the time and simply go. The nice thing about just going is that you can do it at any time. All you need to do is get out of your own way.
2. Smart people rely on their brains to limit the amount of work they need to do:
When you are smart you can usually a figure out a way to do whatever needs to be done more efficiently than dumb people. In fact really smart people usually can figure out a way to get somebody else to do the work for them. When the smart person succeeds at getting someone else to do their work for them, they usually benefit in the short run but not in the long run. By offloading their work, they lose the experience, and confidence that an accomplishment would have built.
Dumb people don't realize that there is any other way to doing something than to just do it. So they do.
3. Smart people fear looking dumb:
People put a lot of expectations on smart people. If a smart person does something dumb they will usually get chastised, so they learn early on to not screw up. Dumb people don't have that same pressure. They are free to mess up as much as it takes to figure something out. This freedom to screw up is key to learning and succeeding. Just look at children and compare them to a smart adult in how quickly they can learn something new. Children, like the dumb person, give themselves the freedom to fail.
4. Smart people count on good ideas to become successful:
Smart people think. They think, then they sometimes come upon a good idea. Smart people know that good ideas are not that easy to come by so they carefully guard that idea to make sure no one steals it. Dumb people know that they are not going to come up with a good idea so they don't even try. Instead dumb people spend their time doing.
Closing message to dumb people: The good news is that being dumb comes naturally to you. There isn't a lot of advice that you need; just keep on going.
Closing message to the gifted ones: Just because you were born with brains does not mean that you cannot be successful; you will just have to work harder than others. When your first reaction is to deliberate the merits of your choices: don't. Learn to go with your gut. Over time you will be able to develop your gut instinct into a finely tuned insturment. Know that your smarts will not make you successful. The most important thing to success is giving a little more than everyone else. The dumb guy knows this inherently; he knows that for him to get even the littlest bit of success he will need to work 2x as hard as the next guy. If this post struck a cord with you and you are thinking that you are going to act more and think less, start now. Seriously, pick up the phone, knock on some doors, do something and don't stop doing it.
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