“How to Turn Failure Into Success” by Alton Jones

I wouldn’t be where I am today if it weren’t for one thing: education.

Far too many people jump into this business feet first without any information, looking to make millions of dollars without lifting a finger. They want to eat a proverbial elephant with one big bite. They want to take on massive projects without the experience and knowledge necessary to rehab a bathroom, let alone a whole development. These people find themselves out of business very quickly.

Why? Because they haven’t done the research. Education is one of the most important things for any individual in any business. People who get involved in education give themselves a leg up simply by understanding the field they are getting into.

I’ve been in business for quite some time now — six years to be exact — and I still continue to educate myself. There’s a lot that I know now that I didn’t before, but there’s also a whole lot to this day that I don’t know. I promise you this: I could walk up to any bookstore, turn a 360-degree circle, and see thousands of books I haven’t read. There is so much to learn.

And how do you learn in this business? Go to trainings and boot camps! Find a mentor. Do those joint venture deals! Give up 50 percent to learn something from someone who has this craft down pat. That’s what I did when I started. Then I took what I learned from the people I did business with and applied it to what I wanted to do. Not every mentor was perfect, but bad strategies can be learned from too.

Part of education and mentoring is self-talk. Self-talk is powerful. In fact, what you tell yourself is one of the most powerful things. If you’re constantly convincing yourself that you can’t do something and only think negatively, it will weigh on you. And guess what! It’s just like millionaire car mogul Henry Ford said, “Whether you think you can or whether you think you can’t, you’re right.” What you think about will come about. If, on the other hand, you think about how the next great deal is going to come to you and you’ll do something about it, eventually you’ll find that you’re right where you need to be. I like to say that the deal of the century in real estate transactions comes along once a week. It’s up to us to recognize and react. Success is where preparation meets opportunity. And how do you prepare? With self- and mentor-guided education.

Then there’s the kind of education that comes from the school of hard knocks. To many people, one of the most painful things in the world is to pick up the phone, call someone, and ask them if they’re willing to sell. Far too many get stuck in an analysis paralysis cycle. They pick up the receiver, and suddenly they have cottonmouth, because they’re so worried about what they’re going to say.

Here’s the reality of the situation: What is done is far better than what is potentially perfect, even if you messed up through the whole process. You’ll get better and better if you continue to educate yourself in groups and with books and courses. That improvement comes with doing and trying, messing up, then realizing there’s a better way. John Maxwell, pastor, life coach, and author of “Failing Forward,” says that most of the people who are superstars have failed far more times than they’ve succeeded. The best athletes, actors, and actresses — they’ve all failed. But they’ve also succeeded. Why? Because they didn’t quit. They persevered, they learned, they readjusted. And in the end, it paid off.