LITERALLY $100,000 .. I will be giving someone at least $100,000 equity in one of my existing investment properties. The winner will have the ability to sell their interest, or .. which I hope they do .. HOLD ON to it, allowing it grow even bigger with time. Since it’s located in one of the greatest real estate markets – Calgary – it only makes sense to hold onto it! What’s amazing is that even though there’s no cost to participate, a significant amount of people didn’t choose to enter the contest. While more than 1/2 of the past graduates have signed up, a big chunk haven’t.. and that’s made me really wonder about what motivates people and WHY someone wouldn’t register for the contest, even with it being free. I think there are a lot of reasons why people shy away from the opportunity to “better their best” and shine their light. What keeps a lot of people out of the game, whether it’s investing or anything else, is FEAR. They are afraid of failing, so they choose not to even try. At least that way, they can’t have the feeling of failure. However, the other FEAR is the one that I’ve seen in a few people that haven’t registered for my contest.. the fear of SUCCESS. While it seems kind of crazy to be afraid of succeeding.. I mean, how could you be afraid of success? .. I think it affects a lot of people, and many of those affected aren’t even aware of it! Early in my investing career, after having created some success with the sale of a couple of my businesses, I found myself slow to take action in a number of ways, and I couldn’t really figure out why. Finally, one way it dawned on me — I was afraid of success! Why? Because I wasn’t sure I could create the same level of success and achievement I had in the past, and I was afraid of living up to all the expectations of people around me. They had seen me succeed, and I had set the bar higher for future things I would do. Once I realized this, I sat down and figured out why this was a CRAZY belief, and I was able to overcome this fear. Now, I realize that the more success I achieve, the more people I am able to help. Now, I’ve attached a positive thought to success — success allows me to affect more people in a positive way. If you’re finding yourself slow to act on information and education you have .. and you feel sometimes “what is holding me back?” .. it might be worth thinking about whether you are feeling the effects of FEAR .. the fear of failure, OR the fear of success. I know that some of my graduates that are in my contest ARE feeling fear, whether it’s fear of failure or fear of success. But the GREAT thing is, they’re doing it ANYWAY. They’re pushing past the fear they have, and I am very proud of them doing that. And the good news for them is, even if they don’t win the contest, they will STILL be further ahead simply by the very act of signing up for the contest to begin with! I can’t wait until November this year, when we will announce the winner of this very unique contest! It’s not only going to be rewarding for me to see all the incredible success stories of people that I’ve taught, but for me it will allow me to really feel that I’m making a difference in so many people’s lives who truly are out there and doing whatever it takes to succeed.]]>