Skye Taylor says fear distorts risk perception, but investors can overcome it by embracing challenges and learning from mistakes.
“When was the last time that you took a risk? What holds you back from achieving your goals and realising your dreams? What are you afraid of?” These are the questions that Skye and KnowHow’s Bushy Martin ask listeners on the Get Invested podcast.
Fear is a powerful emotion that often holds people back from reaching their full potential – including property investors.
With 20 years of experience in the property industry, Skye has evolved from a buyer’s agent and sales agent to the owner of a boutique property management business. On the podcast, she dives deep into the nature of fear, encouraging listeners to ‘feel the fear and do it anyway’, for ‘courage is resistance to fear and mastery of fear, not the absence of fear’.
The reality of risk versus perceived fear
Fear often distorts the perception of risk, making it a major factor in the struggles of first-time property investors.
“Like most things in life, the perceived fear and risk is much greater than the actual reality. It just feels a lot scarier…Take skydiving, for instance. The reality is that you’re more likely to get run over by a car walking across the street than you are to lose your life jumping out of a plane, with roughly one fatality for every 400,000 skydives compared to a death every 5,900 odd car accidents based on American skydiving records,” Bushy said.
“This is similar, but on a smaller scale, to the perceived challenge and fear that faces a lot of first time property investors. You’re having to spend a lot of money now to take the risk on the future uncertain prospect of something you don’t know a lot about and don’t have much control over. Yet time and time again, the hundreds of thousands of hardworking Aussies who have the courage to master their fears and take the leap into the unknown of property have then lasted the distance and reaped the financial rewards.”
Learning to master fear
The best way for property investors to overcome these fears is by embracing the lessons that come from mistakes and challenges.
“Our fears are a learned and conditioned response. We aren’t born with fear, we learn it from those around us. Now our young, fearless kids remind us all of this. So here’s the kicker – if fear is learned, then it can also be unlearned,” Skye said.
“I was 19 when I bought my first property…and I had zero idea of what I was doing, even though I’d read all of these courses and I’d been speaking to investors who had done very well and I tried to educate myself. But I still made all of the mistakes. However, I think our biggest learnings come from those mistakes, because it really fast tracks us towards what we really want to be doing.”
For Skye, embracing fear through experiences like sky-diving has also built her resilience, self-belief and courage.
“I speak to a lot of other business owners who have their moments of indecision and worry and fear, and for me, skydiving definitely has helped a lot of that journey. Obviously I was taking risks prior to that, but it really does teach you about yourself. It’s not about adrenaline anymore. It’s about conquering fears and pushing through it, because everything gets scary. You can’t get rid of it, and fear and excitement physiologically feel the exact same in the body. And so it’s just appreciating that, okay yes, this is scary. But I guess I live my life by the failing fast method in that I’m just going to make the decision, and if it’s not right, then we pivot, we change. There’s always a solution to everything,” she said.
Overcoming fear through education
Fear often stems from the unknown, but property investors can overcome it by seeking knowledge and preparing themselves effectively.
“I don’t recall having any fears around investing in property, but I think it’s more you don’t know what you don’t know. So I wasn’t asking the right questions in the first place. And I speak to a lot of landlords now that have decided they’re going to buy an investment property, but when I speak to them about their journey and what they’re wanting to achieve, they just don’t know the answers or what they should be asking. So perhaps if they did, they might feel more fearless, perhaps,” Skye said.
“But I think everyone just assumed it’s quite simple. You buy the property, put a tenant in and happy days in 10 years time. But there’s a lot more that goes into it. But as long as you’re able to pivot and transition on the ground and learn from what’s happening as you go, then you’re going to be okay.”
Listen to the full interview here.
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