What Property Investment & Skiing Have in Common

I love property investing and I love skiing – and it turns out they have more in common than you think. In fact some of the most valuable lessons I have learnt in property investment came from a ski slope. Now to give you some context, I am not a master skier in a typical sense. I have skied a handful of times and my recent trip was after a 9 year break and three children. But for me skill is only part of the picture when it comes to skiing. But as that is where most people start, rightly so, let’s kick off with skill…

SKILL

My first ski trip was about 12 years ago and I said yes to a group of property professionals that were taking to the slopes for some fun and networking. I said yes! In preparation I went to a ski dome and did an hour lesson; that should be enough right? Then I realised skiing was a lot harder than it looked. But hey, I had an hour under my belt and I thought I would figure the rest out. In fact, I was such a novice that I only realised the day before travel that you have to take all your own clothes! I assumed they would be provided along with the skis; NO! Worse still, I found out after somebody on a group text pointed it out. Needless to say I quickly got the reputation as the novice with no idea before we’d even taken off.

However, when we arrived I started a week of morning lessons at a French Ski School. Our teacher was French and no-nonsense and after a few frustrated mornings and watching kids of about three wizz past me I asked … “What am I doing wrong?” He said I asked too many questions, no surprise there, and that the kids just watched, copied and said nothing. In essence, they put their trust in the learning process, something adults find harder to do. From that point forward, I kept my mouth shut, watched, followed and then did it again; and I have to say it worked a treat. After a week of morning sessions I joined my friends and managed to fly down a few black runs by the end of the first week. I thought that was normal, but my friends were surprised to say the least.

That brings me to the next part of the puzzle ….

CONFIDENCE

What I didn’t realise is that in that first week I had slowly built up my confidence and that is so much part of the battle. In ski school I had just watched and followed the instructor and when he wasn’t with me I just did it with other skiers on the slopes. Just watched and copied and I didn’t fall and break my legs! I say that as the lack of pain meant I associated pleasure with skiing and the more I didn’t break my legs the more confident I became which actually helped me not break my legs because the less confident you are the more likely you are to fall. It’s a vicious cycle you CAN get on the right side of.

That was it – I was off, I had the bug and I didn’t seem to have this invisible layer (lack of confidence) to stop me (as so many do). So how does this relate to property investment? Well you cannot make money from property without some skill. Confidence is great, but confidence without skill is a recipe for disaster. Skill gets you off the starting blocks but confidence is what keeps you going, even when it is tough. The belief you can get through it and make it to the other side is very important. Learning the rules of the property game is essential. However, we all know somebody who learns what to do but never actually takes action. In fact, I am very analytical and often I get bogged down in the detail. However, skiing taught me that along with skill you need to launch at your goals and you need to continue to build on what you have as you go.

As I say, I recently went skiing after 9 years away … the reason I went? I wanted to practice the skill of confidence. As we get older and the more challenges life throws at us … it is easy to be knocked down. So I wanted to go back to the slopes. See if I still had the ability to get to the edge of a mountain and go down it.

In fact, that brings me to the next similarity when it comes to skiing and property investing …

NECESSITY

When you get to the top of the mountain you have to figure out a way to get down. I love that feeling. It is a bit like when you have a property and you hit a problem (which you always do) and you just HAVE to figure out a solution. It takes out all the IFs and BUTs and it focuses the mind on HOW.

On my recent trip I got on a ski lift that seemed to go on for ages and then I realised why … it was quite literally the top of the mountain! Sitting on the lift I looked down and saw nothing but hard red and black routes, it suddenly dawned on me I had to ski these routes down. And if the point hadn’t hit me hard enough as soon as the lift pulled up there was a sign saying ‘no lift down’. Oh dear! But then this is what I came for right? I wanted to push myself through that awful feeling you have before you do something courageous. And here I was. There weren’t many people on the mountain and we all huddled at the top. And then it was time, I had to do it even if I did it really slowly. I couldn’t just rely on confidence (which was also very shaky at this point), I needed some skill to get down. As soon as I started I turned and stopped quickly as I realised I was skiing, or skating I should say, on ice. By now I was really concerned but I had no other choice. So I did it … I went over the edge. It was hard and there were a few moments where I felt out of control and had to dig my skis into the mountain and turn to take the speed out of the process. But I did it, and it felt great. I had to make it down and I did. Then I did it all over again.

When it comes to property investing the reality is you are often in situations you need to get out of. I love that property investing is really about problem solving. We didn’t get planning for Plan A – how do we resolve? Once you are in it you are committed to finding a solution. Having said that you always need …

EXIT STRATEGY

For the first time on this trip I didn’t make Plan A. I didn’t get down the mountain in time. On the last day I went as fast as I could to get to the lift that would then allow me to ski down the mountain on a blue route. But I missed the lift. A member of staff had assured me to go to this lift, but he was wrong. Another similarity to property investing there – free advice can often be expensive but I will cover that in another article. And in this case he was wrong and I was quite literally stuck part way up the mountain. But there was a bus down for the irresponsible people like me that didn’t make the lifts. Apart from being gutted I didn’t get to ski down the mountain, I still got home safe and sound. Always have an exit. You can be committed to plan A but when it comes to property investing you need multiple exits, it is essential. Otherwise you might get stuck up a mountain, quite literally! I would also say it is so so important to know your exits before you even start which brings me nicely to the final part of the puzzle, the glue that holds it all together….

A PLAN

When skiing the first thing you need is a map and from that point you can map out your course. My first few ski trips were with friends that were more advanced and knew their way around the mountain. This trip however, I had no idea where we were so the first thing I did was a grab a map. It’s colour coded so you can see which runs are easier and which ones are harder etc. You may not stick to the map or the plan you set, but you know where you start and you know where and how to get home.

Planning and strategy are essential skills to investing in property investment. You need to know where you are and where you are trying to get to. It is also worth knowing what strategies within property investing are at which levels. For example, I am not sure if your first run on a ski slope would be down a black (the hardest), and yet some people buy a property that is high risk when they start out. Having a plan and strategy is so important that it is the first S in my SAILS system when I teach people how to invest in property.