When it comes to retirement planning and your investing mindset, which category are you in?

The first category is the people who wait for things to happen.

These are the people who believe that there is a specific game plan to life and they fall into the indoctrination of the herd mentality and groupthink. They go to school, work hard, get good grades, climb the ladder to high-income, and then put their money into the “safe investments” of Wall Street.

They’re hard workers, they’re ethical, and they’re good at the skills they’ve been trained to do.

But, they just don't want to get outside that box and do anything differently than what they've been told is the right thing to do.

I think this is a bad, or even dangerous place, to be for people, particularly in an era of immense change and volatility (which is happening faster than we've ever seen before).

But in many cases, that's how we've been trained, and I certainly have some of that inside of me.

The second category is the people who tend to be perfectionists.

Now again, I can raise my hand and say I've got some of that as well.

Perfectionists are people who are not going to do anything until everything is aligned perfectly.

They don't want to have any missteps, have anything go awry, or make any mistakes. They've been beaten down through life with, “Don't make mistakes. It's terrible if you make a mistake.” 

But that's not life at all.

Schooling and education often teach that mindset. And it's very, very dangerous, because without attempting or trying new things, or even being willing to test and have some things not work out, you can’t grow. 

If something doesn't happen the way you want it to, that's the best way to learn and make adjustments.

But by waiting, waiting, waiting, over-analyzing, always trying to get more and more ready… that's not the way to make things work at all. And I see this a lot when it comes to retirement planning for dentists and others.

That's the second category, which can be just as dangerous as the first.

The third category is the people who make things happen.

Over the years, I have evolved into that position.

It really took some mindset changes, and putting myself around people who were in that same category of making things happen.

These are the people  who aren’t afraid to step out and try things, not in a cavalier way or taking big risks, but just not afraid to step out and do something differently.

Reading books, being curious, and getting involved in real estate while I was also a dentist were the things that helped me.

The dental route was more the perfectionist and indoctrination route. There’s nothing wrong with it, but I needed the other side. And the real estate entrepreneurs were the ones who helped me develop this other side.

This other personality of mine, combined together as it is today, hopefully is the best of the best for me.

Everybody needs to find their own place. But I'd say wherever you are, whatever category you're in (or maybe you're a hybrid like I've been), realize that in this world of change, you can't wait for everything to be just right.

You can't just follow the mainstream or groupthink.

You've got to be someone who's ready to take charge and try something different, to try something new even if it’s a little bit scary.

Yes, we tend to be skeptical of new things. So find that tribe, find those people who have already gone that new direction, that different path that others aren’t taking.

Find the road traveled by people who are not constrained by the herd mentality. 

That's what we do in Freedom Founders. Those are the kinds of people you'll find here.

If you're more reticent to move or make changes, this might be a little bit scary for you. But when you come, you'll find that the people are just like you.

These are people who will say they came in the same way, a bit afraid, worried about doing something and making a bad misstep. 

But once they got the confidence and found the social proof of what we do in Freedom Founders (and it's much more than just investing) it changes their dynamics forever. 

In fact, most have said, “We wish we would have found you sooner.”

Is that you?

Don't let it be you down the road. You have only time to do something today. Don't look in the past.