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At the end of the day, no matter how much research, how much education, how much podcast you listen to, at one point or the other, the best teacher is by doing it and gaining experience from actually doing it. Amiga, I am going to hold your hand when I say this. You need to stop waiting for the stars, the planets, the moon, everything to align before you get started. You can start before you feel fully ready. I know that fear can be paralyzing, or even you are dealing with perfectionism, but maybe that's what's stopping you. And that's pretty true for a lot of Latinas, especially the first gen Latinas, the daughters of immigrants, the cycle breakers. That fear makes sense because a lot of the times we learn survival first. And now that we are out here learning about how to build wealth and all that, we want to make sure that we are educated, that we know it all, that we research before we go and take action. Because we want to reduce our chances, the risk of failing. But what I don't want you to do is to get stuck hiding behind all that learning. Because yes, learning definitely has a place. We want to make educative financial decisions and you want to do your research and all of that, it's useful. But when you do too much, it ends up becoming this cozy little blanket of fear that you hide behind. So in this episode, I want to talk about why you don't have to wait until you feel ready, what that looks like, tips on how to overcome, and stick to the end because I will be covering a three-step path to get you out of that analysis paralysis. But first, if you are just now finding me, hola, I am Violetta, host of the Money Achievement podcast, and I just share money tips and entrepreneurship tips here to help you maximize your money so you can start buying back your time, gain financial freedom, and start building wealth. And also, a quick little plug: I am also a real estate investor and host of the real estate cheese made where I talk more about my real estate investing journey, how to get started, and all the achievement on real estate investing. So that will be linked down below if that is something that you would also like to learn about. Now, listen, I know we tend to love preparation, and I definitely am a planner, and I like to really kind of have a strategy, a plan before I go out there and make a decision. And I'm not here to tell you to be reckless or anything like that, but I think one thing I had to learn was to be okay to just go ahead and just go for it, just start taking action because there is a difference between being prepared and then hiding behind that preparation. We keep on saying, like, oh, I will start when I am ready. I just need to get my finances in order, I just need to read a little bit more about it, or this or that, or I gotta wait till the perfect credit score, or until I pay everything off, whatever it may be, there is always going to be something that you need to accomplish first in order for you to feel ready. And let me tell you, when you have that type of mentality, you might be feeling like that for quite some time, and you're going to be waiting for some time because that perfect feeling of feeling ready might never come. So, why do we do this? Well, again, a lot of us first gen Latinas, we saw our parents play it safe. I know growing up, I saw my parents just getting that job, paying their bills, staying away from debt, all that, and just playing it pretty safe. And I will tell you, and I'm gonna be honest, my parents still play it safe, like trying to get them to purchase this property. For those who may not know, we are building basically a family compound, and to get them to that point to where now they have purchased their own manufactured home right next to me, it was a struggle, right? And so I grew up seeing that type of mentality of playing it safe because they didn't have the luxury of taking big risks, right? And so we were raised to avoid mistakes because mistakes can be costly, they can be expensive, and I'm not here to say that it's not that making a mistake can't be expensive. I'm not gonna sugarcoat it, and especially in today's economy with the Iran war and everything's going up in cost, the house affordability issue, like there's a lot of things out there, right? That I get it why you want to avoid that risk and want to play it safe. But at some point we end up with that financial anxiety that is telling us, like, you know what, don't do anything until you are absolutely sure that you are 100% going to succeed, that it's going to work out. And I think that's where I am trying to steer you to more of a hey, you know what, it might not be a perfect decision, but we can go ahead and take some type of action. Like, I'm not saying to go out there and go buy this big rental property or invest in some random stock. That's not what I'm talking about. More of what I'm talking about is just having a mindset shift of that understanding that building wealth doesn't work like that. You cannot build wealth by playing it safe. Yes, you could build some stability, right? I'm not saying you're not gonna be able to save up an emergency fund or anything like that, but if you want to build wealth, then you have to understand that risk comes with that, and you don't have to have that confidence yet to take action. I I know a lot of times we talk about that imposter syndrome, and sometimes it applies when you are talking about wealth building, but again, you don't have to have all of that, you don't have to have it all figured out. You want to focus more on taking small actions, learning and gaining the experience as you go, and then guess what? The confidence will come throughout that, it'll show up naturally. So, here the mindset shift that I want you to have is instead of thinking, what if I mess up? What if I lose money? I want you to switch it up and think of instead and ask yourself instead, what skills do I need to learn in order to proceed with this wealth-building adventure? What systems do I need? Do I need to build up my savings? Do I need to have that emergency fund? Do I need to pay down debt? And what type of support is out there that I may need in order to help me reduce that risk and survive if anything goes wrong? And this type of mindset shift is so that way you stop asking that, what if I mess up or I lose money? Because once you ask yourself that, it triggers that fear and it pauses your thinking and it stops you. I find that it will stop you, like, oh, what if I lose money? Okay, then you're already resisting and everything like that. Whereas if you start asking yourself, like, well, what do I need to learn? What kind of skill do I need? Then you start having a mindset of thinking of a solution, figuring it out, and you are more inclined to take action versus getting stopped. So that's my tip for that type of mentality. Now, my next one is of course financial anxiety, loves analysis, paralysis. Financial anxiety will have you watching like 200 videos, downloading all the calculators. I was guilty of this. I would research until my eyes bled. I would be up until two in the morning watching all the YouTube videos on whatever topic I decided that I wanted to learn about. And I would save all these posts that I saw on Instagram or Pinterest or whatever, and yet I would still feel like I wasn't retaining it. And you might feel that way too, like that you are researching, you're taking all these classes or workshops or whatever, and you feel like maybe you are learning nothing. And this isn't because you aren't smart or whatever, it's just that you are in this mindset of where that financial anxiety is preventing you from retaining it. It's your nervous system kind of telling you that hey, this is kind of scary. How about we just not? And so financial anxiety can really paralyze you. And I do have two episodes that I will link down below where I had two guests. I had Stephanie Alano, and then I had Rakim, who actually is an author of that I will link down as well. And he talks about financial trauma, and we talked about financial anxiety, and they're good episodes, so I'll link those down below for you to check them out. But analysis paralysis is basically it happens when you start gathering all this information, but you're avoiding making that decision or taking that action, and it could be seen as overthinking, right? And a lot of us first gen Latinas, we suffer from that. I know I used to suffer, I mean I still suffer from it, but I've learned you know some tricks to get me out of it. But I want you to know that analysis paralysis isn't just overthinking because for us it can be cultural, and as I mentioned before, it's something that we may have been instilled with throughout our childhood. It's an emotional thing, it's something that has kept us surviving, and now that we want to build wealth, we're having a hard time overcoming that, and people just say, Oh, you're just overthinking it or whatever. But no, it it stems from deeper issues, from money trauma, from that scarcity, from that family pressure of maybe you are the retirement plan or you were responsible for your parents and all that. I know I was, and so having that on your shoulders, it's no wonder why we kind of want to play it safe. So I don't want you to shame yourself, and I definitely don't want to shame you for being cautious. I just want you to understand to not let that caution become a cage and prevent you from actually going out there and building wealth. And so I want to give a few tips on how to overcome this analysis paralysis because I find a lot of us we do get stuck in this situation. I have a lot of people that have reached out to me, and especially when I was still in the military and people would find out that I did real estate. I can't tell you how many people I kind of like talked to and gave them pointers on how to get started, but to this day, some of them have not started because they are stuck in the research phase. And so, in order to get out of that, I want you to start having this mentality of just the three resource rule. And basically, what that is is that pick just three maximum three resources on a topic, and you allow yourself to research before taking a small action. I'm not saying go out there and do some big major drastic financial decision. No, think of just a small action, and let's say you want to do stock investing, pick three things and allow yourself to watch a video, a podcast episode, a blog or whatever it may be, or even talk to someone about investing. But that's it. Once you did those three resources, now decide, okay, now I gotta take an action. So, what is that next step? So, in this example, stock investing, you went and let's say you listened to a money achievement podcast episode, you read, I don't know, a blog from like one of these, like NerdWallet or something like that, and then you talk to somebody that you know from either online that you follow, a money coach, maybe somebody at work or whatever that is investing in the stock market, and that's it. And then you get your idea, and then now it's time to take action, right? So, in this example, the next action that is small and doable is just opening up an investment account and setting up an automatic withdrawal to send to your investments. Let's say $100, and that's it. Do not go out there and do a deep dive on what's the best stocks to invest in, what's the best app to have, how much do I need to put in order to max out, how much do I need to invest in order to have X amount by age XYZ, and so on. Because once you start asking these types of questions, this is how you get stuck in that research mode. Because you'll start with, like, oh, I just want to invest in the stock market. I know I have to invest in the stock market, but then that analysis paralysis and that fear starts coming up, that perfectionism, because now you want to know, well, I want to make sure that I maximize my efforts and I want to know what's the best stock. So then you do a deep dive, go down the rabbit hole on what's the best stocks to invest in, and that could put you in the path of finding these stock bros that tell you to invest in like one stock or do day trading or whatever, and then you fall into the trap of like, well, I want to make sure that I find the perfect app or platform to invest, and so then you fall into that trap of researching fidelity, vanguard, what whatever. Just pick one, whatever you can then figure it out as you go, right? And same thing with oh, how much do I need to max out, or wow, everybody else seems to be maxing out their yearly contribution, so then it's not worth it, is it worth it? Yada yada yada. So that's how you can see how easily it is to fall into that trap of just continuously just researching, and then months later you still haven't opened up an account and you still haven't started investing. So limit yourself to three resources, take action and be okay with just starting, and then figure it out as you go. Now that you have the investment account open, you're sending a hundred dollars. Now, okay, now I'm going to go figure out what index funds are more beneficial, X, Y, and Z. If you have the time. You don't have the time, then just stick to something. Effective investing is as long as you're in the market, you'll be fine over time. The other thing I want to talk about is understanding that imperfect action is not irresponsible because that's what it makes it seem, right? I'm telling you, like, go just take action, start you know, before you are ready. I'm not talking about going and making rash decisions, not talking about going and draining your savings, ignoring your budget, or just going out there and buying a rental property without looking at anything, uh, crunching the numbers, knowing how to analyze a deal. No, that's not what I'm talking about. I am more talking about learning to accept that you don't have to be an expert before taking action. Imperfect action means you accept that you will not know everything before you begin. You can learn the basics, build your safety net, you could continue to ask questions. You know, it doesn't mean you stop learning, you stop asking questions. It doesn't mean that those nerves are going to go away. Let me tell you, I still get nervous every single time I go look at a deal and actually close on a property. I always have that little voice, like, what if what if I made the wrong decision? Or what if this or that? And I have to talk myself out of it. Like, you know what? I did my calculations and I have a pretty good buffer. I always do a good buffer, and also I have the confidence in myself and I have the stability for this risk that I'm taking. So, no, imperfect action is not being irresponsible, and it may feel that way because again, our financial decisions weigh heavily on us. We have a lot of responsibilities and we feel like it's a little bit riskier, like it's scary, right? And we may even feel like every decision we make, we have to prove that we are smart and worthy and responsible. I know I felt that way lots of times that I felt like I had to prove that I was educated enough. You know, I'm the one that went to college, so why can't I figure out this stock investment? I'm the one who got a degree. Why can't I figure out this rental property investing? So it's a lot of pressure that we put on ourselves, and I am telling you, it's okay. We can learn as we go because building wealth, it's a journey. It's okay to enjoy that journey and just enjoy the road. And I used to think this way too, right? I used to have this burden because I do have all this responsibility, like my family's well-being, because I am the retirement plan, like weighs heavily on me. So I have to make sure that I make all the right financial decisions and take on the right risk. And it definitely was scary and it was overwhelming, but at some point I had to take control of it, and I decided, like, you know what? I have stable income, I don't really have responsibilities, right? It's just me, myself at that time, right? When I first started, like, I'm okay. My parents are okay, they have jobs, they have savings. Yes, they rely on me, but it's not like they're gonna be out on the street, right? Like, sometimes we get in our own heads and we feel like, man, if I make this wrong decision, like my parents are gonna be on the street, this and this and that. And sometimes it's not that way. And if it is your case, then you know, obviously this doesn't apply to you, but most of the time our parents will be okay, right? And so that's one thing I had to learn and had to be okay to start taking this risk. And so I started going for it when I learned about the stock market and I went out there and started investing. I kept it simple for myself because at some point I got overwhelmed with all this because I fell into that rabbit hole as well of looking up what's the perfect stock and blah blah blah. Now I looked up one and they said, Okay, this index fund works, and saw that other billionaires, millionaires also had those index funds, and I was like, Okay, you know what? Works for them, I'll do it too. And I just started investing and then called it a day. And guess what? It's been in my favor this whole time after several years, and I just keep it like that because I'm not going to stress myself out. And same thing with my daughter now that I started investing for her, same thing, I picked something and just like especially with her, she has so much time, so like it's even less stress. I just called it a day and yes, did a little bit of my homework and just left it at that. And same thing with real estate investing. Once I learned about it, I was like, well, this next house, I'll be living it. I could house hack it, and then I just went for it for real estate investing. Yes, I still learned about it, researched it, did my homework, and I found a community to help me through it and mentor me, and I could ask questions and all that, and so I took a calculated risk, but I still went for it, and that's how over time I just started gaining this confidence of me being able to take on these risks, and I just kept taking the next step, and then I just started to learn how to ask better questions, and I learned from the mistakes that I made because I continue to make them even now, which I will share that journey of my latest rental property investment. If you again want to know about that, that's going to be on the other podcast once I'm done rehabbing the unit because it's a lot of things that I've learned. But you know what? I am comfortable with those mistakes. I am growing from them because, again, at the end of the day, no matter how much research, how much education, how much podcast you listen to, at one point or the other, the best teacher is by doing it and gaining experience from actually doing it. So the key is of course I reduce my risk because I I am financially stable. I built a safety net, and I have other real estate investors that I can go and be like, look, I made this mistake, and they're like, okay, this is how you fix it, and then move on. And so that has helped a lot. And finally, I want to leave you with some tips. I'm going to leave you with a bit of homework to get you out of this analysis paralysis, this mindset of wanting this perfectionism before you actually go take action. And it's just three simple steps. Number one, pick one wealth building lane and you're going to stick with it for the next 90 days. So if you want to learn about stock investing, that's what you're going to learn about for the next 90 days. And that's all you're going to know, all you're going to look at. That's it. Don't start going over there about how to start a business. Don't start over there about how to invest in real estate or anything like that. Yeah, you could be curious, but don't fall into the trap of then going on a side quest. I like to call it. No, stick to this is my goal for the next 90 days. I'm going to do stock investing or I'm going to start real estate investing or whatever it may be. Stick to that, and that's all you're going to do for the next 90 days. Number two is going back to the resources. Again, pick three resources that you want to learn from. Again, podcast episodes, YouTube university. You could hire a coach, but you don't have to hire a coach right away or even at all. You could join a community. There's lots of free communities. Those are the best ways that I have learned that helps me get started. And then from there, you can like maybe take their courses or whatever you want to do. Again, not pushing that or saying that you have to do that. But one thing you do want to do is to have that support. So for example, I have again, quick little plug. I have my free Latinas in real estate community that's hosted over there in school, which I'll have linked down below again. I'm building and growing this community for Latinas who are interested in investing in real estate or are currently investing in real estate and just want that support, that mentorship. I have resources there. I have adding like other five-minute breakdowns of common real estate strategies and terms and so on. But also, you could ask me questions. I'm there, ask me anything, and I'm available to answer your questions. So that is a great way to ensure that you increase your chances of becoming successful is by having that network, that support group. So find one that relates to you. If you're interested in real estate investing, of course, that community will be linked down below. But if you are looking for like investing in stocks, paying down debt, credit cards, anything like that, just let me know. I like I know a lot of trusted other Latinas that coach and have resources for you as well. So you could comment below if you're watching on YouTube or just hit me up, or even just follow me on Instagram. You can see who I follow there, other Latinas. I have lots of resources there, money coaches, and so on, depending on what you're trying to accomplish. Let me know. And then number three, this is the hardest one, is deciding on the action that you want to take. Remember, it's a small action that is going to get the ball rolling. Once you get the body moving, it starts going. The hardest thing is going from a stop to moving, right? And so, again, going back to the stock investing, the action here would be well, I gotta start an investment account if you don't have one. If you have one, well, let me go look and see that I have allocated those funds, or let me make sure that I put it in a nice decent index fund or whatever you want to put it in. And then make sure that you are sending uh money at whatever time frame you want, bi-weekly, weekly, whatever. Or if you're trying to save up, hey, well, the next step is opening a high yield savings account. So let me go and sign up for a high yield savings account. Don't get too lost in the sauce of, oh, let me find which one it has the highest return, because then you're gonna keep researching and then you're gonna feel that, like, oh wow, like I don't want to sign up because maybe there's another one out there that's gonna give me a higher percentage. And so, no, just start one, they're all pretty close together, you'll be fine. And then later, if you do, I mean, you could just open up another one, and also what kind of questions do you have? Do you save money first? And just really just make sure again, small first step that has pretty low risk and that you can get done pretty quickly. Opening a high-yield savings account, opening up an investment account, sending an email to a lender if you're looking into investing in real estate to just get some basic loan information. All of that can be done in like around 15 minutes. Sometimes when I don't have time to be on the phone with these lenders and telling them what I need or whatever, I just shoot an email real quick, takes me like five minutes, and bam, they respond back, maybe set up a call when I actually do have time. And then it already got the ball rolling because if I waited until like, well, let me make sure I call them when I have time to talk, which won't be till like let's say it's Monday and it's Friday, and then by Friday I forget about it, and then I don't start. And then next week I'm like, oh darn, I didn't call the lender. Now I gotta figure out another time, and then it just keeps going versus you know what, let me just shoot this quick email. It doesn't have to be a perfect email, quick little intro. Hey, my name is Violeta looking to invest. I'm interested in what loan products you have. Can you help me? Then they'll usually send back a like here's the products that we have, and do you want to call or blah blah blah, and so on. And so then guess what? Now you've gone one step closer to investing in real estate. So just think of it that way. Just think of what is a small action that you can take to get the ball rolling. And so, again, many of us Latinas, we tend to not give ourselves permission to be beginners. We feel the need to be an expert before we go out there and do any of these types of wealth-building journeys. I see it all the time, but I am here to tell you that you are allowed to be a beginner, you are allowed to not be an expert, you are allowed to just be there in the room, even if you are not an expert or know it all or are super educated on it, you can still be in the room. So here's your permission slip to be a beginner and take imperfect action. And before I let y'all go, I want to know what is one imperfect action that you can take this week that your future self will thank you for. Let me know. Drop a comment or hit me up on Instagram. I am going to leave you with that challenge. Don't forget to follow and share this with another Latina that really needs to hear this message. But other than that, until next time, bye.