Do You Know More Than You Think?

Helen, a divorcée with two teenaged children, ran a secretarial service that provided a steady income for her family. Her ex-husband, Ray, had signed over the family home as part of their divorce settlement two years earlier, and Helen now covered the mortgage payments. Ray contributed a monthly sum in child support, but this would cease as soon as the children reached adulthood.

Concerned about her long-term future, Helen began reading wealth creation books, and decided to take advantage of the current real estate boom by borrowing on the increased equity in her home to buy an investment property.

After several weeks, she found a suitable property, but before taking action, decided to seek advice from a well-respected tax consultant. After thoroughly dissecting her financial situation, the consultant recommended that she buy the investment property in a trust. With his guidance, Helen determined that the property would be positively geared after tax rebates, so she set the wheels in motion.

But as the settlement date approached, Helen's intuition began warning her that something was wrong with the deal. At first she ignored it, reminding herself that she'd paid for expert advice. Then two days before settlement she recalculated the figures, and discovered a major flaw in her plan. By buying the property in a trust, she wouldn't be eligible for the tax rebates. The property would actually cost her over $600 a month.

Helen phoned the tax accountant, who blithely claimed that she should have realized this fact, even though he'd neglected to point it out during their consultations. He advised her to pull out of the deal, claiming that the sellers were unlikely to sue for breach of contract. When she called the lawyer handling the sale and instructed him to withdraw the offer, he also reassured her that it was unlikely she'd be sued.

They were both wrong.

The lawsuit put both her home and business at risk.

Helen sought advice and solace from friends and family, had countless futile arguments with Ray, and accepted that the situation was hopeless. But after several sleepless nights, she dragged herself up one morning and vowed she would find a solution. With a pen, paper and calculator, she worked through a number of alternative scenarios and finally came up with a answer.

What Helen realized was this:

If she purchased the house as an individual buyer, instead of through the trust, she could claim the tax rebates and therefore afford the property. She contacted the sellers with her new offer and they accepted immediately. She had solved the problem to everyone's satisfaction.

Neither her tax expert nor her lawyer had suggested an alternative scenario. The solution came from Helen. Why? Because she had the highest stake in the outcome and therefore the strongest motivation.

Do you look towards experts to solve your problems, rather than trusting your own 'inner expert'?

Our subconscious minds pick up millions of units of information every second of our waking lives. Often we don't realize how much we know until a situation arises and we instantaneously come up with a useful and valid response. And we think, "I didn't know I knew that!"

While it's reasonable to get an informed opinion or consult with an expert, at the end of the day your decisions rest with you. You actually have the solution to any problem that confronts you, although you may not have easy access to it. If you get into the habit of trusting your subconscious mind, and give it nightly instructions on the solutions you need, you'll be surprised and delighted with the results.

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Disclaimer: This site is purely educational and we make no claims or guarantees with regard to the information presented. Please consult a certified NLP practitioner for individual coaching in the use of NLP techniques. We strongly advise consulting a financial industry professional before embarking on a wealth creation journey.