I was having fun playing this little game until my new Australian friend witnessed me in action, bargaining for a beautiful hammock. As I was walking away because the vendor wouldn’t lower her price a little more, my friend said, “You realize that you are getting all worked up over what is about 10 cents. At home, you would pay 50 times that much for a hammock like that, so this is a great deal.”

I suddenly felt a bit silly. But it helped me learn an important lesson that I try to remember when doing real estate deals.

As soon as your negotiation becomes about winning, it becomes emotional… and good judgment goes out the window. If you’re not rational, you are much more likely to enter a bad deal for the wrong reasons. And you’re quite likely to miss out on a good one.

I was trying to win by “buying at the same price as a local,” just like many people negotiating real estate deals try to win by selling at the absolute highest price or buying at the absolute lowest price.

Instead, figure out what would be a good deal for you before you enter the negotiation. If, for example, a house is listed for $325,000, anything under $300,000 might work for you. So if you can negotiate the price of that house down to, say, $295,000, consider it done. Don’t feel that you have to try to force the seller to take just a little bit less. Leave the emotion, specifically the desire to be a “big winner” in every deal, out of it.

[Ed. Note: For more insider strategies for getting started as a real estate investor, sign up for real estate expert Julie Broad's free monthly newsletter. Get your free report for making money with real estate here.]

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How about you? What inspires you to be a better person?

I consider myself to be still “under construction.” As such, I use goal setting as a way to design my life to match my hopes and ambitions.

When I turned age 50 nearly 10 years ago, I honestly evaluated who I was and who I wanted to be. One of the things I recognized was that whenever I used a “my way or the highway” approach, I inevitably limited my success and slowed down the achievement of my goals.

I consciously began to do what Michael does at the beginning of every year. I set an annual goal of taking action to be a better person. And I invite you to make this one of your goals, too… starting today!

Finding your own faults requires a certain amount of objectivity and candor… and it can be a bit painful emotionally. The second step – figuring out how to overcome those faults – can be tough. And the most difficult part of the process is to take action – to make these changes day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year… until you become the person you envisioned.

Easy? No. But as I can tell you from my personal experience, it is well worth the effort.

[Ed. Note: Bob Cox teaches goal setting 365 days a year with ETR's Total Success Achievement Program. link ETRgoalsetting
Bob also teaches dozens of success skills that he discovered while working with four businessmen who went on to become billionaires.

Find out how to get your hands on his "billionaire secrets" right here.]

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