When it comes to earning passive income through real estate investment, there’s little more crucial than protecting the investments that you worked so hard to acquire.

For real estate investors, your streams of cash flow keep your business going. They are what enable you to create the financial future of your dreams: whether that entails funding an investment empire, building the retirement of a lifetime, or simply having everything you need so that money never has to be a worry for you or your children.

Everyone likes to feel like they’re in control of a situation. Even if they don’t like to be “in charge” per se, there isn’t a person alive who doesn’t at least want control over their own lives. When it comes to money, there’s no more important area to have control.

Mind over matter.

We’ve all heard that phrase at some point in our lives, but have you really stopped to think about what it means? It’s in reference to the use of willpower to overcome a physical obstacle. Fairly straightforward. For real estate investors, however, there is more wisdom to glean from that age-old saying.

It’s not difficult to make a financial mistake. We’ve all made them at some point in our lives—whether our young, naive selves took out one too many credit cards or we got over our heads in a bad loan or investment, mistakes just happen. For the most part, these errors aren’t too devastating. We may be left paying for them for a few years as we pay our debts or wrestle with bad credit, but by and large, most financial pitfalls are temporary.

One of the greatest advantages of single-family real estate investment is choice . We have the choice of strategy, properties, and markets. Out of the many ways to invest and build our financial future, it is perhaps the most self-directed. While this is incredibly exciting—who among us doesn’t want to have the autonomy to make our own decisions?—it can also be overwhelming. Not only are we the proverbial captains of our fate when it comes to real estate investment, but we are awash in a sea of choices.

You work hard. You have a career that you’re proud of. But in the back of your mind, you know that there’s something more out there for you. While a career may bring you personal fulfillment and keep your mind engaged, you feel that you can supplement your income—maybe even find wealth—elsewhere.

At the same time, you don’t want to sacrifice all that you’ve built. Is it even possible?

Diversity is one of the keys to success in real estate investment. For real estate investors, what it means to diversify can vary. It can mean changing your strategy and owning properties across multiple types: single-family and multifamily properties, short and long-term rentals, and more. But most commonly it means investing in different real estate markets. For some, that can be a scary notion.

We’ve all heard it said before: cash flow is king. For real estate investors, the quest to maximize and protect our cash flow is never ending. We’re always on the hunt for the best avenues to get the most out of our investments while making sure we’ve done everything in our power to protect what we already have.

However, we often confuse cash flow for our only revenue stream and forget that what we really need to protect is our investment income.  That can come in many forms and smart investors never take their eye off the big picture.  They never sacrifice their over-all income for a smaller piece of the pie called cash flow.

When it comes to the big financial decisions in life, one of the biggest obstacles that can stand in the way of success before you even start is credit. More specifically, bad credit. For real estate investors hoping to purchase their first property, bad credit can be a huge problem when you’re relying on bank financing to get you there.

Sometimes it can be a challenge to discern what is really going to bring your real estate investment career to the next level. What’s going to help you punch up and reach new heights for your passive income? Can you make it by way of renovations and ROI? Relying on tenant retention? Making things easier and more streamlined with the latest technology?