You have  just gone through a foreclosure or short sale. Are you crazy for even considering buying a home again? Did you ever think you would be using the words “Short Sale”—sounds like something you hear at the flea market on Sundays, “Hey guy, you shorted me some loot!”

In America, we are patriotic; we just are. You might be bruised, hurt and even feel like you just lost your first love, but you still believe in the dream.

This article is about doing smart things after foreclosure or short sale. It is not a get rich scenario of the sort pitched late in the night by real estate con artists. Here’s what you should do to heal and begin again.

1. Forgive yourself! That’s the crucial first step. Just forgive yourself for a change without looking forward or backward. I just want you to focus on the present and nothing more. The past and the future don’t count right now. It’s all about forgiving, forgetting, and moving forward. Are you with me?
2. Stop hurting yourself further by closing out credit cards and other accounts. For once, just listen: keep your current credit in great standing by paying people on time. You can order a free report once a year from all the major credit reporting bureaus. Go to Experian.com, Equifax.com, and Transunion.com to order your free reports right now!
3. Stop participating in get-rich-quick schemes. Give up that game now! Kiss Donald Trump goodbye, along with all the other real estate get-rich-quick people. In fact, throw away all their books, too! Accept this premise: there’s no shortcut in life, only hard work! Think about your parents and grandparents—how many people made it the easy way? What easy way? There’s no such thing! Accept this mantra, and stop participating in get-rich-quick schemes.
4. Find credible help this time! Hiring your cousin or your friend who just experimented with real estate because it was a hot market isn’t really getting help, is it? This time, seek out professionals.
5. Think like an entrepreneur: what do we learn from these people? They are always innovating, never give up, and they use their creativity to help themselves. For example, this time you might buy a considerably cheaper home. Think of real estate as a 7- to 15-year hold versus a 2-year hold to get rich!

Hey, nothing in this blog is life-changing unless you actually change! Change the mindset that produced those results. As someone once quipped: doing the same thing repeatedly to get the same result is insanity!