Determine YOUR Success...Or Someone Else Will!

With all this talk of a soft market and more sellers than buyers, many agents have begun to doubt if they are going to be as successful this year as they were last year.  When I hear that, I automatically assume that they are talking about making more money.  It seems that so many equate success only with money.  In reality, there are other things that are important and should be measured as success.

A couple of months ago I was mentoring an agent and they brought to our session the statement that they needed to be more successful.  Unclear in what they meant, I asked the question, "What is success for you?"  It took a while, actually until we met again, for them to be able to define success.  After further review they found that success was on their doorstep.  The problem was that they had never defined it and they and their team were confused.

I have a fundamental belief that you must define your success, what it looks like and what it will take for you to achieve it, or someone else will do it for you.  Allowing others to define your success leads to what they - not you - see as success.  You MUST define it so that you are really seeking what makes you successful.

Here is what I believe to be four non-negotiable components of enduring success.  Later you can re-examine the components and revisit what is really success for you.

Component #1:  Happiness

Why is it that we have heard so many times money isn't everything?  The reason is quite simple: it's true.  If it wasn't then everyone with money would be happy and the happiest people in the world would be the richest people in the world.  Would you be left out of that group?

Happiness comes from so many different areas.  You need to explore where those sources are for you.  Look at the happiness that comes from the things that you enjoy doing the most.  If you do those things on a regular basis, then you are to consider yourself successful in that area.  This happiness should not be determined by a soft or hot market, but rather by your values or innermost desires.  Happiness can be right at home but one so focused on their "work success" might walk right by it and never enjoy.

Another place is work.  That's right:  WORK.  Find the things about your career and work that really make you happy.  Write them down and take time to enjoy.  If you can't find anything, then a career move may be in store.  I would imagine that there are many things about your work that really make you happy.  Helping others find the dream house, solving a problem for your client, etc.  However, if you have not defined success as happiness, you will focus on the problem, not on the joy of solving it.

Stretch out your success barometer to the community.   After all of the talk in our industry of "get those referrals," most agents lose the real joy of being involved on a personal level in the community.  Take the challenge and search for real happiness in being involved.  Helping others, giving back or just simply having a great conversation with someone in town could prove to be real happiness for you.

Component #2:  Achievement

Success is not just about what you get done today or how many transactions are going to close this month.  The most successful people have found many different ways to enjoy their success.  By falling prey to the infinite "more," it is quite easy to miss the larger picture.  Feeling a deep satisfaction from your past and present achievements will ensure greater success in the future.  Remember, success breeds success and failure can breed more of the same.

Jot down a few of your most rewarding achievements.  Maybe it was the day you graduated from college.  You may have been in the top 10 percent of your class or the first one to graduate in your family.  It could be that you worked your way through school and never gave up even when you were exhausted.  There could be successes you have forgotten about because of time passing or being too busy today to jolt your memory process.

Remember the first transaction that you closed?  You went into the deal with trepidation and fear but it all came together.  For the new agent, it was not only success but also a time of relief, happiness and yes even a financial reward at the end.  That was a true achievement.

You can look back and find so many achievements.  Writing them down brings back memories and good feelings.  We often pride ourselves in being overachievers and hard workers.  This may not be a bad thing but should be considered in what you determine to be called success.  Don't be afraid to remember your achievements for it will not hinder the future, only enhance it.

Component #3:  Significance

At some point in life we have all asked a very pertinent question, "What is the significance of all this that I do?"  Again, it is time to write down what we consider to be of significance.  What we consider to not be of great significance could have been huge in the lives of others.  So don't count it short when it could have been one of your greatest successes.  Being a parent is one of the areas where one often fails to see the significance in many of the tasks performed.  We were so busy that it passed us right by while being fully engaged in what had to get done that day.

Watching that newlywed couple enter their first house that you put so much time and energy in that you missed the true significance.  Just for a moment try to forget about what you had to do to make it happen and enjoy the long-term effect.  For that couple, it may have been one of the most significant moments, so just enjoy your part of the success.

Maybe you gave of your time to help a family when you thought that you should be at work.  Think of it as a great success.  You made a mark and that will never be forgotten.  But even if it is forgotten, it was a time of significance in your life.  COUNT IT!  You are only human if you ask the significance of what you do.  It is even more human to think that what others do has more significance in this life than what you do.  Remember, you are looking at the significance of success in your life.  Let the others find it in theirs.  Comparing for the sake of comparing hinders the process and serves no real purpose.

Component #4:  Legacy

Legacy is about building on your achievements and values to help others succeed after you're gone.  I must tell you that this is probably my greatest desire.  From time to time as I long to leave a legacy I easily forget how it is built.  Why?  I am caught up in the moment.  Sometimes "living in the now" can be a benefit, but not necessarily when it comes to building your legacy.

Success will lead to a great legacy, hopefully.  But it also will lead to a better today.  When you are working with another agent, the impact of your professionalism, courtesy and promptness may be only a few of your daily successes.  Without it being said the other agent has learned that there is a better way to do business and your legacy will be remembered through the impact that occurred.  Why not think about the sale as an active engagement in legacy rather than as a platform for happiness or just a great way of doing business?

Whether it is the President of the United States or the guy next door, legacy should be a huge part of one's overall success.  Legacy is not determined in monetary ways.  That would be called an inheritance.  Legacy is what you determined to be of great value and others have observed it and counted it worthy to be remembered.

Write it down.  How will you impact others in your family, work and community?  How will you leave your legacy?  Depends on what you did yesterday, what you will do today and what you do tomorrow.  Legacy is a great part of success.

Now It's Up to You

Your next step is the good part:  deciding where to go and place your attention.  I suggest taking the time to ponder all four components.  It may move a little focus from one component to the other.  It may mean that you will spend less time on work and more in the community.  Or vice-versa.

Take one sheet of paper for each component and fill it with things you consider to be important.  Questions will arise in your mind when enough really is enough.  Maybe it is time to move the focus or just refocus on one particular area.  The answer will be different for each person.

Just remember, if you don't determine what is success for yourself, someone else will.  As an agent, parent, friend or just a neighbor, the more you celebrate your successes the more successful you will become.  Success breeds success.

You decide before someone else does.

Just thought you should know.

Have a profitable day,

Steven