Let me tell you a story about my own complacency on a personal level to illustrate where I'm going:

I live in Southern California, somewhat near to Camp Pendleton Marine Base (thank you to all in the military for all you do!!!).  We hear and feel their training / bombing / whatever you or they want me to call it...very, very often.  Well, a couple of days ago, it was so loud and thunderous, that it had my dogs barking and carrying on like the world was coming to an end...you could literally feel my house thump / shake with each boom.  I thought it was funny how the dogs were carrying on over what has literally become a weekly, if not every day occurance, so I called my husband and shared the silly story with him, and we had a little chuckle over how silly and cute the dogs were.  Fast forward to that evening, I am on Facebook, scanning through friends' posts and status updates when I come across one from a local friend, her status update simply said "Earthquake!".  Earthquake of 5.1 was apparently reported in the midst of all that military activity...the earthquake was out in the desert...but still...it never dawned on me that anything other than the normal military training was going on.  So then I told my husband about how I thought that it was pretty sad, that I had become so used to the bombing, that I never even considered other responses / possibilities.  What if our coastline was being attacked and Camp Pendleton wasn't training, but actually defending our shores at that instant?  I would hope that we have some warning system in play that would notify us, and I'm not an extremist, so it's not a thought that weighs heavily on me...but it was the launching pad that got me thinking about this post...and whether our own complacency is blinding us to reality in our everyday lives.

Complacency - a feeling of quiet pleasure or security, often while unaware of some potential danger, defect, or the like; self-satisfaction or smug satisfaction with an existing situation, condition, etc. (definition taken from Dictionary.com)

You're a real estate professional...the market is tough, right?  So you just plug along and drudge through your day, doing the same things you've always done, and basically getting the same results...probably for a lot less money, a lot less often, and with a lot more frustration along the way...am I correct?  It worked for you before, before the market changed, it will work for you again...especially when the market comes back.  Newsflash...the market will never be just what it was before...why?  Because the market is like a river...never the same in more than one place, and never the same from one day to the next.  We have to be aware of what is going on now, we have to learn to constantly navigate the river of real estate...because what could have been a safe tool for crossing yesterday, just might leave you up to your neck today!

I felt like the world was leading me and my business plan around with the drudgery of every day...but thanks to the "Life! By Design" contest here on Active Rain and other random happenings lately, I have begun to map out my own path.  Choosing my own actions. Knowing that I might slip from time to time as I try to travel unfamiliar territory...but figuring that it's got to be better than sitting life out on the river bank, waiting for it to return to "normal".  Not gonna happen. So, along with Tom Ferry's book, I have been soaking up teleseminars and training, as well as other business books, like they are going out of style...because they are...quickly!  It's all about education...we have to constantly educate ourselves in the field of real estate, whether a salesperson, a service provider or a vendor...we are all in the real estate industry...and it is a never ending, constantly changing river...if you want to be riding the waves, instead of "in it up to your neck" or standing on the side watching it roll by...you have to constantly educate yourself to change and roll with it.

This isn't easy, you figure you can't possibly take the time, because it takes so much longer to make a buck right now...but reality says that you can't afford NOT to take the time to educate yourself, get your team on board, and constantly live in the "moment" of real estate.  Stay tuned for a series of blog posts that I am doing, called "Drowning Out Complacency!", which will give you some step by step advice to help you live in the reality of real estate today - and tomorrow - and the day after that - and the day after that...well, you get the idea!