Pressing On - Professional Take

My previous blog had a spiritual twist to it. This is the same premise, but with a professional intrepretation.

On Saturday August 4, Emily Osment, co-star of Disney's hit show Hannah Montana, made an appearance at the Steamtown Mall. Emily has previously been in some films, perhaps most notably as the gutsy Gertie Giggles in Spy Kids (as an avid James Bond and Get Smart fan, I love this movie...). My two daughters were dying to go see this teen sensation, and we brought along two friends (and their moms, who were just as excited as me to face a crowd of strange bodies in the middle of summer...).

When we arrived, the crowd astonished me. My one companion warned me that I was being naive - I really had no idea that the sidekick on the show would draw such a big crowd. Now, had Miley Cyrus herself, the star of the show, and daughter of the Achy Breaky Billy Ray Cyrus been appearing, I would have expected to not make it onto Lackawanna Avenue, let alone be able to park in the garage...but I digress. Let's just say, Emily has lots of adoring fans in Northeastern PA.

To make a long story short, my daughter was not going to listen to me when I told her that it would be impossible to expect to meet Emily and get her autograph. After all, look at all of those people! It was NUTS in there. People were so close to me it made me feel icky. My friends said they felt like they needed a shower. As a person who really values her personal space, this was a real trial to me. But my daughter wanted to press on. So, I decided she needed to learn for herself that mom knows what she's talking about, and I told her to go ahead and try to get on stage.

I held my breath while she disappeared out of my sight. I was mentally preparing myself for the disappointment later on the way home. Imagine my surprise when I saw her next: she was ON STAGE.

My daughter weaved her way in and out of the crowd, taking opportunities as she saw them to advance. She didn't stomp on anyone, she didn't shove people out of the way, but she found openings, and took them. She got on stage in the nick of time, just as the guards roped off the area and said "No More!"

I got to thinking about this experience as a professional lesson. Surrounded by a crowd of other agents, I must find ways to get ahead of the crowd (without stepping on people along the way.) When I see an opportunity, I must be ready to zip in there before someone else beats me to it.

I've done that already with this blog. While I was not the first person in Pike County to have a blog in Active Rain, I was the first one from my exact local market to do so. Others may have been blogging on other platforms, but Active Rain is probably the largest real estate network currently online - and I saw the opportunity to press ahead and I took it. It's exciting to be a pioneer! :)

Pressing ahead means taking risks, too...and I had to make a choice to either stay behind and struggle, or go ahead, take a chance, and be able to thrive. It would have been easy and comfortable to stay where I was for a while, but something inside me was urging me on. I had to listen to that voice and press ahead.

It's the only way to survive in real estate - constantly look for openings to set yourself apart from the others. If you stay with the crowd, you will be like the other kids rooted to their spot at the mall, and left without an autograph.

Press on, see opportunities to set yourself apart, and take them.

Just remember - stomping others down does nothing but make you look bad. Being bold and striving to keep ahead of the game, though, is a quality all excellent REALTORS share and something we all should strive for.

Karen E. Rice is a real estate agent working in Pike & Wayne County of Northeastern PA in the Poconos. Lake Wallenpaupack is one of Pennsylvania's most popular destinations for vacations, retirement, and purchasing a home.

Pressing On, Professional Take, ©Copyright 2007 by Karen E. Rice. All rights reserved.