Not long ago, I was awakened at 3:23am by what I thought was one of our small rescue dogs uncharacteristically playing with his squeaky toy.
Turns out the “toy” was instead a live chipmunk, a gift from Daisy the Half-Tailed Cat (she brings them through the doggie-door on the back deck).
To make a short story of 3 minutes even shorter, I caught the chipmunk and released it out the front door (setting off the burglar alarm in the process).
It was the 30 seconds before I opened that door where I learned a lesson in perspective.
The Chase, The Pain, The Lesson
I had grabbed the chipmunk as it jumped out from a TV stand. Having had plenty of practice (it is not the first live chipmunk gift from the cat), I’ve gotten used to grabbing the little fellas.
Usually I have leather work gloves, but not that morning.
Once I grabbed the chipmunk, it bit my thumb several times.
The discussion in my head went like this... “
Hey, got him! OUCH! Is he injured? OWWW! So I guess he’s not hurt. OUCH! MUST ...GET... HIM... OUTSIDE.... NOW! OUCH!”
Despite the pain, I held on. I knew that releasing him too soon would lead to a chase through the house with me, at least one loud dog, and the stalking cat all in hot pursuit. His odds of survival would diminish with such a chase.
For his sake, I had to hold on to him until he was outside.
From the chipmunk's perspective, this was a matter of LIFE and DEATH. The cat looked like death. The dog looked like death. And despite my good intentions, I'm sure I looked like death.
There is no way to explain to a scared chipmunk that while it really was in a life or death scramble, I was not the threat. I was the rescue.
What's This Have To Do With Real Estate?
So I'm sure you wonder what does this tail of furry animals have to do with real estate?
Everything.
How we see buyers, sellers, and other real estate agents can be as automatic as the perspective that chipmunk had at 3:23am.
Maybe we don’t see eminent risk of death. It may be the fear a home-seller has about leaving their home or selling fast enough or for enough money. It may be the panic a home buyer develops that prevents them from committing to an offer.
It may be us becoming overly frustrated with another agent, not knowing they are really the glue keeping their difficult client in the deal.
We may also be threatened by people or situations that may actually be great blessings, if we can simply find a way to consider the situation long enough to overcome our automatic thoughts and fears.
The Opportunity
If that chipmunk had understood my intentions, I would not have been bitten. But I never expected the chipmunk to understand. It was enough that I understood its fear, and in turn I was able to do what was necessary to save it.
The same goes for fearful consumers or frustrating agents. Maybe instead of expecting them to understand, we should not take it too personal and instead just help them reach their goals. Afterall, aren't we the professionals in these transactions?
Sometimes our ability to overcome everyone else's "issues" is how our biggest successes develop in real estate.
Professionally pushing through to do the right thing for our clients, even if they are fearful or even unpleasant. In some cases, this is where our best references are earned, where we helped the scared or overwhelmed find success.
Perspective is hard, even harder under pressure. Yet, when we learn to see with the perspective of others and with empathy, opportunities greet us that others miss.
And we learn to be better prepared (including gloves!) to seize these opportunities.
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