The 2018 Winter Olympics have just ended; the drama is also now played out, some of it real and some of it contrived. Drama likely sells airtime and draws viewer interest; it's more compelling to understand the story of a bobsledder from a small town in Norway who gets a medal in her first Olympic games because of all her skills and her work in harnessing those skills. If this same athlete is from a small town in the US, that's even better for the drama. This US athlete, if her athlete aunt saw a prophecy of a family tradition before passing away while coaching her niece, that right there is ratings gold.
Some of this parts of that story are integral in understanding how the athlete is motivated, though many times I find myself fast forwarding through the dramatic backstory to instead simply watch the competition. The competition itself creates the competition. The athlete who's pushed off the speedskating rink due to a competitors skate, the halfpipe turn that falters with the athlete tumbling after a glorious run. That is also good ratings medal caliber sport.
Like all of television, it shouldn't matter if the story is real or if the story is fiction, or at times enhanced fiction or enhanced real. If television can get and retain your attention, the mission has been achieved. You've purchased that airtime with your attention.
The Real Estate industry doesn't have quadrennial Olympics, but it certainly has drama. Some of the drama is purely fictional in order to create a markting message or compel an action to be taken. Some of the drama is very real, as people need to take action quickly due to other events at the moment, which can be great (new job in a new state) or not so great (family dynamics after an untimely death). The Real Estate industry version of airtime is simply the consumer or the client's airtime.
Real Estate agents respond to this drama in different ways, and yes, drama will demand a response, whether its fake drama or real drama. Some agents create drama as a means to justify the need for themselves, which doesn't seem be a smart use of energy and ultimately self-defeating. My preference is to observe the drama and try to discern what truly requires a response. The response is what I need to work with my client on. Anything else is... fun to watch at times, but purely for watching. Sometimes the backstory to the Idaho bobsledder is interesting. To be honest, at times the time lost on the backstory is frustrating, just as the energy of contrived real estate drama can be; this is best mitigated not by creating my drama and more frustration but rather let it dissipate by ignoring it.
Being Canadian born and often willing to go for the underdog, my blood (usually red, white & blue) ran a little bit of maple syrup in my veins these past two weeks.
Final medal count: Norway 39
Germany 31
Canada 29
Americans came in 4th, but as all that tv footage tells us, that's not a medal podium. Nonetheless, 23 very happy Americans.
Congratulations to all medal winners and not medal winners, competition made them better & stronger and made for us better drama.
(photo from sportingnews.com & flag by readinghub.com)
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