The Boston Marathon's The infamous Heartbreak Hill: "Heartbreak Hill is an ascent over 0.4 mile (600 m) of the Boston Marathon course, between the 20 and 21 mile marks, in the vicinity of Boston College.
It is the last of four "Newton hills", which begin at the 16 mile mark. It is positioned at a point on a marathon course where muscle glycogen stores are likely to be depleted-a phenomenon referred to by marathoners as 'hitting the wall.'" (wikipedia)
I heard about hitting the all over and over again--And "heartbreak hill" exists. But, I gotta tell ya, there was no Heartbreak Hill for me.
How could that be?
Here is the lesson learned: You spend the time necessary to learn as much you can about the course you're going to run and you plan your training accordingly. Knowing what to expect before hand, you can train for the expected and the unexpected. You also do the right things days before the run.
You train for the obstacles you know you're sure you'll face--For example, I did more hill work before the Boston Marathon then I ever did. It paid off and for me, Heartbreak Hill was a non-issue. You also do the mental training as well, which is taken care of with 20-22 mile runs 3-4 weeks before the marathon. These build confidence.
The same thing can be said for our business. Learn as much as you can about what you need to know (the course you're going to run). This could be learning about a new neighborhood, a market niche, or industry segment--like working short sales) and then train for obstacles you know you'll face as you keep your goals in mind.
Asking yourself good questions will help you prepare:
- What are the obstacles I know I am going to encounter in this particular situation?
- What self-defeating attitudes do I know hold me back and what will I do about them?
- What objections am I going to get? (from Sellers, Buyers, Bankers, Clients, etc)
- What are the likely negotiation issues I'll face and how will I prepare for each?
- What questions will I get? And what answers do I need?
- What are the things that will hang me up, if I don't handle them BEFORE I need to perform?
- What are the UNEXPECTED people, places or things that could throw a monkey wrench into my plan (a downpour on race day or temperatures in the 90s on race day, not being able to get close to the front at the start, broken shoe laces, blisters etc.)
Preparing For the UNEXPECTED: you train rain, or shine, in heat and in the cold; you test out your shoes, you have all of the gear you need, packed and ready to go days in advance, you check it to make sure you have everything you need. You arrive early on race day and you work your way as close to the front as you can get, even if they seed you according to qualifying times. This is preparing to win.
Average athletes blame everything else for a poor performance or worse yet, for quiting--(my shoes weren't right, it was too cold, it was too hot). Elite athletes never do--they excel at good planning and preparation for success. The same holds true for real estate agents. Elite agents, take full responsibility for their successes and their failures and do something to correct the latter.
Be willing to do the long, hard and often tedious (hill) work (role playing dialogs, doing homework on a neighborhood, dialing the phone, getting educated in a particular area of the real estate business, for example).
In real estate there are many Heart Break Hills you may have to climb, but it is within our power to turn it them into molehills.
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