My good friend Tamara Dorris interviewed me yesterday and asked how Realtors can change their mindset and become more successful in their business. How can they change their work ethic, determination and thier "Passion" for the business which is a huge ingredient?

So how can we as Realtors change our thinking to be more passionate, assertive and have a great work ethic?  I compare it to athletics and our physical bodies.  When I first started to run for exercise in the 80's I could barely run less that a ¼ mile and I was gasping for breath!  Every week I would run a little more and a little more without stopping.  Months later I had build up my stamina so I could run 5 miles without stopping and eventually ran 15 miles without stopping!  In the beginning I could not see me ever running more than a couple of miles without stopping but by practicing and building my muscles and lung capacity I achieved more than I ever thought possible.

We can do the same things with our minds!  If we don't like to cold call or call leads immediately as we discussed in the interview yesterday dedicate yourself to do it a little at a time.  We need to force ourselves to do the things we know we need to do but don't like to do.  At first it will be hard but later it becomes easier and our confidence will grow.  At the beginning my running hurt but little by little the pain went away and I grew to love it. We need to exercise our mind as much as we do our bodies when we do any kind of physical exercise.

I read everything I can get my hands on that has to do with Personal Growth, Search Engine Optimization, Marketing, Business Planning, etc. Publications like Readers Digest and U.S. News and World Report have well written articles that professionals have written.  I read and look at their articles.  I look at how they are laid out, the white space, titles, content etc. and get ideas for my own writing so that the reader will be more interested.

All of this keeps my mind working and growing.  If my mind is not expanding and growing it is remaining stagnant or regressing.  Like my friend Elaine Northrop said in an interview: "I gave myself permission to think I can"!

We have two choices as Realtors in today's market.  We can quit or we can change the way we have done things for years and start doing the things we know will make a positive change in our lives.

• Make the cold calls even if we hate them!
• Read as much as we can and grow our minds!
• Call our sphere just to see how they are doing and care about them!
• Find agents on Active Rain or other sites that can help us with growing our business. ie: marketing, systems, technology, business development etc.  These agents are willing to help us because we are not their competition!  They are more that happy to help us and we need to be aggressive and email them or call them. If hadn't done just that I would never have a powerful website and a powerful presence on the web.

 Posted By: George Tallabas - Boise Idaho Real Estate Agent- Associate Broker 
with RE/MAX Advantage, Canyon Counties #1 Brokerage in sales and listings
specializing in Boise Idaho Real Estate and Southwest Idaho Real Estate.