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The BIG Picture

By
Real Estate Agent with Your Friend in Real Estate, LLC

Motivation, like happiness, comes from within.  You know it if you've got it.  If you do not, you will need to develop it quickly or find a real job.  Self-motivation is not only the best motivation; it is the only enduring motivation.  If you need someone else to constantly recharge your battery, you are not plugged in.  Set your goals.  Make your plan.  Decide what’s the first step, and start today.  Design and constantly re-design your business so that it is fun for you.  Accent the positives and develop the ability to resolve the problems.  Get your problems behind you and then forget them.  Yes, actively develop the ability to purge past problems from your mind.

 

It might take a while to get to the point where you feel you have met the challenge and motivation flows freely.  But develop the ability to enjoy the quest along the way, and the feeling of progress and accomplishment.  It really helps when you enjoy what you are doing.

 

As new agents, we had much to learn, and much time in which to learn.  We learned from the classroom, and from emulating others.  We learned best by experience: Trial and error.  We can all remember one of those slow first days hoping that someone would step up and trust us to find them a rental apartment.  With experience came confidence, which we needed to earn for ourselves before others would place their trust in us.

 

Over time, our business grew and income overtook expenses.  A profit!  We kept fighting the alligators, no time for personal burn-out.  Perhaps one of the exciting things about real estate is that we are an entire self-contained business unit and that we never stop learning, especially in view of the rapid pace at which our business environment evolves.  With success came the ability to screen our clients, passing up those who were not tuned-in to the program, those who probably would never be pleased with anyone’s performance, or those who knew it all from birth and had no use for our level of expertise.  It is truly a luxury to have so many top-quality clients that our day is filled with helping them.

 

At some point you will stumble upon the secret of success (if you haven’t yet, just keep reading) and find yourself on a pleasant plateau.  No time for coasting, do not confuse the plateau with downhill.  You swear you will never retire.  But look behind and think ahead, this is a powerful and unique machine you have built over the years.  If you were to retire some day, could you sell your business?  To whom?  Under what terms?  Give it some thought; it could be closer than you think.

 

Over the years, you have developed an underlying method for accomplishing objectives and resolving problems:

-Define the current situation.

-Define the desired result.

-Construct a complete list of options that might accomplish that result.

-Collect available information on the probable effectiveness of each option.

-Select the option or combination of options that has the highest chance of success.

-Develop a step-by-step plan to get from where you are to where you want to be.

-Execute the plan, reevaluating, and fine-tuning as necessary at each step.

 

But it is most important to take time and enjoy your accomplishments.  As you progress through your real estate career remember that there is something more important that money.  It is your health and your happiness.  It is your God-given right to enjoy what you are doing.  Don’t settle for less.  Don’t give failure a second thought: You’re not beaten until you quit.  Your future is entirely within your control.  As you travel along the road toward financial security (never to be confused with social security) and your by-referral-only business mode, be sure to enjoy the daily satisfaction that comes from meeting the challenges head-on, and dealing with that exasperating situation or person.  View adversity from far above.  If this job were easy, everyone would be doing it.  When you are in the pits, remember that the only way to go is up.  And when you are on top, try to view stoically, the approach of that inevitable tumble.  Happiness comes from within.  Empower yourself today!

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This article is excerpted from David Rathgeber's AGENT'S GUIDE to REAL ESTATE

which is FREE online at http://www.davidr.net/AgentsGuide.html

(also available on Kindle)

 

Posted by

David Rathgeber 

Your Friend in Real Estate, LLC

Broker / Owner and NVAR Lifetime Top Producer

703 434 0773 / davidr@davidr.net / www.davidr.net

Serving the Washington DC metro area since 1987